Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 16
Maryland jumps Dayton, but that and Louisville’s slide are really the only changes at the top. We’ve reached a point where the top 10 is more or less set from week to week, and while a Louisville, for example, can still play its way out of it, the six teams that were ahead of Louisville last week are a combined 72-3 in 2020. That’s skewed a little bit by the lack of elite competition San Diego State, Gonzaga and Dayton face on a regular basis, but Baylor’s also 12-0 in the Big 12, no wading pool that.
I left Rhode Island in at 25 despite a loss because the loss came at Dayton, and that’s a game I would expect pretty much any team outside of the top 10 to lose at this point. Not a disqualifying loss by any means, so a reprieve for the Rams. Michigan State still has a top-25 resume, but at some point, the Spartans have to start winning more games than they lose.
For teams 23 and 24, I split up the contenders by conference and first chose Ohio State over Michigan because, despite the Buckeyes’ eight losses, everything else about their profile screams top 15 and they have won five of their past eight after a really rough stretch. Then I took Oregon over Arizona despite the Wildcats’ stronger analytics (13 to 25 in efficiency) because of the Ducks’ stronger resume (17 to 29 in Wins Above Bubble). At this late point in the season -- and it is officially late -- what you’ve done should matter more than what we think you can do. All four teams were worthy contenders for the 20-25 range this week.
THIS SEASON’S BALLOTS
Week 1 (Preseason) Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15
THIS WEEK’S TOP 25 BASKETBALL BALLOT
1. Baylor (Last week: 1)
2. Kansas (2)
3. San Diego State (3)
4. Gonzaga (4)
5. Duke (5)
6. Maryland (8)
7. Dayton (6)
8. Penn State (12)
9. Florida State (9)
10. Creighton (20)
11. Villanova (19)
12. Louisville (7)
13. Seton Hall (10)
14. West Virginia (13)
15. Colorado (14)
16. Auburn (11)
17. BYU (21)
18. Iowa (17)
19. Kentucky (22)
20. Butler (16)
22. Marquette (18)
22. Houston (15)
23. Ohio State (NR)
24. Oregon (NR)
25. Rhode Island (25)
OUT Michigan State (23), Northern Iowa (24).
This story was originally published February 17, 2020 at 9:05 AM.
