Jon Wilner Votes Baylor Men’s Basketball No.1 in AP

From The Mercury News, By Jon Wilner: College Hotline: My AP top-25 basketball ballot (Baylor is the new No. 1, with Kansas, Villanova and Kentucky close behind)

Highlights from the ballot …

*** A change at the top, and a fairly significant one, at that: Baylor jumped from No. 13 all the way to No. 1 after its victories over Michigan State and Louisville.

Add an earlier win over Oregon, and the Bears have the best collection of victories of any team in the country.

That they were nowhere to be found in the AP preseason poll should not limit their upward mobility if the results warrant a steep ascent.

Significant changes to the ballot, especially in the first month, are the only way to offset preseason bias.

*** I slotted Kansas in the No. 2 position, largely on account of the Jayhawks possessing what I view as the single best win of the season thus far, a neutral-court victory over Duke.

Yes, KU has a loss, but it was in OT to another highly-ranked team, Indiana. (By the way: The Hoosiers fell from No. 1 on my ballot to No. 7 after their loss to Ft. Wayne.)

To continue reading visit: http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/28/my-ap-top-25-basketball-ballot-baylor-is-the-new-no-1-with-kansas-villanova-and-kentucky-close-behind/

AP Top 25

1. Kentucky, 6-0
2. Villanova, 6-0
3. North Carolina, 7-0
4. Kansas, 5-1
5. Duke, 6-1
6. Virginia, 6-0
7. Xavier, 6-0
8. Gonzaga, 6-0
9. Baylor, 6-0
10. Creighton, 6-0
11. UCLA, 7-0
12. Saint Mary’s, 5-0
13. Indiana, 4-1
14. Louisville, 5-1
15. Purdue, 5-1
16. Arizona, 5-1
17. Wisconsin, 5-2
18. Butler, 6-0
19. Iowa State, 5-1
20. South Carolina, 6-0
21. Rhode Island, 5-1
22. Syracuse, 4-1
23. Oregon, 4-2
24. Florida, 6-1
25. West Virginia, 4-1