AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll: Who’s at the top? Luke DeCock’s Week 2 ballot
My preseason faith in Rick Pitino and St. John’s was not rewarded, although I’m not sure we’ve seen the last of the Johnnies — and losses to Michigan and Dayton aren’t exactly catastrophic in the grand scheme of things — but nevertheless St. John’s time on this ballot was quicker than expected.
A couple of slam-dunk newcomers fill the spots vacated by St. John’s and Arkansas — Baylor, which was one of the toughest exclusions from my preseason ballot, and Mississippi State, which has the best resume of anyone who isn’t James Madison in the young season so far per Wins Above Bubble.
Mississippi State’s a great example of why the eye test is dumb. Taken individually, the Bulldogs’ wins over Arizona State, Tennessee-Martin, North Alabama, Washington State and Northwestern don’t seem like much. But taken collectively, it’s one of the most impressive groups of wins anyone has. Only the Dukes (not Duke) have better.
With some 1,000 games played every season, the human brain isn’t capable of adequately assessing the strength or accomplishments of every individual college basketball team, let alone comparing them. Fortunately, we’ve figured out ways to let computers whisper the answers in our ears. Will we ever be smart enough to listen?
Arkansas exits while Villanova, USC and Florida Atlantic do not. The latter three have much better underlying analytics at this point, which earns them a second chance. The Champions Classic losses by Michigan State (to Duke) and Kentucky (to Kansas) are only lightly held against those teams, although in Sparty’s case, it’s definitely double-secret-probation time.
Also under consideration this week: BYU, Clemson, Miami, Princeton, Virginia.
This season’s ballots
Luke DeCock’s Week 2 AP Top 25 basketball ballot
1. Kansas (Last week: 1)
2. Purdue (2)
3. Creighton (3)
4. Arizona (4)
5. Connecticut (5)
6. Tennessee (6)
7. Houston (8)
8. Marquette (9)
9. North Carolina (10)
10. Gonzaga (11)
11. Duke (12)
12. Texas A&M (13)
13. Alabama (16)
14. Texas (17)
15. TCU (21)
16. USC (7)
17. Villanova (15)
18. FAU (14)
19. Mississippi State (NR)
20. Kentucky (19)
21. San Diego State (22)
22. James Madison (23)
23. Michigan State (20)
24. Baylor (NR)
25. Drake (25)
OUT Arkansas (18), St. John’s (24)
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This story was originally published November 20, 2023 at 9:20 AM with the headline "AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll: Who’s at the top? Luke DeCock’s Week 2 ballot."
