willweaverrva's Week 8 Ballot

Rank	Team	Reason
1	Auburn	Auburn is #1 in every metric, they're #1 in the NET, and they continue to crush opponents. Despite the earlier loss to Duke, they are clearly the best team in the country right now.
2	Tennessee	Tennessee continues to show they'll be a top contender in what promises to be an extremely exciting SEC conference season coming up.
3	Iowa State	Not much more to say here. Iowa State is one of the favorites in the Big 12.
4	Florida	I'm really kicking myself for overlooking Florida early on - they're 12-0 against a deceptively difficult schedule.
5	Duke	This may be Jon Scheyer's best team yet. 10-2 against a pretty tough schedule (for Duke) with the losses being close ones to Kentucky and Kansas is seriously impressive.
6	Alabama	Nate Oats needs to figure out a few things because Alabama probably should have beaten KP #284 North Dakota by more than 7, and the SEC will be brutal.
7	Houston	It's going to be Houston vs. Iowa State in the battle for Big 12 domination. I think the Cyclones have the edge but the Coogs look pretty good too.
8	Kansas	Yes, Kansas beat Duke. No, I am not ranking Kansas ahead of Duke.
9	Texas A&M
10	Kentucky	Kentucky's 1-point OT win over Gonzaga saves them from dropping any further, which they should have after getting shellacked by Ohio State.
11	Gonzaga	The Zags have one last major challenge before WCC play starts - a "neutral" court showdown against a very strong but inconsistent UCLA.
12	Oregon	This is one of the best Oregon teams we've seen in a few years. The Big Ten is a meat grinder, though, so it'll be interesting to see if they can keep this up.
13	UConn	UConn opens Big East play with two wins...but they weren't exactly dominant in any sense of the word. The Huskies will be favored but they're not invincible.
14	Oklahoma	New to ballot. Correcting a grave injustice from past ballots. Oklahoma is 12-0 with three wins against KP top 50 opponents. They deserve to be here.
15	San Diego State	I expect this to be an outlier, but SDSU is better than its metrics would suggest. Their only losses are to ranked teams, and they have strong wins over Creighton and Houston.
16	Marquette	Marquette is lower on this ballot than UConn, but they're probably better than UConn, beating the same two opponents by a higher average margin.
17	Mississippi State	Mississippi State gets an impressive road win over a pretty strong Memphis team to effectively close out non-conference play. They might be a sleeper in the SEC this year.
18	Illinois	Stayin' alive after squeaking by a Missouri team that was on the verge of being ranked. Next up: the incredible basketball titans of Chicago State and their mighty #361 KP rating.
19	Baylor	The Baylor Bears were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of Big 12 wins danced in their heads. You don't move up, but you don't drop either.
20	Cincinnati	New to ballot. It's always fun when Cincinnati and Dayton play each other and this week was no exception. The Bearcats could be a dark horse in the Big 12 with their smothering defense.
21	St. John's	Providence is not great, yet St. John's was barely able to get by them. The Big East is brutal this year, but I still think the Johnnies have what it takes to compete.
22	Ole Miss
23	Arkansas	Arkansas moves up because they didn't lose, but not everybody's going to be North Carolina A&T.
24	UCLA	UCLA is really going to wish they had that one back, but the Bruins are still looking good headed into Big Ten play. They should be solid contenders.
25	Dayton	Dayton closes out non-conference play with a heartbreaking loss to Cincinnati. I think Dayton is still quite good and the metrics still like them, but they can't afford to stumble in A-10 play.

Overall Rationale

DROPPED FROM BALLOT: Purdue (14), Memphis (23). NEW TO BALLOT: Oklahoma, Cincinnati. ALMOST FAMOUS: Ohio State, Drake, Michigan State, Maryland, Boise State.