zags-not-zogs's Week 3 Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auburn | (Prev: 1) Best win; defense looks the part |
| 2 | Houston | (2) Also looked elite defensively against Auburn |
| 3 | UConn | (3) Yet to be challenged, but looks good. The only player not settling into his role is Mahaney |
| 4 | Gonzaga | (4) Very impressive offensively in all 3 games. Defense looked surprisingly good against Baylor and Lowell, but not against ASU. Jury's still out on the defense. |
| 5 | Iowa State | (6) Yet to be challenged, but seem to be picking up where they left off last season. |
| 6 | Tennessee | (10) A blowout win @ Louisville and a drubbing of a decent Austin Peay team show that this team is more than just defense. |
| 7 | Duke | (5) Has looked elite in all but the UK game, and they were the better team for most of that game as well. |
| 8 | Kansas | (7) Has failed to look elite. Mayo is surprisingly good, but Dickinson remains a defensive liability. Storr is less impactful than anticipated. |
| 9 | North Carolina | (11) Has looked up and down. Showed fight @ Kansas but struggled against Elon. Need more data on this team. |
| 10 | Alabama | (8) Losing @ Purdue is no reason to panic, but the offense has not looked elite yet. I expect them to round into form later in the season. |
| 11 | Kentucky | (15) Showed they are a contender by beating Duke. They didn't even need Robinson to be good. I'm cautiously optimistic, but wouldn't be surprised to see this transfer-laden team take surprising Ls |
| 12 | Purdue | (18) Braden Smith remains elite. If TKR can be a great post presence all season, they will be a top 10 team. |
| 13 | Baylor | (12) Continues to demonstrate that the performance against Gonzaga was an anomaly. They will likely be a top 4 seed in March. |
| 14 | Arizona | (9) Showed some cause for concern @ Wisconsin. Is relying on Caleb Love a sustainable model? |
| 15 | Cincinnati | (13) Yet to be challenged, but they look the part of a top-15 team so far. |
| 16 | Florida | (14) On the court, Florida fans should have nothing but optimism. Dynamic backcourt. |
| 17 | Texas Tech | (16) Yet to be challenged, but their performance in buy games has warranted a top 20 ranking |
| 18 | Creighton | (17) Kalkbrenner is astonishingly good, but I'm worried about this team's depth after him and Ashworth. |
| 19 | Indiana | (19) Has looked up and down. They have the pieces; can they put them together consistently? |
| 20 | St. John's | (21) Very impressive against New Mexico. This team's ceiling is top 10, but I need more data. |
| 21 | Marquette | (20) Gritty win @ Maryland in which they trailed a good bit. This team is good, but hasn't shown top 15 level yet. |
| 22 | Saint Mary's | (23) Pulled out their best victory yet in a "neutral" site game against Nebraska (packed with 90% Huskers fans). Lewis is a revelation, but Saxen has not looked great this season. |
| 23 | Mississippi State | (25) Decent "neutral" court victory over Utah (more like a home game). Josh Hubbard is incredible. Need more good pieces to surface. |
| 24 | Oregon | (24) Needing to come back to force OT at home against Portland is alarming. But the Ducks have shown other flashes. Jury's still out. |
| 25 | Wisconsin | (Not considered) Putting up 100+ points in a win over Arizona shocked me. It was a foul fest, so I can't take too much away from it. If Tonje can be a great player, this team will be top 25 good. |
Overall Rationale
Dropped out: Ohio State (22). Next-in-Line: Memphis, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Texas, Boise State, San Francisco, Illinois