We delayed the start of the Blogpoll this year so we could get a better sense as to the first few weeks of the season, so here it is. The blogpoll is represented through Monday night’s games (although records are current).
A Few Observations.
- High Risers. Villanova, Duke, Gonzaga, Oklahoma (all +6) and Wake Forest (+5) all rose significantly based on their unbeaten records to date. Syracuse and Xavier, also unbeaten, both entered the poll in the mid-teens.
- Dropping Fast. Wisconsin and USC fell out of the poll completely, although UW still received some votes. Otherwise, UCLA (-7), Davidson, Louisville, Michigan St. and Marquette (all -6) fell on the basis of upset losses (ok, not Davidson, but everyone else).
- Variance. Pollsters are still a little unsure about Duke, Purdue, Louisville and Tennessee, as their high Std Devs represent. Duke ranged from #3 to #24 on different ballots, and Louisville, for example, ranged from #6 to #24.
- Conference Roll Call. Big East (8), ACC (4), Big 12 (3), Big 10 (2), Pac-10 (2), SEC (2), A10 (1), CUSA (1), SoCon (1), WCC (1).
- Missing Team. We had Kansas at #25 on our ballot, and did not rank Arizona St.