Fresh off another crazy week in the Top 25 and I get to do another ballot. Horray for me! Seriously though, it feels like 3/4 of the Top 25 teams lost at least once this week. Why now? Why can’t it be like the good old days when it took teams weeks to significantly move up. As we have it, Mizzou went from unranked to Top 10 in 2 weeks. Sheesh. Here’s my ballot, with some notes below.
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| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connecticut | |
| 2 | Oklahoma | |
| 3 | North Carolina | |
| 4 | Pittsburgh | |
| 5 | Memphis |  5 |
| 6 | Michigan St. | 10 |
| 7 | Louisville |  1 |
| 8 | Wake Forest | 4 |
| 9 | Missouri | 15 |
| 10 | Villanova | 1 |
| 11 | Marquette | 3 |
| 12 | Duke | 5 |
| 13 | Clemson | 4 |
| 14 | UCLA | 9 |
| 15 | Purdue | 4 |
| 16 | Xavier | 2 |
| 17 | Arizona St. | 6 |
| 18 | Illinois | 3 |
| 19 | Butler | 6 |
| 20 | Kansas | 3 |
| 21 | West Virginia | |
| 22 | Washington | |
| 23 | Utah St. | 8 |
| 24 | Florida St. | |
| 25 | Syracuse | 3 |
| Last week’s ballot | ||
So I did some thinking this week on a few teams. Texas seems like they’ve lost the plot. The blowout of Okie Lite was nice, but the OT win at Colorado is a bit concerning. And this is a team I was convinced was a solid Top 10 team when they beat ‘Nova earlier in the year. Now? Just not impressed at all.
I dropped Gonzaga from my rankings completely even after a perfect week because they struggled against Saint Mary’s and San Francisco. They are struggling vs. less than stellar competition and after the blowout vs. Memphis they just don’t seem like they are heading in the right direction.
As for the big movers within the poll, Memphis moves up because people in front of them lost. Michigan State makes a big move because I admittedly underrated them last week. The Big 10 is probably better than I think but not as good as the media makes it out to be, and they’ve looked good since the loss to Penn State. UCLA drops a ton after a 2 loss week.
Wake Forest moves up even after a loss, but that’s more because I believe they’re underrated.
My Wildcats also move up a spot because people are going to forget the blowout over Marquette and only remember the blowout at the hands of West Virginia (who are VERY good I realized). Despite what most of the bloggers will probably say this week, ‘Nova are still a quality team. They just met a desperate team in a hostile environment. Besides maybe the Top 3 or 4 teams in the country, what happened on Friday night in Morgantown is happening to anyone walking through that door. The Wildcats’ schedule softens up with Rutgers visiting before a big trip to Syracuse, who will be out for blood.
Lots of movement in my ballot compared to my poll last week I realize. But there’s been a lot of action all across the country. Everyone it seems is losing (besides those Top 4 teams of course). I’ll make sure and post the link to the final CBSSports BlogPoll when it goes online.
February 16, 2009
Chris,
Nice job! Seems like a long time off until we play again. This Thursday should be a great night!