Luke DeCock’s AP Top 25 basketball poll ballot: Week 14

Luke DeCock
·2 min read

Last week, this question was posed in this space: Is the big gap between Baylor and Michigan or between Michigan and the field? Talk about being overtaken by events.

Even if Baylor hadn’t lost to Kansas coming off a lengthy COVID pause, Michigan’s continued dominance would have pushed the Wolverines ahead of the Bears into the No. 2 spot. What’s happening in Ann Arbor is quite remarkable. It feels like 75 percent of the Final Four is already booked, although Baylor slipped enough with the loss that it’s really just half, with Michigan rising high above the field and Baylor dropping to the top of it for the first time this season.

Is Michigan, then, perhaps No. 1? No, Gonzaga still has that spot secured. For now. It’s close.

Interesting decisions at the top -- where seven of the top 10 teams on my ballot last week lost at least one game -- and the bottom of the ballot. I went with Clemson, Oklahoma State and St. Bonaventure for three open spots but there wasn’t much separating that trio from Florida, Rutgers and Maryland. But in a close call, I’ll always lean toward the mid-major.

THIS SEASON’S BALLOTS

Preseason | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13

THIS WEEK’S TOP 25 BASKETBALL BALLOT

1. Gonzaga (last week: 1)

2. Michigan (3)

3. Baylor (2)

4. Illinois (4)

5. West Virginia (9)

6. Iowa (6)

7. Ohio State (5)

8. Houston (14)

9. Alabama (7)

10. Villanova (8)

11. Purdue (19)

12. Florida State (10)

13. Arkansas (20)

14. Creighton (12)

15. Loyola-Chicago (16)

16. Virginia (11)

17. BYU (21)

18. Kansas (18)

19. Colorado (24)

20. USC (13)

21. Wisconsin (17)

22. San Diego State (25)

23. Clemson (NR)

24. Oklahoma State (NR)

25. St. Bonaventure (NR)

OUT Oklahoma (15), Texas (22), Tennessee (23)