Count that as a perfect Tuesday night for Purdue. First, the Boilermakers destroyed a shorthanded Florida State team 93-65 inside Mackey Arena. Then they (presumably) watched Ohio State upset Duke 71-66 inside Value City Arena, where Mike Krzyzewski suffered his first loss (and court-storming) of what will be his final season on the sideline with the Blue Devils.
“I hope the students enjoy it well into the morning,” said Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann. “Safely, but well into the morning.”
Some Purdue fans likely did.
Yes, as promised, Matt Painter’s Boilermakers are the new No. 1 in Wednesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. Duke is now No. 2. Gonzaga is now No. 3. And the only thing standing between Purdue and its first No. 1 ranking in the history of the Associated Press Top 25 poll is a victory over Iowa on Friday in the Big Ten opener.
KenPom projects Purdue as a 9-point favorite.
So, barring a surprise, it’s happening.
“I give coach Painter a lot of credit for assembling the most complete team I’ve played against in a long time,” said Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton. “Sometimes, you’ve got to call it like it is. This team has Final Four written all over it.”
According to ESPN Stats and Info, Purdue is the only Division I team in the past decade to score 80-plus points while shooting at least 50% from the field and 39% from 3-point range in any seven-game span — and the Boilermakers just did it in their first seven games of this season. Needless to say, that’s awesome. Needless to say, they look the part. They’re now 7-0 with wins over Villanova, North Carolina and Florida State.
That’s three top-50 KenPom wins.
Nobody else has that many.
Ohio State’s victory over Duke pushed the Buckeyes up to No. 21 in the Top 25 And 1 — and caused Memphis and Alabama to drop one spot each, no fault of their own. OSU is now 5-2 with wins over Duke and Seton Hall. The losses are to Florida and Xavier, the latter of which lost to the Iowa State team that is one spot ahead of Ohio State at No. 20.
