Highlights from the ballot while hoping everyone enjoys a happy holiday weekend …
I haven’t gone through old ballots, but it was bad … bad, bad, bad:
Sixteen of the teams on last week’s ballot lost, and they dropped a total of 22 games.
Twenty-two losses across a 25-team ballot.
Included in the carnage: No. 2 (Xavier), 4 (Villanova), 5 (Cincinnati), 6 (Purdue), 7 (Texas Tech) and 8 (Ohio State).
The Bears and Buckeyes lost twice, as did No. 11 Clemson, No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 23 Florida and No. 25 Miami.
You might think those results would cause a massive re-org of the ballot, except:
1. You need worthy teams to fill the vacated slots
2. Many of the losses were to other ranked/high-quality teams.
*** One thing did not change:
Virginia remained No. 1 after putting the defensive squeeze on Miami. And I moved Michigan State, which won twice (Northwestern and Minnesota), in the No. 2 slot.
Then came the shuffling and evaluation of losses.
Villanova actually moved up one spot (to No. 3) despite a loss to Providence, because the Wildcats beat No. 2 Xavier.
*** Two risers of note: Wichita State and Kansas.
The Shockers beat Cincinnati and Temple and climbed four spots, to No. 9.
The Jayhawks beat West Virginia and Iowa State and jumped five spots, to No. 11.
*** On the other hand …
Ohio State dropped six spots after losing to Michigan and Penn State, while Clemson fell five after dropping games to Duke and Florida State.
(The latter result played a far greater role than the former in my evaluation of the Tigers this week.)
*** Oh, and there was as much carnage at the bottom of the ballot as the top, with No. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 25 losing.
Removed from the ballot: Saint Mary’s, Oklahoma, Miami and Florida
Added to the ballot: Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, UCLA and Nevada.
1. Virginia2. Michigan State3. Villanova4. Xavier5. Duke6. Texas Tech7. Purdue8. Gonzaga9. Wichita State10. Cincinnati11. Kansas12. North Carolina13. Arizona14. Ohio State15. Rhode Island16. Clemson17. Michigan18. Auburn19. West Virginia20. Houston21. Middle Tennessee State22. Tennessee23. Creighton24. UCLA25. Nevada
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