The next best thing is the Ohio State Buckeyes, who continue to impress with POY candidate Jared Sullinger, and are off to their best start since '05-06.
You'll also hear names such as Kansas, Syracuse, Pitt, but many fail to acknowledge the (12-1) Purdue Boilermakers.
Before the season, Purdue was arguably one of the best teams in the nation returning JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore, and Robbie Hummel for a National Championship run.
During the first practice of the season, Hummel went up and immediately knew that he had re-torn his ACL and would soon be sidelined for the season.
Last season, without Hummel, the Boilermakers were able to sneak past both Siena, and Texas A&M before losing to the eventual National Champion Duke Blue Devils.
This season, head coach Matt Painter has his Boilermakers winning, while continuing to be one of the best in the nation without their best player.
Johnson, and Moore have been everything to Purdue. Collectively, the two account for more than 50 percent of the Boilermakers scoring.
That might sound like trouble, but no team has been able to slow down Johnson or Moore as they scored in double-figures in every game this season.
Purdue's only blemish came against the Richmond Spiders (10-3), who managed to overwhelm the Boilermakers on the glass with a 44-35 advantage. Richmond also scored 35 of its 65 points in the paint, as well as 11 coming off second chances.
Purdue hasn't allowed that to happen again, which is one of the reasons why the Boilermakers are riding a seven game win streak.
Purdue opened Big Ten play with a rout of Michigan 80-57, and will look to continue dominance in the Big Ten against Northwestern New Years Eve.
This Purdue team has problem, as does every team, but more positives than anything. The Boilermakers have established themselves as one of the top teams in the nation, and could compete for a Big Ten title against formidable teams like Ohio State, Michigan State, and Minnesota.
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