AP men's college basketball Top 25 poll breakdown - ESPN

A full week of the 2025-26 men's college basketball season is in the books, which means it's time for the first AP Top 25 poll!

Purdue entered the season as the No. 1 team over Houston and Florida.

The Cougars instead have the top spot over the Boilermakers despite receiving 18 fewer first-place votes. The reigning champion Gators fell seven spots to No. 10. Joining the Cougars and Boilermakers in the top 5 are UConn, Duke and Arizona.

The biggest risers from the Oct. 13 preseason poll were Arizona (eight spots to No. 5), Alabama (seven spots to No. 8) and North Carolina (seven spots to No. 18). St. John's saw the steepest drop of eight spots (to No. 13), followed by the Gators, Arkansas (seven spots to No. 21) and Kansas (six spots to No. 25).

Let's take a look at the top 25 teams of the first week of 2025-26, how they got there and what's coming up next for each team.

All times Eastern. Unless otherwise noted, all stats courtesy of ESPN Research.

Previous polls: Preseason

Preseason ranking: 2

2025-26 record: 2-0

Stat to know: The Cougars' freshmen made program history early in Saturday's win over Towson. Kingston Flemings became the first Houston freshman with 20 points on 80% or better shooting from the field in at least 30 seasons. Chris Cenac Jr. became the first Houston freshman with 10-plus rebounds in the first two games of the season in at least 30 seasons.

What's next: Wednesday vs. Oakland, 8 p.m., ESPN+

Preseason ranking: 1

2025-26 record: 2-0

Stat to know: Purdue hasn't lost a nonconference game at home since Nov. 2019 against Texas. Braden Smith has 26 points and 20 assists through two games this season; he's the only Purdue player in the past 20 years to average at least 10 PPG and 10 APG through two