Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 9
I won’t apologize for not ranking Alabama last week — there were several candidates with equally good resumes in a mishmash of teams for the final couple spots — but give the Crimson Tide credit for leaving no doubt in the equation this week.
It may seem like a big jump from unranked to the top 10 but it’s really just a jump from No. 26 or 27 to No. 10, basically the same adjustment as slumping Tennessee, but in reverse. And with so many other teams having not-so-good weeks, there’s nothing unusual about that.
The mid-majors get some more love at the bottom this week. Winthrop and Drake are joined by BYU and Loyola. That leaves as many Missouri Valley teams on my ballot as ACC teams. Tough year for the ACC. Crazy season.
THIS SEASON’S BALLOTS
Preseason | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 8
THIS WEEK’S TOP 25 BASKETBALL BALLOT
1. Gonzaga (last week: 1)
2. Baylor (2)
3. Villanova (4)
4. Michigan (7)
5. Houston (9)
6. Texas (5)
7. Virginia (13)
8. Iowa (3)
9. West Virginia (14)
10. Alabama (NR)
11. Wisconsin (10)
12. Ohio State (11)
13. Florida State (19)
14. Illinois (20)
15. UCLA (12)
16. Texas Tech (17)
17. Kansas (8)
18. USC (15)
19. Tennessee (6)
20. Creighton (18)
21. Missouri (NR)
22. BYU (NR)
23. Drake (24)
24. Loyola-Chicago (NR)
25. Winthrop (25)
OUT Connecticut (16), Clemson (21), Colorado (22), Minnesota (23)
This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 9:22 AM.
