willweaverrva's Week 5 Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auburn | Auburn being #1 is probably the only thing I'm sure of on this poll ballot. Three KP top-31 wins in a row, two of which were in dominating fashion. Auburn is #1. |
| 2 | Kansas | Kansas drops due to no fault of their own - the Duke win was impressive, but it just isn't really enough compared to Auburn's wins this week. |
| 3 | Tennessee | The Vols continue to roll and the metrics love them. I was very tempted to put Kentucky here but Kentucky's level of competition hasn't been quite as high. |
| 4 | Kentucky | I was hesitant to put Kentucky this high, but with all the chaos this past week I have little choice. Their competition is about to take a huge step up, though. |
| 5 | Gonzaga | The loss to WVU is a bit of a headscratcher, but WVU is getting hot at a good time. Considering the Zags crushed Indiana and Davidson, I think they'll be fine, but Kentucky looms. |
| 6 | Marquette | The Zaide Lowery injury is a bit concerning as Marquette's schedule becomes an absolute meat grinder from here on out. Can Shaka keep the Golden Eagles rolling? |
| 7 | Purdue | Purdue continues to play very well, but they have one of the toughest Decembers of any D1 team coming up, including a date with #1 Auburn. |
| 8 | Alabama | Alabama lost a game, but they lost it to Oregon, who probably should've been ranked sooner as they are for real. Texas almost got this spot but their competition has been pretty weak. |
| 9 | Iowa State | Iowa State continues to be an offensive powerhouse. They did lose a game, but it was to the team now ranked #1 on my ballot, so that doesn't hurt quite as much. |
| 10 | Texas | See the Alabama entry. You can move up when other teams lose, but a win over Delaware State isn't exactly lighting the world on fire. NC State and UConn this week, then some holiday cupcakes. |
| 11 | Illinois | No notes. The win over Coach Cal's Razorbacks was pretty impressive, though. |
| 12 | Duke | Duke lost an instant classic of a game to #2 Kansas before obliterating the hapless Seattle U. A major showdown with Auburn looms this week. |
| 13 | Houston | It feels like Houston has been in a nosedive since the start of the season. The metrics still love them, but they're not playing well and I can't put a 3-loss team in the top 10. |
| 14 | Oregon | New to ballot. I spent a lot of this young season wondering if Oregon was for real. 4 straight wins over KP top-75 opponents, including TAMU, SDSU, and Alabama tell me they are. |
| 15 | Baylor | Not much to say here. Baylor feasted on some New Orleans cupcakes this past week and move up by virtue of not losing. |
| 16 | Cincinnati | This is the absolute highest I can put Cincy on this ballot. Metrically speaking, they're good, but their competition has been trash. It's hard to draw any conclusions yet. |
| 17 | Wisconsin | The Badgers are 8-0, with wins over UCF, a now-ranked Pitt, and a badly fading Arizona. Their next 3 games are against KP top-25 opponents so we'll see if they're for real soon enough. |
| 18 | Texas A&M | I feel like I'm being generous to Texas A&M, but they did go 2-1 this week and I don't quite feel comfortable having Drake leapfrog them...yet. |
| 19 | Pitt | New to ballot. I should have ranked Pitt last week. Jeff Capel has them playing at a high level and are 3-1 against KP top 50 opponents. |
| 20 | San Diego State | New to ballot. 2-1 against a grueling early season tournament schedule including a win over Houston gets the Aztecs on the board. |
| 21 | Florida | New to ballot. This is correcting an injustice from previous ballots. The Gators are 8-0 and have some fairly strong wins early on, and the metrics love them. |
| 22 | Drake | Drake moves up by virtue of higher ranked teams losing. They're playing extremely well but they probably won't get to move much higher in the poll due to a lack of strong competition. |
| 23 | Oklahoma | New to ballot. Providence and Arizona have been struggling, but 7-0 Oklahoma put a stop to Louisville's momentum with an impressive - if close - win. |
| 24 | Arizona State | New to ballot. Trading Arizona for Arizona State because I can't rank a team with a losing record no matter how much the metrics like them. Still, solid wins over UNM and SMC get Arizona State in. |
| 25 | Dayton | New to ballot. Let me explain. Dayton went 1-2 in Maui this week. The two losses were close games against the #12 and #7 teams in this poll. They crushed the #2 team. I think they earned a #25 vote. |
Overall Rationale
NEW TO BALLOT: Oregon, San Diego State, Pittsburgh, Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona State, Dayton. DROPPED FROM BALLOT: UConn (2), North Carolina (10), Creighton (16), Indiana (17), Arizona (20), Mississippi State (22), Saint Mary's (25). ALMOST FAMOUS: Creighton, Clemson, Utah State, St. John's, Louisville. ALMOST "ALMOST FAMOUS" (because of how wacky this week was): West Virginia, UCLA, Michigan State, UC Irvine, Memphis.