Oklahoma State University LogoItsAesthus's Ballot for Week 13 of 2020-21

Submitted on Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 9:28PM EST
RankTeamReason
1 Baylor University Logo 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 University Logo 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 University of Michigan Logo 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 University Logo 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 University of Houston Logo 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 University Logo 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 University of Virginia Logo 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 University of Southern California Logo 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 University Logo 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 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Logo 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 University of Oklahoma Logo 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 Polytechnic Institute and State University Logo 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 University Logo 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 University of Alabama Logo 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 University of Louisville Logo 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 University of Texas at Austin Logo 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 University Logo Creighton 16-5 | Creighton surges from outside the rankings to near the top 15 with a dominating win over Big East leader Villanova.
18 University of Iowa Logo 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 University of Tennessee Logo Tennessee 14-5 | Tennessee continues to plummet after a double-digit road loss to LSU, dropping to fifth in the conference standings.
20 University of Arkansas Logo 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 University of Missouri Logo 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 University Logo 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 University Chicago Logo 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 University Logo 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 University Logo 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.