LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — It’s going to be a quick run through my Associated Press men’s basketball Top 25 ballot this morning. Busy times, and no major changes, though a little movement in the Top 25 with a couple of programs, getting marquee wins.
I felt like Arizona was deserving of the move to No. 2 based on performance so far. Houston didn’t do anything wrong, but Arizona now has wins over Florida, UCLA and UConn.
I moved Louisville up a couple of spots based on their win at Cincinnati, but that just brought the Cardinals into line with where the actual poll had them last week. Will be interesting to see where they wind up today.
Kentucky, I dropped to No. 20. Their big chance for a move up will come next week with North Carolina at home and Gonzaga in Nashville.
My ballot ia below:
No. 1: Purdue (no change) – stays a clear No. 1.
No. 2: Arizona (up from 3) – adds a head-to-head win over UCOnn.
No. 3: Houston (down from 2) – still elite, just passed by a team with more high-level wins.
No. 4: Duke (up from 5) – Win over a short-handed Kansas, plus the Texas win.
No. 5: UConn (down from 4) – close loss to Arizona doesn’t deserve to be penalized much.
No. 6: Louisville (up from 8) – Has the Kentucky win plus an impressive neutral-court showing vs. Cincinnati
No. 7: Florida (down from 6) – Steady, nudged by surging résumés above.
No. 8: Gonzaga (down from 7) – still crushing people; stays safely top 10.
No. 9: Alabama (up from 10) – head-to-head win over Illinois plus only loss is to Purdue.
No. 10 BYU (up from 13) – blowout of Wisconsin plus quality UConn loss.
No. 11: Illinois (down from 9) – close Bama loss, still strong overall.
No. 12: Michigan (down from 11) – keeps doing its job, big matchup with Auburn this week
No. 13: North Carolina (up from 14) – win over Kansas still bolstering it — gets Michigan State this week and Kentucky next.
No. 14: Michigan State (up from 20) – emphatic neutral win over Kentucky.
No. 15 Iowa State (no change) – win over Mississippi State was solid, but others jumped them
No. 16: Tennessee (no change) – did nothing wrong, but doesn’t have a quality win. Does have Houston, Illinois and Louisville among its next five games.
No. 17: Auburn (up from 18) – piling wins, close loss to Houston still ages well.
No. 18: St. John’s (down from 17) – fine, just squeezed by movers.
No. 19: UCLA (up from 23) – two blowouts after going toe-to-toe with Arizona.
No. 20: Kentucky (down from 12) – Louisville and MSU both ahead now; still a top-20 team.
No. 21: Kansas (down from 19) – loss to Duke (without Darren Peterson) keeps them toward the back of the teens.
No. 22: Arkansas (no change) – 5–1, but margins hold them down.
No. 23: Texas Tech (down from 21) – Purdue blowout pushes them toward the cut line.
No. 24: Georgetown (no change) – I’m already on an island; nothing this week to make me jump off it.
No. 25: Vanderbilt (no change) – A bit of a nod to the metrics here.
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