AP voters earned an early holiday gift from the college basketball gods with a chalky, sleepy week of results in which all teams ranked inside the top-11 either did not play or did not lose. In total, only five teams ranked in last week’s poll sustained a loss.
Voters can’t mail in their ballots without exerting some effort but the top-10 very well could remain the same as it was last week. And that’s how I’m expecting it to look when the poll is released Monday.
The big tweaks will come in the teens this week with No. 12 Alabama, No. 13 Illinois, No. 16 Texas Tech and No. 18 Florida all sustaining losses. No. 23 Nebraska’s win over No. 13 Illinois and No. 25 UCLA’s loss to No. 8 Gonzaga should also be a factor in the final tabulations.
The biggest riser should be Nebraska, which only appeared last week in the AP poll for the first time this season at No. 23. Its win over a No. 13 Illinois team all but guarantees it will bump up into the teens — ahead of Illinois. Nebraska is one of only seven undefeated teams still standing.
So how else might the rankings shift around Monday?
My projection for how voters will cast their ballots is below — with Arizona and Michigan clinging to the top two spots after another perfect week.
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