New-look North Carolina moved up to No. 20 on at least one AP voter's ballot this week. ROBERT WILLETT
CHAPEL HILL — Not much time this week for a long intro to my weekly Associated Press top 25 ballot. So here it is, with how I ranked each team after the comma, followed by some thoughts:
For the first time since November, North Carolina is on my AP top 25 ballot. ROBERT WILLETT
CHAPEL HILL — The latest Associated Press top 25 poll is out. Indiana is first. Duke is third. Miami, which suffered an ugly loss at Wake Forest, is fifth. North Carolina received some votes this week. They received one from me. I had the Tar Heels No. 25 on my ballot.
Here’s how I voted (with how I had each team ranked last week), followed by some thoughts:
CHAPEL HILL — And the latest AP top 25 poll came out earlier today. Indiana remained No. 1, while Miami moved up to No. 2. The Hurricanes, though, are still atop my ballot. Which brings me to the sponsor of my ballot this week: Bob Seger’s “Still the Same.” Because, for once, the top of my ballot stayed the same from last week.
First time that could be said in a while. My ballot (with where I had that team ranked last week), followed by some thoughts:
CHAPEL HILL — Another week, another different team atop my Associated Press college basketball top 25 ballot. This is now the fifth consecutive week that I’ve had a new No. 1 team – and this one might be the most surprising of all.
Which is why my ballot this week is sponsored by “Imagine,” by John Lennon. Imagine there’s no heaven, the song goes, and no country and no possessions. Imagining a world without those things might have been more realistic than imagining a couple of months ago that anyone would vote Miami No. 1 in college basketball.
Yet that’s what I’ve done. My ballot (with my ranking last week in parentheses), followed by some thoughts:
CHAPEL HILL — And a new Associated Press top 25 is out. As always, my ballot is below, followed by some thoughts. This week, my ballot is brought to you by “Still haven’t found what I’m looking for,” by U2. Because more than halfway through this college basketball season, I still feel in some ways as clueless about some of these teams as I was when the season began.
Been a difficult season to figure, what with all the parity. My top 25 this week:
CHAPEL HILL — The new Associated Press top 25 college basketball poll is out. The theme song for this week's poll: Loser, by Beck. In recognition of the fact that teams on my ballot last week combined to lose 19 times -- none more decisively than Duke at Miami.
Here's a look at how I voted this week, with some post-ballot thoughts. The second number, after the comma, is where I had that team ranked last week:
The new Associated Press top 25 men's basketball poll is out. Duke back at No. 1. N.C. State down to No. 18. Miami in at No. 25. That’s it for the ACC, though for the first time in a while North Carolina appeared in the “others receiving votes” category.
Here’s I voted this week, followed by some thoughts:
Apologies for the late posting of this, folks, but for the sake of posterity and public examination here it is: my latest AP top 25 men’s college basketball ballot. (And here's the actual poll, released yesterday).
First my rankings, then some thoughts:
North Carolina coach Roy Williams was frustrated during a good portion of the Tar Heels' nonconference schedule.
As I wrote in this space a while back, I’m one of the 65 voters for the Associated Press men’s basketball poll. I posted my preseason ballot back in October, and wrote then that I’d be posting my ballot each week. But I haven’t been doing that, mainly because games in November and December are basically tune-ups for the start of conference play.
But as North Carolina coach Roy Williams put it recently, “big-time basketball” is here. In other words, the start of conference play is upon us. And so for the rest of the season, starting now, I’ll post my top 25 each week. Look for it either late Sunday night or sometime on Monday.
So here goes … the top 25 teams in the nation, as I see them right now, followed by some thoughts:
Roy Williams speaks for college basketball fans everywhere upon reading my preseason top 25 poll. ROBERT WILLETT
CHAPEL HILL — The Associated Press really lowered its standards this year. That’s right: I’m a voter in the AP top 25 college basketball poll.
The first poll will come out on Friday. I sent in my ballot today – along with my preseason team of five All-Americans. Each week in this space, during the season, I’ll post my ballot and will include some thoughts with it.
For now, my thoughts are these: I feel confident that Indiana and Louisville are the two best teams in the country entering the seasons. The Hoosiers and Cardinals are first and second in my poll.
Beyond that? Questions. Lots of questions.
