It's time to send a new Top 25 men's basketball ballot to The Associated Press.
I kicked out North Carolina after it lost at Pitt.
I booted Memphis after it lost at Tulane.
I evicted Maryland after it lost at Michigan.
I kicked out Miss. State after it lost at home to Alabama. No shame in that loss, but Miss. State has now lost two in a row and I wanted to give the Bulldogs' spot to a team I felt was more worthy.
I did not have to kick out Kentucky nor West Virginia because I did not rank either team last week.
Here is the ballot:
1. Purdue (13-0) stays here after beating Florida A&M. Next: Monday against Rutgers, a good game Thursday at Ohio State and a Sunday game with Penn State at the Palestra.
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2. UConn (14-1) stays here after beating Villanova and losing at Xavier. I thought about dropping UConn a spot and moving Houston up a spot, but I think UConn still deserves to be ahead of Houston. Both teams have just one loss, and UConn has beaten the Alabama team that defeated Houston. Next: a good game Wed. at Providence and Sat. against Creighton.
3. Houston (14-1) stays here after winning at Tulsa and beating Central Florida. Next: Thursday against SMU and Sunday at Cincinnati.
4. Arizona (13-1) stays here after winning at Arizona State. Next: Thurs. against Washington and Saturday against Washington State.
5. Kansas (12-1) stays here after beating Oklahoma State. Next: a good game Tuesday at Texas Tech and a big game Saturday at West Virginia.
6. Texas (12-1) stays here after beating Texas A&M-Commerce and winning at Oklahoma. Next: a big game Tuesday against Kansas State and a Saturday game at Oklahoma State.
7. Tennessee (11-2) stays here after winning at Mississippi. Next: a big game Tues. against Miss. State and a Saturday game at South Carolina.
8. Gonzaga (12-3) stays here after beating Eastern Oregon and Pepperdine. Next: a good game Thursday at San Francisco and a Saturday game at Santa Clara.
9. Alabama (11-2) stays here after winning at Miss. State. Next: Tuesday against Mississippi and a big game Saturday against Kentucky.
10. Virginia (10-2) moves up a spot after beating Albany and winning at Georgia Tech. Next: Tuesday at Pitt and Saturday against Syracuse.
11. UCLA (13-2) moves up a spot after winning at Washington State and at Washington. Next: Thursday against Southern Cal.
12. Miami (13-1) moves up a spot after winning at Notre Dame. Next: Wed. at Georgia Tech.
13. Wisconsin (10-2) moves up three spots after beating Western Michigan. Next: Tuesday against Minnesota and a good game Thursday at Illinois.
14. Indiana (10-3) moves up a spot after an idle week. Next: Thursday at Iowa and Sunday against Northwestern.
15. Duke (11-3) moves up two spots after beating Florida State. Next: Wed. at N.C. State and Saturday at Boston College.
16. Xavier (12-3) moves up four spots after beating St. John's and UConn. Next: Sat. at Villanova.
17. The College of Charleston (14-1) moves up one spot after beating Hampton and winning at Towson in OT. Next: Wed. at N.C. A&T and Saturday against Delaware.
18. TCU (12-1) moves up a spot after beating Central Arkansas and Texas Tech. Next: a big game Wed. at Baylor and a big game Sat. against Iowa State.
19. Baylor (10-3) falls five spots after beating Nicholls State and losing at Iowa State. Next: the big game Wed. against TCU and a big game Sat. against Kansas State.
20. New Mexico (14-0) moves up a spot after beating Colorado State and winning at Wyoming. Next: Tues. at Fresno State and Sat. against UNLV.
21. Missouri (12-1) cracks my ballot here after beating Kentucky. Missouri has won three straight since losing to Kansas, including a lopsided win over Illinois. Next: a big game Wed. at Arkansas and a Saturday game with Vanderbilt.
22. Arkansas (11-2) falls 12 spots after losing at LSU. Next: the big game Wed. against Missouri and a big game Saturday at Auburn.
23. Iowa State (10-2) returns to my ballot after a three-week absence after beating Baylor. Next: Wed. at Oklahoma and the big game Saturday at TCU.
24. Kansas State (12-1) cracks my ballot here after beating West Virginia in OT. Kansas State beat LSU earlier in the season. The Wildcats have win six in a row since losing at Butler. Next: the big game Tuesday at Texas and the big game Saturday at Baylor.
25. For this last spot, I looked hard at leaving Miss. State on my ballot and dropping the Bulldogs to this spot. I also eyed San Diego State, Ohio State and Auburn. But in the end, I decided to have LSU crack my ballot here after the Tigers beat Arkansas. LSU (12-1) has won seven in a row since losing to Kansas State in the Cayman Islands. LSU gets this spot after its marquee win over Arkansas. Next: the big game Tuesday at Kentucky and a Saturday game at Texas A&M.
Mark Berman
Mark Berman covers Virginia Tech men’s basketball and many other teams at the university. He also helps cover other colleges, including Radford, VMI, Roanoke, Washington and Lee and Ferrum.
