Heading into the 2025-26 season, Purdue is a team many analysts are looking at as a contender to compete for the national championship. While this might come as a surprise to some after the team was eliminated in the Sweet 16 in 2025, the Boilermakers have a deep and strong roster heading into next year.
On Monday, CBS analyst Jon Rothstein broke down some of his projections for the Big Ten next season. In doing so, he mentioned a player who he thinks is the favorite to be not just the Big Ten player of the year, but the national player of the year in 2025-26, Purdue 6′ 0″ guard Braden Smith.
“Who is my Big Ten preseason player of the year? It’s Braden Smith from Purdue,” Rothstein said (Timestamp 23:20). “A player that I felt four years ago was not the same player as Ryan Arcidiacono was at Villanova, but I felt that he would have a Ryan Arcidiacono-type career at Purdue in terms of what he did that affected winning.
“He is now, not just in my opinion, my Big Ten preseason player of the year, he is the favorite the be the National Player of the Year in 2025-26.”
Purdue Reached the National Championship Game Two Seasons Ago
While the Purdue Boilermakers had a disappointing Sweet 16 exit from March Madness last season, they were the runner-up in the tournament two seasons ago. They reached the final of the tournament but lost to the UConn Huskies.
The Boilermakers still have a few players on their roster from that team, including Jon Rothstein’s National Player of the Year favorite, Braden Smith. Smith has been a full-time starter for the Boilermakers for three seasons. He has played over 30 games each season and has started every one of them. This past season, he took a step forward, averaging 15.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
While it was a big step forward this past season for the Purdue star, head coach Matt Painter still thinks there are some things he can improve on. He spoke about this in an interview with the Big Ten Network on Monday.
“It’s tuning into what’s best for us, but also for Braden, it’s looking to score,” Painter said. “I think that’s something he can still improve and be more consistent. Just keep being on the hunt and keep looking to score, because he’s naturally such a great passer.”
If Smith can become a more aggressive scorer, it will give Purdue a much more dynamic offense as it competes for a national title next season.
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