Only one more of these after this week, and then unlike our football counterparts, they become completely irrelevant. Analysis after the jump…
QnD Analysis.
- With the top three teams losing in last week’s poll, #4 Syracuse ascended to the top spot. #1 Kansas and #2 Kentucky weren’t penalized very heavily for suffering only their second losses of the season, but the Robbie Hummel-less #3 Purdue Boilermakers dropped precipitously after their loss at home to Michigan State on Sunday.
- In n’ Out. There were three new teams entering the poll this week: #23 Maryland by virtue of its double-overtime win over Virginia Tech, #24 Xavier from its double-OT win over Richmond, and the CUSA leader #25 UTEP Miners. The teams they replaced were Texas, who continues to underwhelm everyone, Richmond, and Northern Iowa.
- Variance. The team causing the most consternation this week is #10 Purdue. Unsure how to handle the loss of Robbie Hummel, the pollsters had the Boilermakers ranked anywhere from #7 to #17. Two other teams that folks are having trouble getting a handle on are: #18 Georgetown (range: #11 to #22) and #21 Texas A&M (range: #13 to NR).
- Conference Call. Big East (5), Big 12 (4), Big 10 (4), SEC (3), ACC (2), MWC (2), A10 (2), CUSA (1), WCC (1), Horizon (1).