Huskies

The latest news and analysis on Husky men's hoops.

Polls are out and Indiana remains No. 1 in the Associated Press and coaches’ rankings.

Miami is second and Gonzaga is third in both polls. Feels like it’s just a matter of time before the Zags ascend to the top position and won’t that be something.

The Pac-12 still has two teams in the top 25.

Arizona is 12th while Oregon is 23 in both rankings. UCLA is the only other team that received votes, picking up three from the coaches.

Meanwhile, Washington is 89 in the RPI.

Here’s where the other Pac-12 teams rank: Arizona (10), Colorado (21), Oregon (39), UCLA (41), California (53), Arizona State (71), Stanford (73), USC (101), Utah (172), Oregon State (173) and Washington State (189).

On a side note, Gary Parrish at CBSsports.com took exception with my top 25 AP ballot, which excluded Wisconsin. Apparently his column Poll Attacks is a weekly look at the so-called blunders among voters.

For starters, I don’t understand why it’s taken Parrish this long to attack my questionable balloting decisions. Bypassing the Badgers is the least of my sins. Last week I thought Duke was the top team in the country and Belmont 24. And I probably shouldn’t reveal this but Kentucky was my preseason No. 1. (I know, right?)

Apparently three of the 65 AP pollsters didn’t give a vote for Wisconsin this week and I’m in the minority. Parrish thinks we’re idiots and makes a strong argument citing the Big Ten’s superiority, KenPom.com, the Badgers’ five wins over ranked teams and other statistical evidence.

It’s an amusing read and a helluva argument for an 18-8 team ranked 19th in the AP poll.

For anyone who cares, here’s how the pollsters voted for Wisconsin. I considered putting the Badgers 24th on my ballot, but decided to give the final two spots to mid-majors Louisiana Tech (23-3) and Akron (21-4), who have a 15 and 17-game winning streak, respectively.

In my opinion Wisconsin has lost too many games – yes Ohio State (18-7) is 16th on my ballot, but that’s a different discussion for another day – to be included on this week’s ballot. You can argue the value of good losses and bad losses, which gives credence to computer analysis that help seed the 68-team NCAA tournament. But if we’re talking about ranking teams nationally on a week-by-week basis, then I put an emphasis on winning and double-digit winning streaks – even against so-called inferior competition.