thrownaway12211's Week 2 Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas | LW: 1 | KU vs UK on Tuesday will be very important as an early-season game. |
| 2 | UConn | LW: 3 | Have won their 2 games by an average of 41.5 points. They don't really play anyone too challenging until December. |
| 3 | Arizona | LW: 10 | Have maybe the most impressive win so far this year, beating Duke, as well as demolishing Morgan State by 63 points. The Cats are legit. |
| 4 | Purdue | LW: 4 | They've looked pretty good to this point, but they just got passed by a team that has been even more impressive. They'll have some good chances to prove themselves soon, though. |
| 5 | Houston | LW: 6 | Held UL-Monroe to 31 points in a full game. The Cougs also suffer from "ain't played nobody" syndrome, but they do look very good. |
| 6 | Tennessee | LW: 9 | A marquee win over Wisconsin puts UTK over Creighton and Marquette. The Vols should have even more opportunities to make their resume look better, like playing UNC at the end of November. |
| 7 | Creighton | LW: 8 | Beat FAMU by 51, then NDSU by 29. The Bluejays jumped Marquette because their wins looked better, but don't have the marquee win of Tennessee. |
| 8 | Marquette | LW: 7 | As mentioned above, Creighton has better wins to me than the Golden Eagles, who took down Northern Illinois by 22 and Rider by 30. Marquette will have chances to prove themselves, though. |
| 9 | Duke | LW: 2 | Duke is the only team on the list with a loss, because they took their loss to who is now the #3 team on the list. The Blue Devils should be fine, but they drop a fair ways for the loss. |
| 10 | Miami (FL) | LW: 13 | Miami is leaping into the top 10 over Gonzaga and FAU based on the simple fact that they've played multiple opponents, while the others haven't. The Canes have looked legit so far. |
| 11 | Florida Atlantic | LW: 11 | FAU got jumped, as mentioned above, because they've only played one opponent: the Owls beat Loyola-Chi by 13. FAU will only play twice in the |
| 12 | Gonzaga | LW: 12 | Gonzaga ALSO only played one opponent, beating Yale by 13. The Zags' schedule only gets tougher from here, but Mark Few's squad looks ready. |
| 13 | Baylor | LW: 14 | Baylor has looked good to this point, being 3-0, but a weirdly scary game vs Gardner-Webb keeps them from moving up higher. |
| 14 | Kentucky | LW: 15 | Kentucky has looked very good in their two games, beating New Mexico State by 40 and A&M-Commerce by 20. The Wildcats' next game is Kansas, which could jump UK massively. |
| 15 | Alabama | LW: 17 | Alabama has dropped 100+ on back-to-back opponents, which is an impressive sign for the Tide's season. Their first real test is Ohio State at the end of November, though. |
| 16 | Arkansas | LW: 16 | Arkansas is good, but their most recent game didn't impress, getting off to a slow start vs Gardner-Webb before cruising to a win. The Hogs don't face a significant challenge until Duke. |
| 17 | USC | LW: 20 | USC came out of the gate extremely strong, beating my preseason #23 K-State by 13. The Trojans have what should be a pretty easy slate until they face Seton Hall and Gonzaga. |
| 18 | Texas | LW: 22 | Texas has looked good in their two games, albeit against not-great competition. The Longhorns aren't going to face anyone near their level until Marquette in early December. |
| 19 | Oregon | LW: NR | Oregon picked up a pair of good wins in their first week, never looking uncomfortable vs Georgia or Montana. They don't get a true test until Michigan in early December, though. |
| 20 | Iowa | LW: NR | Iowa, much unlike their football counterparts, is pouring in the points. The Hawkeyes have averaged 104 points and a MOV of 36.5 points so far. Iowa gets a big matchup with #7 Creighton next. |
| 21 | James Madison | JMU beat my preseason #5 team, Michigan State, then had a scare against Kent State before beating Howard comfortably. The Dukes scare me, as a fan of a Sun Belt team. |
| 22 | Weber State | Just beat my preseason #18 team in St. Mary's as I'm writing this, plus they're 2-0. |
| 23 | Princeton | Princeton already has a high-quality win on their record, having beaten Rutgers, and the Tigers look like they haven't lost a step following their deep Madness run. |
| 24 | Western Carolina | Western Carolina beat Notre Dame and a non-D1 school by 40 points. The Catamounts are one of the teams in heavy contention for the SoCon title this year. |
| 25 | Purdue Fort Wayne | Beat DePaul and then beat a non-D1 opponent by nearly 100 points. They should be fun. |
Overall Rationale
I give my true top 20 + 5 more mid-major teams I feel deserve recognition. Dropped from Ranking: #5 Michigan State, #18 St. Mary's, #19 San Diego State, #21 UNC, #24 Illinois, #25 Maryland