ItsAesthus's Ballot for Week 16 of 2020-21
Submitted on Monday, March 8, 2021 at 9:02AM EST
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Gonzaga
|
24-0 | The Bulldogs sat idle all week amid the first rounds of the WCC's unusual tournament format. They return against St. Mary's tonight. |
| 2 |
Baylor
|
21-1 | If there was any concern that Baylor wouldn't return to their pre-break glory, it was dispelled as they swept three top-20 foes. |
| 3 |
Michigan
|
19-3 | Michigan's briefly interesting case at the #2 spot, meanwhile, came to an abrupt halt with losses to Illinois and MSU this week. |
| 4 |
Illinois
|
20-6 | While the top three are still well ahead, Illinois could have a case to overtake UM depending on the Big Ten tournament results. |
| 5 |
Arkansas
|
21-5 | Arkansas averted disaster at Texas A&M to wrap up the regular season with an eight-game winning streak dating to January 30. |
| 6 |
Houston
|
21-3 | Houston, too, narrowly avoided defeat—or at the very least overtime—with a buzzer-beating three against Memphis. |
| 7 |
Alabama
|
21-6 | The battle between Alabama and Arkansas (both of whom had winning streaks of at least half their SEC schedules) could be incredible. |
| 8 |
Iowa
|
20-7 | A back-and-forth duel with middling Wisconsin, won primarily thanks to Luka Garza's continued heroics, didn't move the needle much. |
| 9 |
Oklahoma State
|
18-7 | The Cowboys have but one loss (to Baylor) in the last month, and earned revenge at WVU without their top two scorers. |
| 10 |
Ohio State
|
18-8 | OSU's four-game losing streak is about as good as they come—three losses to top-ten teams—but a four-game losing streak it remains. |
| 11 |
West Virginia
|
18-8 | With a 19-point comeback in the first game and an understaffed upset in the second, Round 3 of Cowboys-Mountaineers should thrill. |
| 12 |
Oregon
|
19-5 | Oregon closed the college basketball regular season by cruising to victory against rival Oregon State and claiming the Pac-12 1 seed. |
| 13 |
San Diego State
|
20-4 | The MW's one-seed controversy died down with CSU's upset loss to Nevada, handing a well-earned title to the dominant Aztecs. |
| 14 |
USC
|
21-6 | USC's strong finish, with wins vs Stanford and at UCLA, couldn't quite catch Oregon, but they'll be dangerous in the tournament. |
| 15 |
Purdue
|
18-8 | The Boilermakers have finally hit their stride, winning five on the trot to surge to the Big Ten's 4 seed ahead of an OSU they swept. |
| 16 |
Kansas
|
18-8 | Well, that was...something. Coming off a huge win against theretofore-undefeated Baylor, the Jayhawks nearly lost to UTEP, somehow. |
| 17 |
Villanova
|
16-5 | When on their game, as in a 70-62 win vs Creighton, few can beat Villanova. When off it? They lose to the likes of 13-12 Providence. |
| 18 |
Texas Tech
|
17-9 | Texas Tech put in another competitive loss to Baylor, landing sixth in the Big 12 tourney but arguably with an edge over #3 Texas. |
| 19 |
Virginia Tech
|
15-5 | The Hokies are 1-1 in the last 30 days, yet still arguably lead the ACC and earned a double-bye in the tourney. Go figure. |
| 20 |
Texas
|
17-7 | The Longhorns put TCU away on the road to narrowly claim the 3 seed in the Big 12 tourney. They'll try to avoid a 3-0 sweep to TTU. |
| 21 |
Loyola Chicago
|
24-4 | The Ramblers seemed unfamiliar with the concept of a close win in their MVC championship run, rolling 73-49, 65-49, and 75-65. |
| 22 |
Florida State
|
15-5 | All FSU had to do to win the ACC regular-season title was beat 10-14 Notre Dame. Their spot in 22nd should tell you how that went. |
| 23 |
Creighton
|
18-7 | Creighton bounced back from their loss at Villanova to outlast a resurgent UConn in the chase for the Big East #2 seed. |
| 24 |
BYU
|
19-5 | The last non-Gonzaga team to beat BYU: Pepperdine, on January 27. Their opponent in the WCC semifinals? You guessed it. |
| 25 |
Winthrop
|
23-1 | The Eagles can be ignored no longer. With a tourney spot wrapped up, one-loss Winthrop finally jumped into the back of the top 25. |