corndogshuffle's Week 4 Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virginia | +1. I moved Virginia ahead of Texas because I'm less impressed with Gonzaga as a signature win than I was last week. |
| 2 | Arizona | +12. Arizona won Maui in impressive fashion, with wins against San Diego State and Creighton as the highlights. |
| 3 | Purdue | UNR. Blowout wins against Gonzaga and Duke in Portland move Purdue way up the ladder for me. |
| 4 | Texas | -3. I'm still impressed with Texas, but the teams above have done more to stand out to me. |
| 5 | Houston | -1. I like Houston but I really need them to get to the meat of their schedule so I can truly evaluate them. |
| 6 | UConn | +17. UConn joined Purdue as the big winners in Portland, taking out two teams that beat UNC. |
| 7 | Creighton | +6. Despite losing to Arizona (who I just ranked #2), Creighton was a big winner in Maui by taking out Texas Tech and Arkansas. |
| 8 | Tennessee | +9. Tennessee blasted Kansas to win the Battle 4 Atlantis. |
| 9 | Indiana | +1. Like Houston, I'm still waiting for them to really hit the meat of their schedule (they do have a good win at Xavier). A big test against UNC is coming for them on Wednesday. |
| 10 | Arkansas | +5. Arkansas impressed in Maui, splitting close games with San Diego State and Creighton. |
| 11 | Alabama | +10. Won an absolute classic 4OT game against UNC after dispatching Michigan State. UConn was too much for the Tide. |
| 12 | Baylor | -4. Quiet week for the Bears. They have a showdown with Gonzaga on Friday. |
| 13 | Illinois | -4. Another team with a quiet week. They have a road test against Maryland this week. |
| 14 | Kansas | -11. Kansas got beat down by Tennessee. I'm also now skeptical about Duke as a marquee win. |
| 15 | Gonzaga | -9. Gonzaga has now been blown out twice, tried to lose two other games, and their two marquee wins (UK and MichSt) look less marquee than they did a week ago. They can right the ship against Baylor. |
| 16 | Michigan State | -9. Arguably lacks a marquee win depending on how you feel about Kentucky. They also looked vulnerable against Oregon and Portland, and actually lost to Alabama. |
| 17 | San Diego State | -1. Picked up two losses (against my current #2 and #10), but also beat a good Ohio State team to stay afloat. |
| 18 | Auburn | -6. I didn't drop Auburn down so much as I bumped a number of teams up. |
| 19 | Kentucky | -1. Kentucky looks the way top teams are supposed to look against cupcakes, but still haven't beaten anyone with any substance. |
| 20 | UCLA | -1. Pretty much what I said about Kentucky. |
| 21 | Maryland | -1. Maryland meets Louisville on Tuesday before starting a four game gauntlet of Illinois, Wisconsin, Tennessee, UCLA. |
| 22 | Iowa State | UNR. Lost to UConn in Portland after taking out UNC. |
| 23 | Ohio State | UNR. Knocked Texas Tech out of my rankings two nights after losing to San Diego State. |
| 24 | North Carolina | -19. Honestly I'm not sure I'd have UNC ranked if they hadn't started in my top 5. Their most impressive performance this year was a loss in 4OT. |
| 25 | Duke | -14. A win against a pretty good Xavier team is why I haven't knocked Duke out. |
Overall Rationale
Got an early morning, won't be doing a next five or anything this week. Still lots of big swings in my rankings as teams (like Arizona and Purdue) suddenly go from no marquee wins to multiple. This will settle down as the season progresses, I try to avoid as much poll inertia as possible. Honestly I think Duke/UNC are two of the biggest beneficiaries of poll inertia.