Syracuse, N.Y. - The Associated Press released its first regular-season men’s basketball poll of 2025-26 on Monday.
There’s a lot of familiar names on that list. And some not quite as familiar. Houston climbed over Purdue, the preseason No. 1. There are three ACC teams in the poll, with NC State lurking at what would be No. 26.
Here’s the poll. You can see how I voted below the official AP Top 25. (Team, record, total points, number of first-place votes in parentheses.)
1) Houston 2-0 1462 (18)
2) Purdue 2-0 1459 (36)
3) UConn 2-0 1361 (3)
4) Duke 2-0 1223 (2)
5) Arizona 2-0 1204 (0)
6) Michigan 1-0 1121 (1)
7) BYU 2-0 1111 (0)
8) Alabama 2-0 1087 (1)
9) Kentucky 2-0 1072 (0)
10) Florida 1-1990 (0)
11) Texas Tech 2-0 969 (0)
12) Louisville 2-0 856 (0)
13) St. John’s 1-1 Big East 812 (0)
14) Illinois 2-0 610 (0)
15) UCLA 2-0 609 (0)
16) Iowa State 2-0 605 (0)
17) Michigan State 2-0 557 (0)
18) North Carolina 2-0 494 (0)
19) Gonzaga 2-0 466 (0)
20) Tennessee 2-0 456 (0)
21) Arkansas 1-1 324 (0)
22) Auburn 2-0 S 207 (0)
23) Creighton 1-0 153 (0)
24) Wisconsin 2-0 140 (0)
25) Kansas 1-1 130 (0)
Others receiving votes:
NC State 87, San Diego St. 67, Indiana 45, Oregon 43, Vanderbilt 37, Ohio St. 17, Baylor 14, Southern Cal 12, Kansas St 5, Missouri 4, Mississippi 4, Mississippi St. 3, Georgia 2, Stanford 1, Oklahoma St. 1, Texas 1, Georgetown 1, Utah St. 1, Iowa 1, Virginia Tech 1.
I write this every year, but determining the 25 best college basketball teams in America a week into the season is basically impossible. All I try to do is come up with some semblance of a list that describes the current state of men’s college hoops right now.
I have four ACC teams on my ballot. The conference has played well so far. Virginia Tech’s ability to beat Providence on a neutral floor was a huge boost for the ACC. The Hokies play St. Joseph’s on Wednesday for all of you interested in getting a look at a future Syracuse opponent.
I am pretty high right now on Vanderbilt. I don’t think people knew enough about AK Okereke, the former Cornell star who transferred to Vandy last spring. (Cornell has sent two straight starters to Vandy. Last year it was Chris Manon.)
At any rate, here’s the ballot I turned in last night:
1) Purdue
2) Houston
3) UConn
4) Arizona
5) Louisville
6) Duke
7) Kentucky
8) BYU
9) Florida
10) Texas Tech
11) Vanderbilt
12) Michigan
13) Alabama
14) St. John’s
15) Iowa State
16) Illinois
17) Gonzaga
18) North Carolina
19) UCLA
20) USC
21) NC State
22) Wisconsin
23) Michigan State
24) San Diego State
25) Arkansas