Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 18
This is always the most pointless of all Top 25 polls, conducted hours after the only poll that really matters has been completed by the NCAA selection committee. But this one is mildly sentimental, because it’s my last. After four years as a voter, I’m handing this ballot over to my colleague C.L. Brown next season.
All of these weekly polls, not just this one, are technically meaningless. But the AP Top 25 serves to focus debate and tap into college basketball history, and it’s been fun and an honor to play a role in that process. Voters don’t get paid for this, make a tremendous time commitment and are subject to no end of harassment on social media, and do it out of a sense of service to the game. That should be respected more than it is. That said, football voters have it worse.
Maybe C.L. and I will rotate voting privileges annually, or maybe he’ll take over and never look back. Time will tell. Gonzaga gets my final No. 1 vote.
THIS SEASON’S BALLOTS
Preseason | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17
THIS WEEK’S TOP 25 BASKETBALL BALLOT
1. Gonzaga (Last week: 2)
2. Arizona (3)
3. Kansas (6)
4. Baylor (1)
5. Tennessee (9)
6. Kentucky (5)
7. Villanova (8)
8. Houston (11)
9. Auburn (4)
10. Purdue (10)
11. Texas Tech (13)
12. Duke (7)
13. Iowa (NR)
14. St. Mary’s (14)
15. Murray State (15)
16. UCLA (12)
17. Illinois (16)
18. Wisconsin (17)
19. Colorado State (19)
20. Providence (18)
21. Arkansas (21)
22. Texas (22)
23. Connecticut (24)
24. Boise State (NR)
25. San Francisco (25)
OUT North Carolina (20), San Diego State (23)
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This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 18."
