ItsAesthus's Ballot for Week 13 of 2020-21
Submitted on Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 9:28PM EST
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Baylor
|
17-0 | Baylor has been out of action on a COVID pause for nearly two weeks; they face Cade Cunningham for the first time on Saturday. |
| 2 |
Gonzaga
|
20-0 | In the Bears’ absence, Gonzaga made a strong #1 case with dominant wins over BYU and San Francisco on the road |
| 3 |
Michigan
|
14-1 | Michigan made a triumphant return from a lengthy break to overcome a 12-point halftime deficit and win at Wisconsin. |
| 4 |
Ohio State
|
17-4 | The race for the last #1 seed is incredibly tight, with Ohio State parlaying wins at UMD and vs Indiana into the lead this week. |
| 5 |
Houston
|
17-2 | The Buckeyes edge out Houston by virtue of their strong winning resume, but the Coogs can make a statement with a win at Wichita. |
| 6 |
Villanova
|
13-3 | Villanova hasn’t been quite the same since returning from their own COVID pause, having gone a mere 5-2 with a loss to St. John’s. |
| 7 |
Virginia
|
15-3 | The ACC kind of fell into Virginia’s lap, but they’ve navigated their lock on the lead masterfully with a 4-0 February record. |
| 8 |
USC
|
17-3 | A banner week for USC it was not—struggling to wins against middling Washingtonians—but their Pac-12 lead is solid nonetheless. |
| 9 |
Florida State
|
11-3 | The Seminoles finally made it back to the court with a tough victory over Wake Forest; they’ll duel UVA for ACC supremacy tonight. |
| 10 |
Illinois
|
15-5 | Illinois managed to hold off Nebraska in overtime in yet another setback for a team that's been good but inconsistent all year. |
| 11 |
Oklahoma
|
13-5 | OU's won seven of their last eight, and a thrilling double-overtime win against WVU put them into sole second in the Big 12. |
| 12 |
Virginia Tech
|
14-4 | The Hokies will look to make a move in the ACC race in their visit to Florida State on Saturday, ending a two-week break. |
| 13 |
Texas Tech
|
14-6 | The Red Raiders dropped a game at home against WVU; though the best of any six-loss team, their resume is lacking in big wins. |
| 14 |
Alabama
|
17-5 | Wins over South Carolina and Georgia—the latter with a whopping 115 points—made a fine rebound from the Tide's first SEC loss. |
| 15 |
Louisville
|
11-4 | Perhaps the ACC's most-forgotten contender, Louisville is set to face Syracuse and UNC this week after two weeks off. |
| 16 |
Texas
|
13-5 | Texas faced two of the Big 12's worst teams this week and didn't disappoint, though their 80-77 win at KSU was too close for comfort. |
| 17 |
Creighton
|
16-5 | Creighton surges from outside the rankings to near the top 15 with a dominating win over Big East leader Villanova. |
| 18 |
Iowa
|
15-6 | The Hawkeyes bested the Scarlet Knights in a ranked-ranked mid-week duel, then took care of business on the road against MSU. |
| 19 |
Tennessee
|
14-5 | Tennessee continues to plummet after a double-digit road loss to LSU, dropping to fifth in the conference standings. |
| 20 |
Arkansas
|
16-5 | Elsewhere in the SEC, Arkansas took down Mizzou in a season-defining win for the Razorbacks that put them in a tie for second. |
| 21 |
Missouri
|
12-5 | That game dropped Mizzou all the way to sixth in the SEC, whence they'll attempt a late charge via a UGA-SC-MISS-TA&M-UF final run. |
| 22 |
Colorado State
|
14-4 | With the fewest losses of any MW team and head-to-head splits against their top rivals, CSU has quietly compiled a tournament resume. |
| 23 |
Loyola Chicago
|
18-4 | The MVC moment we'd all been waiting for arrived, and it didn't disappoint. A strong win and OT loss left Loyola the leader. |
| 24 |
West Virginia
|
14-6 | West Virginia's inconsistency continued to plague them as they went from a huge road win at Texas Tech to a home loss against OU. |
| 25 |
Drake
|
19-2 | Though their win in the Loyola-Drake doubleheader wasn't as dominant, it *was* among the most impressive defensive showings all year. |