AP Top 25: How I voted
Published: 2/11/2013 5:55 PM
Last Modified: 2/11/2013 8:07 PM
After a wild week in college basketball, the Associated Press Top 25 poll was released Monday:
1. Indiana (26) 21-3
2. Duke (20) 21-2
3. Miami (17) 19-3
4. Michigan 21-3
5. Gonzaga (2) 23-2
6. Syracuse 20-3
7. Florida 19-3
8. Michigan State 20-4
9. Arizona 20-3
10. Kansas State 19-4
11. Butler 20-4
12. Louisville 19-5
13. Ohio State 17-6
14. Kansas 19-4
15. Georgetown 17-4
16. Pittsburgh 20-5
17. Oklahoma State 17-5
18. Marquette 17-5
19. New Mexico 20-4
20. Wisconsin 17-7
21. Notre Dame 19-5
22. Memphis 20-3
23. Oregon 19-5
24. Colorado State 19-4
25. Kentucky 17-6
After much debate with myself, here's how I voted:
1. Duke
2. Gonzaga
3. Miami
4. Indiana
5. Syracuse
6. Michigan
7. Florida
8. Michigan State
9. Arizona
10. Kansas State
11. Butler
12. Ohio State
13. Louisville
14. Georgetown
15. Oklahoma State
16. Kansas
17. Pittsburgh
18. New Mexico
19. Marquette
20. Notre Dame
21. Wisconsin
22. Oregon
23. Memphis
24. Cincinnati
25. Minnesota
Dropped from the rankings: Creighton 16, Cincinnati 17, Minnesota 18, Missouri 21.
Four of the top five stumbling complicated things significantly. I think you could have almost any arrangement of Nos. 1-7. I don't disagree with my fellow voters who kept Indiana at No. 1 despite a last-second loss to Illinois. I dropped the Hoosiers in part because they lost on an inbounds play that was reminiscent of my junior-high playing days. (We won three games in two years.) At this point, no one should want to be No. 1, because suddenly you're the underdog.
Fourteen ranked teams lost, including five that lost twice. The most notable of that group was free-falling Kansas, which despite three straight losses remains 14th. That seems to be an appropriate area for the Jayhawks, who have a huge game against No. 10 Kansas State tonight.
With five straight victories, Oklahoma State picked a good time to get hot. Only three ranked teams have a longer win streak than the Cowboys: No. 3 Miami (11), No. 5 Gonzaga (six) and No. 22 Memphis (12).
This is Rivalry Week for many teams, and two of the biggest games are tonight. Here are some of the best of the week:
No. 18 Marquette at No. 15 Georgetown, 6 p.m. Monday
No. 10 Kansas State at No. 14 Kansas, 8 p.m. Monday
No. 25 Kentucky at No. 7 Florida, 6 p.m. Tuesday
No. 4 Michigan at No. 8 Michigan State, 8 p.m. Tuesday
North Carolina at No. 2 Duke, 8 p.m. Wednesday
No. 9 Arizona at Colorado, 9 p.m. Thursday
No. 15 Georgetown at Cincinnati, 8 p.m. Friday
No. 16 at No. 18 Marquette, noon Saturday
Oklahoma at No. 17 Oklahoma State, 12:30 p.m. Saturday
Written by
Kelly Hines
Sports Writer
