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For those of you not familiar with what this is, we use this space to take a semi-regular look at the polls in college basketball. The feature is named after walk-on Tim Whelan, who once pledged not to have the tooth he damaged on Semaj's elbow repaired until Xavier was ranked. That happened at the beginning of last season and, while Xavier has received votes on several occasions, they've never quite come all the way above water. We assume that some of Whelan's friends/parents have since convinced him to get his teeth fixed. Anyway, here's what the polls look like this week:
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Pts | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Syracuse Orange (64) | 25-0 | 1624 | 1 |
| 2 | Florida Gators (1) | 23-2 | 1543 | 3 |
| 3 | Wichita St. Shockers | 27-0 | 1489 | 4 |
| 4 | Arizona Wildcats | 23-2 | 1427 | 2 |
| 5 | Duke Blue Devils | 20-5 | 1296 | 8 |
| 6 | San Diego St. Aztecs | 22-2 | 1232 | 5 |
| 7 | Cincinnati Bearcats | 23-3 | 1157 | 10 |
| 8 | Kansas Jayhawks | 19-6 | 1129 | 7 |
| 9 | Villanova Wildcats | 22-3 | 1020 | 6 |
| 10 | Saint Louis Billikens | 23-2 | 1019 | 12 |
| 11 | Creighton Bluejays | 21-4 | 991 | 18 |
| 11 | Louisville Cardinals | 21-4 | 991 | 13 |
| 13 | Michigan St. Spartans | 21-5 | 788 | 9 |
| 14 | Virginia Cavaliers | 21-5 | 752 | 17 |
| 15 | Iowa Hawkeyes | 19-6 | 721 | 16 |
| 16 | Wisconsin Badgers | 21-5 | 609 | 21 |
| 17 | Iowa St. Cyclones | 19-5 | 597 | 11 |
| 18 | Kentucky Wildcats | 19-6 | 579 | 14 |
| 19 | Texas Longhorns | 20-5 | 577 | 19 |
| 20 | Michigan Wolverines | 18-7 | 421 | 15 |
| 21 | Connecticut Huskies | 20-5 | 382 | 24 |
| 22 | Memphis Tigers | 19-6 | 204 | 20 |
| 23 | UCLA Bruins | 20-5 | 169 | NR |
| 24 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | 20-6 | 133 | 22 |
| 25 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | 23-4 | 112 | NR |
Coaches Poll
| Rank | Team | Record | Pts | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Syracuse Orange (32) | 25-0 | 800 | 1 |
| 2 | Florida Gators | 23-2 | 752 | 4 |
| 3 | Wichita St. Shockers | 27-0 | 747 | 2 |
| 4 | Arizona Wildcats | 23-2 | 679 | 3 |
| 5 | Louisville Cardinals | 21-4 | 618 | 8 |
| 6 | Duke Blue Devils | 20-5 | 611 | 9 |
| 7 | San Diego State | 22-2 | 591 | 5 |
| 8 | Kansas Jayhawks | 19-6 | 554 | 7 |
| 9 | Cincinnati Bearcats | 23-3 | 526 | 11 |
| 10 | Saint Louis Bilikens | 23-2 | 513 | 12 |
| 11 | Villanova Wildcats | 22-3 | 506 | 6 |
| 12 | Creighton Bluejays | 21-4 | 423 | 17 |
| 13 | Virginia Cavaliers | 21-5 | 416 | 16 |
| 14 | Michigan St. Spartans | 21-5 | 406 | 10 |
| 15 | Iowa Hawkeyes | 19-6 | 375 | 15 |
| 16 | Kentucky Wildcats | 19-6 | 302 | 13 |
| 17 | Texas Longhorns | 20-5 | 278 | 19 |
| 18 | Wisconsin Badgers | 21-5 | 255 | 21 |
| 19 | Iowa State Cyclones | 19-5 | 227 | 14 |
| 20 | Michigan Wolverines | 18-7 | 159 | 18 |
| 21 | Connecticut Huskies | 20-5 | 158 | NR |
| 22 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | 23-4 | 128 | 24 |
| 23 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 20-6 | 97 | 20 |
| 24 | Memphis Tigers | 19-6 | 85 | 22 |
| 25 | UCLA Bruins | 20-5 | 72 | NR |
As you can see, our boys still haven't made it. Something about a 19-turnover game apparently leaves a little bit of a sour taste in the mouths of the pollsters. Realistically speaking, I don't think there's any possible outcomes in the upcoming week that put X in the top 25. Winning the next four (DePaul, @Georgetown, @St. John's, Creighton) would probably do it, but that is an incredibly tall order.
Whelan's status: eating jawbreakers, because why not?
