TommyTwoTaps's Week 4 Ballot

RankTeamReason
1 Texas LW: 2 (+1) ... handled their opponents with ease this week and claim the top spot thanks to the win over the Zags
2 Virginia LW: 3 (+1) ... like last week, very much in consideration for the top spo
3Houston LW: 4 (+1) ... may be in the minority having them this low, but the best win is against Oregon while the others have ranked wins.
4 Purdue LW: NR ,,, they were my first team out last week and earned the massive jump by beating three teams in my top-20, dominating the latter two.
5 Arizona LW: 13 (+8) ... offensively amazing, but this team scare me defensively with the AdjD rankings being in the 40s
6Creighton LW: 9 (+3) ... perhaps I'm overrating the bluejays, but two ranked wins and a 2pt loss to a top-5 team has them slotting here for me, despite advanced rankings having them llower
7 Baylor LW: 8 (+1) ... they beat McNeese
8 Tennessee LW: 25 (+17) ... I dropped them heavily at first for the inexcusable loss to Colorado, but since they've looked really good capped by the dominant win over Kansas
9Kansas LW: 1 (-8) ... the loss to Tennessee on top of not looking the best in the three prior games causes the drop.
10UConn LW: 21 (+11) ... while I won't go as high as KenPom where the Huskies are 6th, they impressed in Portland by winning comfortably in all three games, two of which to teams I have ranked this week.
11 Indiana LW: 10 (-1) ... dropping due to quality of opponents over the past week
12 Auburn LW: 11 (-1) ... see above, though Saint Louis is a good win cancelled out by the Northwestern game
13Arkansas LW: 6 (-7) ... Played well out in Maui and could be higher in the rankings, but the adjusted offensive numbers are a bit concerning
14 Alabama LW: 19 (+5) ... that win over UNC was one of the ugliest games I've seen, but still picking up two wins against three ranked opponents earns them a jump up
15Gonzaga LW: 6 (-9) ... when they lose, they do it ugly but they still have two ranked wins plus a win over a good Xavier team.
16 UCLA LW: 15 (-1) ... see Baylor or Indiana above
17 Kentucky LW: 17 (-) ... same as UCLA
18 Illinois LW: 18 (-) ... same as Kentucky
19 Duke LW: 12 (-7) ... advanced metrics tend to back this ranking up a bit, but wasn't really impressed with Duke in Portland. Struggled against Oregon State and were played off the court by Purdue
20North Carolina LW: 5 (-15) ... been increasingly disappointed by the Tar Heels, both how they played against Alabama and the struggles against inferior teams.
21 West Virginia LW: NR ... while not as high on them as Torvik is, the Mountaineers have beat up the opponents they should and played well against Purdue. I had them just out last week but they've played well
22 San Diego State LW: 14 (-8) ... it feels a bit harsh dropping them this far, but 1-2 in the week makes it hard to justify. I like this team defensively
23 Ohio State LW: NR ... slotting behind SDSU due to h2h, but a strong showing in Maui with a ranked win
24 Michigan State LW: 16 (-8) ... similar to UNC, just wasn't impressed with this team in Portland especially with the struggled against much lower quality opponents
25 Maryland LW: 24 (-1) ... see Illinois

Overall Rationale

OUT: Texas Tech (20), Saint Mary's (22), Iowa (23) 26-30: Xavier, Saint Mary's, Texas Tech, TCU, Iowa. Xavier is the first team out and was nearly in despite being 4-3, given they have 3 single-digit losses to top-20 teams. I take kenpom and Torvik rankings into consideration for advanced metrics, but don't solely base rankings off of those. Strength of record is big early on, hence some teams dropping this week despite not losing, while teams that did lose jumped up. Simply put, beating a team ranked in the low 200s will not get big movements compared to a team going 2-1 while losing to a top-20 team. Saint Mary's, for example, fell out due to lack of a true quality win while the losing to Washington team that tends to be ranked closer to 100. Will answer any questions regarding the rankings