Anonymous Coaches Vote on College Basketball's Best Team — How Many Picked Purdue?
In this story:
Most media outlets have pegged Purdue as the top team in college basketball heading into the 2025-26 college basketball season. But what do coaches from across the sport think? CBS Sports recently ran a poll asking that question.
This week, CBS Sports released its Candid Coaches series, in which it polled nearly 100 anonymous college basketball coaches on a variety of topics. One of the first questions asked was which team was the best in college basketball entering the 2025-26 season.
A majority of those coaches voted for Purdue, with the Boilermakers receiving 32% of the vote. Houston was second on the list at 28%. Those were the only two schools to receive more than 8% of the vote.
Here's a look at the six schools that received the most votes for college basketball's top team in 2025-26:
- Purdue Boilermakers — 32%
- Houston Cougars — 28%
- Duke Blue Devils — 8%
- St. John's Red Storm — 8%
- UConn Huskies — 5%
- Florida Gators — 5%
Purdue has a loaded roster
A major reason why so many believe Purdue is college basketball's team heading into the season is the talented roster. In a recent story from SportsGrid, three Boilermakers were named as top-40 players in the sport.
Senior guard Braden Smith ranked No. 2, and his teammate, senior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, was at No. 3. Those two were behind only Kansas State guard PJ Haggerty.
Transfer portal addition and senior center Oscar Cluff was ranked No. 40 on the list.
Along with those three stars, Purdue also returns senior guard Fletcher Loyer and sophomore guards CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris. The Boilermakers also get 7-foot-4 center Daniel Jacobsen back from injury.
Finally, coach Matt Painter added Israeli guard Omer Mayer and Ohio native Antione West Jr. to the roster as members of the 2025 recruiting class. The Boilermakers are not only talented, they're incredibly deep.
It's easy to understand why so many media members and coaches are high on Purdue heading into a new college basketball season.
Related stories on Purdue basketball
FANS REACT TO NAVY SEALS VIDEO: Purdue posted a video of its Navy SEALs training from the weekend, and it got fans fired up for the 2025-26 college basketball season. CLICK HERE
ROTHSTEIN'S BOLD PREDICTION FOR CJ COX: CJ Cox is one of four returning starters from Purdue's 2024-25 squad. College basketball analyst Jon Rothstein made a bold prediction about the sophomore guard. CLICK HERE
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT PURDUE FAN DAY: Fan Day information has been released for the Purdue men's and women's basketball teams. Here's what you need to know about this year's event. CLICK HERE
Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
Follow SchutteDustin