byzantiums's Ballot for Week 4 of 2021-22
Submitted on Monday, November 29, 2021 at 9:40AM EST
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Duke
|
+6. Easily the best set of two wins in the country. Unless you're hung up on poll inertia or the Campbell game, this is the pick. |
| 2 |
Purdue
|
+1. Has looked dominant against weak opponents and solid against good ones. Victim of unlucky scheduling. |
| 3 |
Gonzaga
|
-2. Could still be the best team in the country, but they're a lot sloppier than a year ago and don't have the same killer instincts. |
| 4 |
Baylor
|
+2. Kendell Brown is the best freshman in the country outside of Banchero/Holmgren/Smith, and I'm not sold that he's far behind Holmgren. |
| 5 |
Villanova
|
=. Had a better week than Kansas or UCLA by avoiding playing a game. Needs to find some depth. |
| 6 |
Arizona
|
+3. Was high on them last week and nothing happened to change that. Koloko/Tubelis/Mathurin is one of the best trios in the nation. |
| 7 |
Kentucky
|
+4. Haven't played a good team since the Champions Classic, but look dominant against everyone they play. |
| 8 |
Kansas
|
-6. One loss shouldn't kill a team. But Kansas has serious defensive issues and David McCormack has taken a huge step back from last year. |
| 9 |
UCLA
|
-5. Flawed team that's going to stay that way unless Cody Riley is a first team all-American. Too many top teams have great frontcourts. |
| 10 |
BYU
|
+8. I had them too low last week, this is a great basketball team. |
| 11 |
Texas
|
+2. Marcus Carr? Really bad at basketball. Timmy Allen? Really good at basketball. |
| 12 |
Arkansas
|
+2. Three unconvincing wins in a row, but they're still wins! |
| 13 |
Tennessee
|
+3. Uneventful week, took care of business. |
| 14 |
USC
|
NEW. Soft schedule so far but this team plays great defense. And Chevez Goodwin is a revelation. |
| 15 |
Wisconsin
|
NEW. Is this too high? I debated going even higher. Had the best week in the country aside from Duke. |
| 16 |
Florida
|
+6. When do we start talking about whether Colin Castleton is better than Hunter Dickinson? |
| 17 |
Houston
|
+4. Metrics love them but I'm not quite there. They beat up on bad Virginia and Oregon teams and lost to the only good team they've played. |
| 18 |
Alabama
|
-6. Looked awful against Iona and pretty bad against Drake. Maybe the worst early-season coaching job outside of Memphis. |
| 19 |
Iowa State
|
NEW. The greatest turnaround in college basketball history. |
| 20 |
St. Bonaventure
|
-3. Hey Bonnies, you know the game starts in the first half right? |
| 21 |
Auburn
|
NEW. Jabari Smith might be the most impressive freshman in the country right now, ahead of Banchero. |
| 22 |
LSU
|
NEW. Darius Days. |
| 23 |
Memphis
|
-15. This team almost convinced me it could overcome Penny. It can't. His inability to use Jalen Duren properly is pathetic. |
| 24 |
Seton Hall
|
NEW. Dropped out: Virginia Tech (19), UConn (20), Michigan (15), Illinois (10), Maryland (24), Oregon (23), Xavier (25). |
| 25 |
Ohio State
|
NEW. Also considered: Michigan State, Iowa, Utah State, Colorado State. |