willweaverrva's Week 11 Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auburn | Although Auburn is far and away the best offensive team in D1, they kind of struggled this week in two tough road games. Still, they won, so back on top they go. |
| 2 | Florida | Florida utterly obliterated the previous #1 team in the nation, then beat Coach Cal and Arkansas on the road. I honestly wouldn't be shocked to see some #1 votes thrown their way this week. |
| 3 | Alabama | The Tide continues to roll with an average margin of victory of 18 points in SEC play. It's a shame we have to wait another month for the basketball equivalent of the Iron Bowl. That'll be fun. |
| 4 | Iowa State | Iowa State currently has the longest winning streak in D1 at 11, but they needed OT to squeak by a sneaky good Texas Tech team. Kansas and West Virginia will be major tests. |
| 5 | Duke | Duke is doing Duke things, holding serve in Cameron including some sweet revenge over Pitt in an absolute blowout. The Blue Devils are definitely the most balanced team in D1. |
| 6 | Tennessee | I was tempted to drop Tennessee further than this. Playing on the road seems to be a lot tougher this season, but losing by 30 to Florida and squeaking by Texas? |
| 7 | Houston | The Coogs are quickly making up for a slightly disappointing non-conference slate, picking up a couple of blowout wins. |
| 8 | Marquette | Shaka Smart might have Marquette on the path to their second Big East regular season title in 3 years, especially with UConn on the ropes. |
| 9 | Kansas | Kansas has recovered pretty nicely from their loss to West Virginia, including surviving an absolute slog of a game at Cincinnati. |
| 10 | Kentucky | "Hey Will, Kentucky beat Florida, why is Kentucky lower than them?" Kentucky had issues recovering from a game where 206 total points were scored and their defense hasn't been consistent. |
| 11 | Texas A&M | Gutsy win over Oklahoma, close home loss to a powerhouse Alabama team. The Aggies are still in pretty good shape at this point. |
| 12 | Oregon | Oregon probably shouldn't have moved up quite this much after two close wins, but they get to benefit from some chaos above them. |
| 13 | Michigan State | Sparty is back. Full stop. |
| 14 | UConn | That threepeat is starting to look a lot more difficult because UConn is still very inconsistent. Again, winning on the road is hard, but the Huskies' defense has some major issues. |
| 15 | Michigan | Michigan may not be the best team in the Big Ten, but they're up there and they're certainly the most explosive, continuing to roll against the Big Ten's west coast contingent. |
| 16 | Mississippi State | Not much shame in losing a close one to Kentucky, but things only get tougher from here and Mississippi State could be on their way out of the poll unless they come out swinging. |
| 17 | Gonzaga | Great win over a former power conference team, but they didn't cover against NET #321 San Diego. This week will be key because Oregon State and Santa Clara have big upset potential. |
| 18 | Illinois | Although Illinois curbstomped Penn State and more or less ended their attempts to be ranked for a while, losing at home to a very inconsistent USC isn't a great look. |
| 19 | Utah State | The Aggies may be the most underrated team in D1. Their only loss is to an also-underrated UC San Diego, and they've gutted out a few close wins. They need to find some more defense, though. |
| 20 | St. John's | Rick Pitino has St. John's in a great position to contend for a regular season title in the Big East, as long as they can avoid falling victim to some trap games in the next couple of weeks. |
| 21 | Ole Miss | New to ballot. The Rebels are a very balanced team holding their own in an incredibly tough SEC, but it remains to be seen if they can keep this up with 5 straight top-40 KP opponents coming up. |
| 22 | Arizona | New to ballot. After a disastrous non-conference slate that caused Arizona to be a top-30 KenPom team with a losing record, the Wildcats have turned things around. |
| 23 | Georgia | New to ballot. Two impressive wins over ranked teams gets Georgia in. Not a lot of folks expected the Bulldogs to be 14-2 at this point in the season. |
| 24 | West Virginia | Darian DeVries is a great coach and West Virginia picked up a tough road win at Colorado, but getting destroyed at home by Arizona isn't a good look. They need to find consistency fast. |
| 25 | Louisville | New to ballot. Who says a rebuild takes multiple seasons? Pat Kelsey has rapidly transformed Louisville into a serious contender in the ACC. |
Overall Rationale
DROPPED FROM BALLOT: Nebraska (18), Oklahoma (20), UCLA (21), St. Bonaventure (25). NEW TO BALLOT: Georgia, Arizona, Ole Miss, Louisville. ALMOST FAMOUS: 26. Iowa, 27. Wisconsin, 28. Purdue, 29. Texas Tech, 30. UC Irvine.