It took a while this year, but it's finally happened --- while filling out a top 25 ballot, I grumbled to myself "Do I really have to find [X-number] more teams to rank?"
Indeed, things get pretty uninspired once you get past No. 22 or No. 23. And with seemingly everyone between No. 11 and No. 35 losing last week (OK, that's hyperbole; only 14 of those 25 teams lost), it is tough coming up with solid candidates to bump into the top 25.
So this week's newcomers to the ballot are Arizona State (which has zero road wins and neutral court defeats of lousy Louisiana State and lousier Princeton as well as a 3-0 Pac-10 start) and RPI darling St. Mary's.
Another trend on this vote is not punishing teams too much for understandable losses. Washington State moved up a spot despite its loss at UCLA; it did, after all, win at Southern California. Mississippi jumped four spots with its tight loss at Tennessee and victory over Louisiana State; as was said last week, the Rebels proved just as much in their loss to the Volunteers as in many of their earlier victories.
The top four (North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas and UCLA) remain the same, and at this point those schools have to be the early favorites for No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament --- just like they were at the start of the season.
1. North Carolina (17-0)
2. Memphis (15-0)
3. Kansas (16-0)
4. UCLA (16-1)
5. Washington State (14-1)
6. Duke (13-1)
7. Georgetown (13-1)
8. Tennessee (14-1)
9. Indiana (14-1)
10. Texas A&M (15-1)
11. Michigan State (14-2)
12. Marquette (13-2)
13. Wisconsin (13-2)
14. Vanderbilt (16-1)
15. Butler (16-1)
16. Xavier (14-3)
17. Dayton (14-1)
18. Texas (13-3)
19. Mississippi (14-1)
20. Miami, Fla. (14-1)
21. Pittsburgh (14-2)
22. Arizona State (13-2)
23. Clemson (13-3)
24. St. Mary's (14-2)
25. Rhode Island (15-2)
26. Villanova (11-3)
27. Stanford (13-3)
28. Notre Dame (12-3)
29. Gonzaga (12-4)
30. Arizona (10-5)
31. Arkansas (13-3)
32. Florida (15-2)
33. Drake (14-1)
34. Oregon (11-4)
35. Oklahoma (12-4)
36. Baylor (12-2)
37. Connecticut (11-4)
38. Ohio State (11-4)
39. Louisville (12-4)
40. West Virginia (12-4)
41. Minnesota (12-3)
42. Virginia (10-4)
43. Kent State (13-3)
44. Illinois State (13-3)
45. Saint Joseph’s (9-4)
--- Patrick Stevens
