willweaverrva's Week 15 Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue | If the top 4 looks the same as last week, that's because it is. I didn't have much of a reason to move them around this week, unlike last week. |
| 2 | UConn | |
| 3 | Marquette | |
| 4 | Houston | |
| 5 | Arizona | Arizona is trending up and a 1-seed is definitely still possible for them. The rest of their schedule looks pretty good though Washington State could spoil the party. |
| 6 | North Carolina | I feel like I'm being a bit too lenient with UNC. Clemson is a very weird team that looks good in the metrics but has a very puzzling record. |
| 7 | Tennessee | |
| 8 | Duke | Duke moves up mainly because of the logjam of losses in the middle of the pack, and not for beating two of the worst teams in the ACC at home. |
| 9 | Illinois | I am probably going to get flak for this, but Michigan State really isn't that bad, and it was a close road loss. This might still be too high though. |
| 10 | Auburn | The rare "move up with a loss" for Auburn. A stunning win over Alabama is partially offset by a weird loss to a Florida team that is now on my ballot, and this is just a +1 gain for Auburn anyway. |
| 11 | Alabama | |
| 12 | Saint Mary's | People have been bugging me about being high on Saint Mary's. They're #15 in NET, #14 on Torvik, #23 in KP, and are 6-4 in Q1+2 games. That being said, I don't see them moving up much more right now. |
| 13 | Kansas | |
| 14 | South Carolina | South Carolina is much better than the metrics give them credit for. That being said, their schedule gets *brutal* from here on out. Impress me, Gamecocks. |
| 15 | Iowa State | |
| 16 | Virginia | New to this week's ballot. UVA is red-hot and their defense has led the way. Upcoming games vs Wake Forest, UNC, and Duke will be interesting. |
| 17 | Colorado State | New to this week's ballot. An impressive win over Boise State makes a huge difference. |
| 18 | Gonzaga | New to this week's ballot. Shellacking Kentucky brings the Zags back into the fold. |
| 19 | Washington State | Washington State is a sleeper. 8-5 in Q1+2 games is pretty solid. Will be interesting to see if they have anything for Arizona though. |
| 20 | Utah State | Aggies are trending in the wrong direction at a bad time, but there's still time to right the ship. |
| 21 | Dayton | The game against VCU was probably one of the most entertaining defensive contests of the season. Just came up 2 points short. Still looking like Dayton will be the class of the A-10. |
| 22 | Florida | New to this week's ballot. Only played 1 game this week, but it was a strong win over Auburn, and metrics-wise Florida is good. They have 7 losses, though, so I can't rank them very highly right now. |
| 23 | Indiana State | The Sycamores keep doing Sycamore things. I'm not sure they have much of an opportunity to gain Syca-more spots in the poll, but this team is definitely one to watch in March. |
| 24 | Texas A&M | New to this week's ballot. I might get grief for this but you've got a strong road win vs Mizzou and a blowout win over Tennessee. I think that's worthy of a ranking. 8 losses hurts though. |
| 25 | Florida Atlantic | The Owls are hanging by a thread. The only thing that keeps me from moving them out is they lost to UAB on the road in OT, and UAB really isn't *that* bad. Not much more room for error though. |
Overall Rationale
Dropped from poll: Wisconsin (13), New Mexico (15, they were too high initially), Baylor (21), Kentucky (22), Creighton (23). New to poll: Virginia, Gonzaga, Colorado State, Texas A&M, Florida. Almost famous: Baylor, Oklahoma, Grand Canyon, Nevada, Richmond.