As we head into what is probably the lightest week of games all season long, here’s this week’s Top 25. Analysis after the jump…
QnD Analysis.
- Limited Penalty. Three teams in the #11-#15 range last week fell to inferior opponents in Saturday with Florida tripping up against Richmond, Georgetown falling at home against Old Dominion, and in possibly the biggest stunner, Tennessee getting crushed by a depleted USC squad. While the Vols did take an 8-ranking tumble, they still remain in the top 15. Georgetown and Florida fall two and three spots, respectively. The pollsters couldn’t penalize those teams very much due to the lack of viable candidates to replace them in the #20-#25 range.
- In n’ Out. For the second straight week, five new teams emerge in the top 25. Temple rode an impressive road win at Seton Hall on the heels of their Villanova upset to a spot at #20. Temple and #21 Clemson were the only new additions to be ranked by all four of our pollsters. Texas A&M also joined the poll but their spot will be tested tonight at #18 Washington. The biggest surprise may be Xavier, ranked at #24 despite their pedestrian 8-4 record. Two of our pollsters were impressed by their performance at Butler on Saturday (moreso than the officials, we guess). UNLV barely edged Georgia Tech as our final team. Dropping from the ranks were Gonzaga after their egg against Duke, Illinois after falling to Georgia, Cincinnati following their loss to UAB and those Yellow Jackets.
- Variance. Different pollsters views the Tennessee loss in different ways, as the Vols were all over the map in this week’s poll (range: #12 to #24), and Washington continues to confound some of our voters (range: #10 to NR). Texas Tech is a third team that folks are wobbly on, as they ranked from #14 in one ballot to NR on two others after taking a loss at Wichita State.
- Conference Call. Big East (5), Big 12 (5), SEC (4), ACC (3), Big 10 (2), A10 (2), Mountain West (2), Pac-10 (1), Horizon (1).