Purdue, which opened the year at the top of the rankings, is back in the top five of this week’s Coaches Poll after a win against Auburn. The Boilermakers landed at No. 5, behind No. 3 Iowa State and No. 4 UConn, to round out the three programs that moved up in the wake of Duke’s first loss of the 2025-2026 season.
The Boilermakers improved to 11-1 with their 88-60 win over Auburn. That was their third consecutive win by more than 20 points since their Dec. 6 loss to Iowa State, which moved them out of their preseason No. 1 spot.
Duke, meanwhile, fell to No. 6 after an 82-81 loss at the hands of No. 16 Texas Tech. Red Raider guard Christian Anderson torched the Blue Devils with 27 points and Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year JT Toppin recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, giving Texas Tech its biggest win of the year.
The Red Raiders are now 1-3 against current opponents. Duke’s win alone was enough to move them up three spots from No. 19.
Here is the full December 22 Coaches Poll following the seventh week of the 2025-2026 college basketball season.
First place votes in brackets
Coaches poll
- Michigan (20)
- Arizona (11)
- The state of Iowa
- UConn
- Purdue
- Duke
- Gonzaga
- Houston
- State of Michigan
- BYU
- Vanderbilt
- North Carolina
- Nebraska
- Louisville
- Alabama
- Texas technology
- Kansas
- Arkansas
- Illinois
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Florida
- Iowa
- Georgia
- USC
Others receiving votes: St. John 32; Kentucky32; Seton Hall 20; Utah State 15; Maroon 10; California 9; UCLA 8; Sint-Lodewijk 8; LSU 6; Yale 4; Oklahoma State 3; St. Mary’s 1; Indiana 1; Clemson 1
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