SleveMcDichael4's Ballot for Week 5 of 2018-19
Submitted on Monday, December 3, 2018 at 2:58AM EST
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Gonzaga
|
This gambit doesn't get any easier. Washington (not nobody) and Tennessee (legitimately somebody) this week. Should be fun! |
| 2 |
Michigan
|
Uhhhhh...what the Christ got into these guys!? I've run out of words to describe the defense and the offense just destroyed two legit teams. |
| 3 |
Virginia
|
They're doing that thing where they beat everybody and nobody cares because it looks like they're stuck in the 1950s. Hey, wins are wins. |
| 4 |
Duke
|
Stetson's the alma mater of two active Cy Young winners: Kluber and deGrom. Perhaps they should stick to striking out on the baseball field. |
| 5 |
Kansas
|
Far too often for my liking, it seems Vick is Kansas and Kansas is Vick, but I do think they'll gel better as the season progresses. |
| 6 |
Nevada
|
For a team who was supposedly supposed to struggle on defense, I think they're due for a little credit on that side of the court. |
| 7 |
Tennessee
|
What I thought would be the Schofield show has instead become the Williams show, which is fine because he seems to be great at everything. |
| 8 |
Auburn
|
Nice of them to remind us they can still obliterate terrile opponents. |
| 9 |
Wisconsin
|
A couple of those Davison charges were totally bogus, but he, Happ and Trice are going to keep wreaking havoc on quality opponents all year. |
| 10 |
North Carolina
|
This is where this poll got hard; so many teams in this range lost games they shouldn't have. UNC still sits atop this tier in my eyes. |
| 11 |
Virginia Tech
|
And VT is right behind them, as I finished the Penn State game feeling less like I overrated VT and more like I underrated Penn State. |
| 12 |
Texas Tech
|
A pretty bad showing against Memphis covered up by the fact that they came back to win the game. |
| 13 |
Michigan State
|
Welcome to Bizarro World: where Rutgers is actually kinda good and Michigan State almost losing to them isn't seen as a complete joke. |
| 14 |
Florida State
|
Almost blew it at home and needed late-game heroics, but against a top team, a win's a win. |
| 15 |
Kentucky
|
If you just looked at the final score of the UNC Greensboro game, you'd think it was a smooth win. It wasn't, but it was pretty promising. |
| 16 |
Purdue
|
Even ignoring the Michigan loss, they've played two teams at about their talent level very well, but haven't been able to finish the job. |
| 17 |
Nebraska
|
Their continued good performance has absolved me of guilt for ranking them 25 instead of Buffalo last week. These guys can defend! |
| 18 |
Ohio State
|
Syracuse loss is an outlier as the Orange shot the lights out from long range, to which the Buckeyes responded by holding Minnesota to 0-13. |
| 19 |
Iowa State
|
You know how you can "win" your bye week in football by way of everyone around you collapsing? One game against Omaha will have to suffice. |
| 20 |
Marquette
|
That random 23-point loss to Indiana at home is beginning to look like a defensive outlier. Howard and the boys can play. |
| 21 |
Creighton
|
They've gotten progressively better over the season. Alexander is a beast and almost singlehandedly made that Gonzaga game, well, a game. |
| 22 |
Buffalo
|
Less that I'm finally convinced they're good and more that I have new reason to believe the teams formerly ahead of them are not as much so. |
| 23 |
Louisville
|
Who needs Pitino? These guys aren't quite in the ACC's top tier, but their relatively deep roster deserves some credit for its results. |
| 24 |
Villanova
|
That blowout loss to Michigan doesn't look so bad anymore, does it? Barely getting bye La Salle, though. That...that looked bad. |
| 25 |
Texas
|
They lost to Radford, saw their two marquee performances lose, and still didn't drop off my ballot. Why? All the mid-tier teams are a mess! |