Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 3
A fun week at the bottom of the ballot, where there were seven teams under consideration for the last three spots, starting with previously No. 24 Richmond. A road loss to West Virginia should not be a disqualifying factor, but that Kentucky win is looking less impressive in the rear-view mirror.
The other six were Clemson, Missouri, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and UCLA — a couple of which have been in the actual top 25, but not yet on this ballot. In terms of resume, Missouri and Clemson are both in the top three in the country (only West Virginia has better wins, numerically speaking). In terms of predictive analytics — which still have preseason assumptions baked in at this point, Clemson stands out and Missouri is at the back of the pack.
I ended up going with Clemson, San Diego State — which has the third-best set of wins in this group — and Missouri. The choice for 25 came down to Missouri and Richmond. I went with Missouri based on how impressive Illinois has been and how well Missouri played in Braggin’ Rights on Saturday. It’s less about dropping Richmond than these other teams moving ahead, which happens early in the season.
Would really have liked to have found a way to keep Richmond, but with Virginia and Louisville on COVID pause, the kind of teams that might have dropped out with a loss aren’t even playing. (Virginia would have played Michigan State and Louisville would have played Wisconsin, so there was every possibility one or both lost.) Duke and North Carolina are on the same double-secret probation now. I believe both teams will be fine, and their losses are to really good teams. But at some point they have to start beating the other teams in the top 25 to stay in the top 25.
THIS SEASON’S BALLOTS
THIS WEEK’S TOP 25 BASKETBALL BALLOT
1. Gonzaga (last week: 1)
2. Baylor (2)
3. Iowa (3)
4. Kansas (4)
5. Villanova (5)
6. Texas (6)
7. Texas Tech (10)
8. Michigan State (11)
9. Houston (9)
10. Florida State (14)
11. West Virginia (15)
12. Illinois (7)
13. Creighton (8)
14. Wisconsin (16)
15. Tennessee (18)
16. Ohio State (21)
17. Florida (12)
18. Michigan (23)
19. Virginia (19)
20. Duke (13)
21. North Carolina (17)
22. Louisville (22)
23. Clemson (NR)
24. San Diego State (NR)
25. Missouri (NR)
OUT: Arizona State (20), Richmond (24), Virginia Tech (25)
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 8:32 AM.
