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Xavier has cemented their place in the top 10 of both major polls, landing seventh in the AP and the USA Today this week. While poll rankings matter precious little, it’s worth noting that isn’t far off the 13th that Xavier currently sits in the more predictive KenPom rankings. Here’s the AP poll in its entirety:
| RK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky (40) | 6-0 | 1,590 |
| 2 | Villanova (20) | 6-0 | 1,567 |
| 3 | North Carolina (4) | 7-0 | 1,497 |
| 4 | Kansas | 5-1 | 1,414 |
| 5 | Duke | 6-1 | 1,365 |
| 6 | Virginia | 6-0 | 1,286 |
| 7 | Xavier | 6-0 | 1,181 |
| 8 | Gonzaga | 6-0 | 1,112 |
| 9 | Baylor (1) | 6-0 | 1,068 |
| 10 | Creighton | 6-0 | 965 |
| 11 | UCLA | 7-0 | 955 |
| 12 | Saint Mary's | 5-0 | 866 |
| 13 | Indiana | 4-1 | 857 |
| 14 | Louisville | 5-1 | 808 |
| 15 | Purdue | 5-1 | 687 |
| 16 | Arizona | 5-1 | 655 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 5-2 | 555 |
| 18 | Butler | 6-0 | 506 |
| 19 | Iowa State | 5-1 | 389 |
| 20 | South Carolina | 6-0 | 379 |
| 21 | Rhode Island | 5-1 | 354 |
| 22 | Syracuse | 4-1 | 229 |
| 23 | Oregon | 4-2 | 189 |
| 24 | Florida | 6-1 | 154 |
| 25 | West Virginia | 4-1 | 132 |
| Others receiving votes: Maryland 126, Notre Dame 85, Cincinnati 49, Michigan State 28, Ohio State 22, Michigan 13, Temple 8, USC 7, Houston 6, Florida State 5, VCU 5, California 3, Tennessee State 2, Virginia Tech 1, Arkansas State 1, San Diego State 1, Colorado 1, Minnesota 1, Rutgers 1 | |||
This brings us to what I must admit is my favorite feature to write. Yes, it’s the...
Doofus of the Week:
It’s a tight one this week, but recognition must be given to both Seth Davis and Scott Wolf (not the actor). While you may argue that Davis constant hawking of detox teas and scientifically dubious miracle cures already makes him a doofus, his selection of Arkansas State this week should remove all doubt. Yes, the Red Wolves beat Georgetown, but Georgetown isn’t very good. Beyond that, A-State claims a DII win, a three point squeaker against the 305th best team, and a victory over noted power SIU-Edwardsville. When your banner wins come against the shell of a once proud program and the satellite’s of MVC schools, you don’t deserve a top 25 vote.
Not to be outdone, Scott Wolf voted for Rutgers. Wait, you say, don’t the Scarlet Knights play in the Big Ten? Yes, they do, but conference play hasn’t started yet and Rutgers last three wins have all come against sub 300 teams by a combined total of 27 points. The Whalers (I’m pretty sure that’s right) of Hartford just took them to the buzzer. Throwing in a DII win is bad enough, but Scott Wolf gave his vote to a team whose undisputedly best win is...DePaul. There’s only one word for a person who would do something like that.
