Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 5
News & Observer sports columnist Luke DeCock is serving as an Associated Press Top 25 basketball poll voter for the 2021-22 NCAA basketball season. This is his AP ballot for December 13, 2021.
It’s starting to look like one of those years when the No. 1 ranking is a curse, not an honor.
After Purdue’s loss at Rutgers (and narrow escape against N.C. State), Baylor will likely become the fourth No. 1 team in four weeks, keeping us on pace with 2019-20 for the most turnover in a recent polling year. That season saw Michigan State, Duke, Kentucky, Louisville and Kansas and Gonzaga all take a turn in the first eight polls, with Baylor becoming the seventh No. 1 team in January and Kansas potentially claiming a Helms Foundation national title at the end.
The defending champs shouldn’t have to wait that long this time around. While there’s still a chance Duke or Gonzaga could end up No. 1, the Bears are in the top spot on this ballot and -- undefeated with wins over Michigan State and Villanova -- objectively have the best resume.
Michigan State and Ohio State make what seem like big jumps on to the ballot from unranked -- the Spartans 11th and the Buckeyes 13th -- but there was a huge crush of teams that just missed the top 25 on this ballot last week and either one easily could have claimed the 25th spot. It’s not as big a jump when you think of it that way.
We get caught up in that arbitrary Rubicon of IN and OUT at the 25th ranking when some weeks there are 32 teams worth ranking and -- it happens -- some weeks there are 23. Colorado State and Seton Hall also join the party while this week’s winners/losers in the “good enough to be ranked but you only get 25 spots” department are Texas Tech, Loyola Chicago and Iowa State, with St. Mary’s and North Carolina just in the next tier.
Not sure why so many voters are sleeping on San Francisco, which actually has one of the top resumes in the country (10th in WAB, 14th in SOR) and at 32nd in KenPom is ahead of popular top-25 teams like Arkansas and Iowa State, neither of which appear on this ballot.
Arkansas drops out from 13th because the Razorbacks played a weak early schedule, then lost to the first half-decent team they played. Is Arkansas a top-25 team? Probably. Is there any way to determine that other than faith at this point? No.
THIS SEASON’S BALLOTS
Preseason | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
THIS WEEK’S TOP 25 BASKETBALL BALLOT
1. Baylor (Last week: 2)
2. Duke (3)
3. Gonzaga (6)
4. UCLA (7)
5. Kansas (8)
6. Arizona (12)
7. Alabama (14)
8. Purdue (1)
9. USC (15)
10. LSU (16)
11. Michigan State (NR)
12. Villanova (4)
13. Ohio State (NR)
14. Auburn (20)
15. Houston (9)
16. Tennessee (10)
17. Xavier (21)
18. Colorado State (NR)
19. Seton Hall (NR)
20. San Francisco (22)
21. Connecticut (18)
22. Illinois (19)
23. Texas (5)
24. Wisconsin (23)
25. Kentucky (11)
OUT Arkansas (13), Florida (17), St. Bonaventure (24), BYU (25)
This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 8:29 AM with the headline "Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 5."
