ItsAesthus's Ballot for Week 7 of 2020-21
Submitted on Sunday, January 3, 2021 at 9:55PM EST
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Gonzaga
|
Still dominant, still undefeated, still #1. Nobody's beating wins over Kansas, West Virginia, Iowa, and Virginia. |
| 2 |
Baylor
|
It's a shame the Bulldogs and Bears didn't play, though. A surprisingly poor showing against 2-5 ISU weakened Baylor's #1 case. |
| 3 |
Texas
|
Whereas #1 and #2 are the same as ever, #3 is a stunner. At 9-1 with wins over Indiana, UNC, Okla St, and Kansas, who'd pick against them? |
| 4 |
Iowa
|
Iowa rebounds with a huge win over Rutgers that may prove to be a preview of the Big Ten championship game. |
| 5 |
Villanova
|
Nova's win over #3 Texas glitters, but a miserable resume outside of that—including a loss to 3-6 Georgetown—holds them back. |
| 6 |
Kansas
|
For a team whose only losses are to #1 and #3, Kansas has looked downright mediocre in those games. They may still win the B12, but *yikes*. |
| 7 |
Houston
|
Houston's loss to Tulsa will probably end up fairly bad, but a big win over theretofore-undefeated SMU reminds us how good they can be. |
| 8 |
Creighton
|
How Creighton lost to Marquette is still beyond me, but it's hard to ignore the ten-ton weight dragging their ranking down. |
| 9 |
Tennessee
|
'Twas an extremely Tennessee week for the Vols, who downed then-7-0 Mizzou and promptly lost to then-6-3 Alabama. |
| 10 |
Rutgers
|
Big Ten frontrunner Rutgers remains bizarre, wonderful, and true, even with a narrow loss to high-flying Iowa. |
| 11 |
Michigan
|
The Wolverines are closing fast on the Scarlet Knights, though, finally earning a notable win by crushing Northwestern to reach 9-0. |
| 12 |
Wisconsin
|
Not content with one eye-popping loss (Marquette), the Badgers added another (Maryland) to drop seven spots and cede Big Ten standing. |
| 13 |
Missouri
|
Mizzou was dealt their first loss of the season by then-undefeated Tennessee, but with several strong wins, they may be the better bet. |
| 14 |
West Virginia
|
WVU's post-game penchant hasn't caught up with them against a bad opponent just yet, but 6-2 OU dealt them a third quality loss. |
| 15 |
Michigan State
|
The natural assumption is that MSU—with losses only to WISC, NU, and MINN—is good. But will it hold up against the Big Ten's best? |
| 16 |
Oregon
|
Oregon put themselves in the firm lead of the Pac-12 with a definitive win over Stanford. Next up: a spooky 7-3 Colorado squad in Boulder. |
| 17 |
Minnesota
|
The Gophers' bounceback from a 92-65 loss to Illinois suffered a setback against Wisconsin, but got back on track with a 77-60 win over OSU. |
| 18 |
San Diego State
|
Last year, SDSU made it to 26 games before their first loss. This year, BYU and CSU (admittedly solid teams) have dealt them two in eight. |
| 19 |
Virginia Tech
|
With wins over two ranked teams and a loss to 3-4 Penn State, the Hokies are enigmatic, but they can certainly say they're better than UVA. |
| 20 |
BYU
|
Their losses: 6-2 USC and 8-1 Boise. Their best win: #18 SDSU. On a 4-0 run, last year's WCC runners-up are hot and hungry. |
| 21 |
Ohio State
|
Big Ten home courts take no prisoners. The Buckeyes are 6-0 at Schottenstein and 1-3 away, their most recent loss to Minnesota by 17. |
| 22 |
Clemson
|
I promise, I didn't rank OSU and Clemson together on purpose. Anyway, the Tigers have solid wins, with their only loss to Virginia Tech. |
| 23 |
Illinois
|
What to make of Illinois? Four losses, yet they play so well. Eight wins, but none against the very best. |
| 24 |
St. Louis
|
You didn't think I'd forgotten little old Saint Louis, did you? The A-10's best have stumbled early, leaving the Billikens the inside track. |
| 25 |
Florida
|
We still don't know much about Florida, but 5-1's 5-1. Next five: Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Northwestern, Florida State. |