Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 3
There are times when the No. 1 team is a matter of great controversy and times when one team seems to sit there for weeks, unchallenged, like furniture. In fact, those are the rhythms the AP poll usually falls into, one or the other. This week is sort of the opposite.
Thanks to a stacked field in Maui, whichever team emerged from that maelstrom — Kansas, Purdue, Marquette — was going to have an unassailable claim to the No. 1 spot. The Boilermakers, already No. 1 on some ballots, left no doubt as they attempt to Pull A Virginia and atone for last year’s first-round upset by Farleigh Dickinson.
With Zach Edey back and as tall as ever, the maturation of sophomore guards Braden Smith and Foster Loyer, along with the addition of veteran shooter Lance Jones from Southern Illinois, appears to have addressed some of Purdue’s shortcomings.
There are some tough games on Purdue’s schedule in December (most notably Arizona) before entering the heart of the Big Ten season, but there’s every reason to believe the Boilermakers can hang onto this spot for a while. That would fall under “one team seems to sit there for weeks.”
Also under consideration this week: Liberty, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Princeton
This season’s ballots
Luke DeCock’s Week 3 AP Top 25 basketball ballot
1. Purdue (Last week: 2)
2. Arizona (5)
3. Connecticut (4)
4. Houston (7)
5. Kansas (1)
6. Villanova (17)
7. Creighton (3)
8. Marquette (8)
9. Tennessee (6)
10. Duke (11)
11. Gonzaga (10)
12. North Carolina (9)
13. Mississippi State (19)
14. Texas A&M (12)
15. TCU (15)
16. FAU (18)
17. Kentucky (20)
18. San Diego State (21)
19. Baylor (24)
20. Alabama (13)
21. Texas (14)
22. James Madison (22)
23. BYU (NR)
24. Colorado State (NR)
25. Michigan State (23)
OUT USC (16), Drake (25)
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This story was originally published November 27, 2023 at 9:26 AM with the headline "Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 3."
