MAFIAxMaverick's Week 3 Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas | Only one game last week, but a good win over a strong Kentucky team. Maui Invitational results could really shake up the rankings next week! |
| 2 | Purdue | Similar to Kansas. Edey looking like an efficient monster again. Looking forward to a matchup against Gonzaga this week. |
| 3 | Arizona | Got the wins they were expected to this week. Big matchup against MSU. |
| 4 | UConn | Strong outing against Indiana. Matchup against a good Texas team for the Empire Classic trophy. |
| 5 | Marquette | Great second half against an underrated Illinois team. Rebounding still rough - team will go as far as Kolek and Kam carry them. Maui Invitational should be fire. |
| 6 | Duke | An expected win against Bucknell. Soft schedule this week, but still at top team imo. |
| 7 | Houston | They just keep winning. |
| 8 | Creighton | A weak tournament they should come out on top of. A good win against Iowa. |
| 9 | Miami (FL) | Not much going on for the Hurricanes this week - but good wins over Georgia and K State. |
| 10 | Tennessee | As with others in the top 25 - a stacked Maui Invitational will be a good barometer for this team. |
| 11 | Gonzaga | Bulldogs didn't do much this week. Maui Invitational will let us know what's up. |
| 12 | Baylor | Still undefeated with some soft non-conference matchups ahead. |
| 13 | Kentucky | Lost to the best team in the country. Fortunately everyone else around them lost to worse teams. |
| 14 | Texas A&M | Big matchups against Virginia, Memphis, and Houston looming - will give us a clue about where this team should be. |
| 15 | North Carolina | Some tough matchups coming up. Battle 4 Atlantis isn't stacked - but there's some good squads there. |
| 16 | Texas | Still undefeated. Some big matchups in the coming weeks. |
| 17 | Arkansas | A loss against UNC Greensboro. Battle 4 Atlantis this weekend will give a good indicator of where this team is. |
| 18 | Florida Atlantic | A very unexpected loss against Bryant. |
| 19 | Alabama | Undefeated in convincing fashion. I know it's been weaker teams, but 19 feels right. |
| 20 | UCLA | Undefeated with a gauntlet of matchups coming up in the Maui Invitational |
| 21 | Virginia | Convincing wins. Defense has really clamped down the last week. |
| 22 | USC | A loss against a good UC-Irvine team. This is a young team so I think there will be some ups and down, but I still think the talent is there. |
| 23 | James Madison | Still undefeated. Still riding that massive upset at MSU. |
| 24 | Colorado | Undefeated and looking good in their wins. |
| 25 | Illinois | Lost against a good Marquette team in which Illinois controlled a large part of that game. Followed up w/ two wins. Big matchups against FAU and Tennessee in December. Underrated team. |
Overall Rationale
Dropped out: Villanova, Michigan State. Back on the cusp: SDSU I feel like with some weird non-conference losses this week, my poll is all over the place. I don't really feel strongly about anything outside of the Top 10. I think there are some big early season tournaments this week that will help make that picture clearer as we get into December. Thank you for your mercy!