Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 3
Well, I didn’t really want to rank Kentucky No. 1 last week, but I also didn’t see any rational way around it, so the Wildcats’ historic home loss to Evansville wasn’t any less shocking but it did feel a little fitting. That just seems to be the way the No. 1 spot is going to go this year. One size fits all. Just like Warhol said, in the future everyone will be No. 1 in the AP poll for 15 minutes.
You get to be No. 1! And you get to be No. 1! And you get to be No. 1!
Louisville gets that chance on my ballot this week off a Sunday win over N.C. Central. Duke, I assume, will move from No. 2 to No. 1 in the actual poll, but I’ve had Louisville ahead of Duke in my AP and ACC preseason ballots and see no reason to change that so far.
After some internal debate, Missouri remains on my ballot after a loss at Xavier. If I believe Missouri was a top-15 team to start the season, then it stands to reason it’s at least a fringe top-25 team despite a true road loss at another top-25 team (one that went to overtime and that Missouri led late and probably should have won). At the moment, they’re 35 in KenPom, so ahead of three or four teams everyone considers top-25 teams. The kid stays in the picture.
Similar logic applies to Villanova, Memphis and Seton Hall staying in roughly the same spots despite losses. Villanova and Memphis both lost to elite teams on the road and Seton Hall lost at home to the preseason No. 1. I jumped everyone ahead of them that deserves to be ahead of them, but I can’t make the case for anyone else.
There’s obviously a big jumbled mess of teams in that 15-25 range, so Tennessee makes a big jump onto my ballot after a nice win over Washington, one of three newcomers this week along with Xavier and Texas Tech.
THIS SEASON’S BALLOTS
THIS WEEK’S TOP 25 BASKETBALL BALLOT
1. Louisville (Last week: 2)
2. Duke (3)
3. Michigan State (4)
4. North Carolina (5)
5. Kansas (6)
6. Maryland (8)
7. Gonzaga (10)
8. Ohio State (11)
9. Kentucky (1)
10. VCU (12)
11. Oregon (17)
12. Virginia (18)
13. Arizona (19)
14. Villanova (14)
15. Memphis (15)
16. Baylor (20)
17. Seton Hall (16)
18. Tennessee (NR)
19. Utah State (22)
20. St. Mary’s (9)
21. Texas (23)
22. Auburn (24)
23. Xavier (NR)
24. Missouri (13)
25. Texas Tech (NR)
OUT Florida (7), Purdue (21), Washington (25)
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 9:51 AM with the headline "Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 3."
