TommyTwoTaps's Week 7 Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue | LW: 1 (-) |
| 2 | UConn | LW: 3 (+1) ... I like Purdue's wins a bit better, but it's very close between these two. |
| 3 | Kansas | LW: 5 (+2) ... 5-1 against Q1 opponents and they've looked very strong in the last three games |
| 4 | Houston | LW: 7 (+3) ... really good win over Virginia, I think they're fourth though based on schedule but I'm very high on this team |
| 5 | Virginia | LW: 2 (-3) ... good team, just lost to a strong Houston team. Still have them in the top 5 |
| 6 | Arizona | LW: 9 (+3) ... looked really good against Tennessee, a second Q1 win on consecutive Saturdays |
| 7 | UCLA | LW: 12 (+4) ... beating Maryland by 27 doesn't even do the performance justice, the Bruins were so dominant in that game and followed it up with another big win |
| 8 | Tennessee | LW: 4 (-4) ... nothing much to add, a good team but just came up short to Zona |
| 9 | Texas | LW: 8 (-1) ... not going to punish them for the Rice game, the Longhorns played well this week all things considered |
| 10 | Gonzaga | LW: 17 (+7) ... solid showing against the Tide, offense looked really strong |
| 11 | Alabama | LW: 6 (-5) ... this is a good team man, Nate Oats is doing something down in Tuscaloosa. Couldn't quite keep pace with the Zags |
| 12 | Arkansas | LW: 10 (-2) ... dropping spots due to SoS |
| 13 | Duke | LW: 11 (-2) ... played UMES, hence the slight drop |
| 14 | Baylor | LW: 14 (-) ... |
| 15 | Illinois | LW: 16 (+1) ... |
| 16 | Kentucky | LW: 13 (-3) ... not quite as high on the Cats as some rankings, but they didn't look bad against UCLA. Just went cold in the last 5 minutes |
| 17 | Xavier | LW: 19 (+2) ... I think they're 7th (35th overall) in SoS amongst P6 schools, hence the high ranking. All three losses by a combined 11 points to teams in my Top 20 |
| 18 | West Virginia | LW: 20 (+2) ... still not as high on the Mountaineers as Torvik (11th), but the SoS is 42nd in the country and they've took care of business well out of conference |
| 19 | Memphis | LW: 24 (+5) ... Tigers have looked good thus far and looked so good against Alabama, which is why they jump 5 spots despite going 1-1 |
| 20 | Auburn | LW: 15 (-5) ... USC may turn out to be good, but current rankings have them outside the top 50 so the Tigers drop 5 spots. Still, I think this team is better than some ranked teams in other polls |
| 21 | Indiana | LW: 18 (-3) ... pretty ugly loss to Kansas, but the SoS is high and saves the Hoosiers this week |
| 22 | Virginia Tech | LW: 22 (-) ... see the comments for explanation on lack of movement |
| 23 | Mississippi State | LW: 23 (-) ... see the comments for explanation on lack of movement |
| 24 | Arizona State | LW: NR ... despite recent struggles, I still think the Creighton win is good and along with the Michigan win this team looks much better than the one that lost to texas Southern |
| 25 | Wisconsin | LW: NR ... I give them the edge over Marquette due to h2h win. The two losses aren't that bad and the 7 game stretch prior to Lehigh was a pretty competitive one which is why they're SoS is 26th |
Overall Rationale
OUT: Maryland(21), Saint Mary's (25) | 26-30: Saint Mary's, Miami (FL), Marquette, New Mexico, Utah State | Scheduling plays a big part in my rankings early on. TCU has just two games in Q1-Q3 and doesn't appear in the rankings for that reason. Mississippi State did not move up for similar reasons. Essentially, just because a team beats up on low level opponents, doesn't mean they'll jump teams that lose (even badly) to strong opponents. I know that's not really popular, but it's the best way right now for me when it comes to deciding those final few spots.