How they voted: Badgers in 2016 AP football poll (Week 14)
If there was an "uh-oh" moment in determining the Wisconsin Badgers' chances of making the College Football Playoff it might have come when the latest Associated Press top-25 poll was released.
The Badgers moved down one slot, from No. 6 to No. 5, with Washington jumping ahead of Wisconsin. Clemson also remained ahead of UW.
If the AP is correct, Wisconsin will need some help to make the playoff, presuming the Badgers win the Big Ten championship game.
A look at the ballots from this week show that many voters dropped Wisconsin down a spot and put Washington in front of the Badgers.
Ten voters have Oklahoma, which did not play last week, ahead of UW on their ballot.
While Wisconsin's tough schedule helped its cause, playing the likes of Illinois, Purdue and then struggling against 8-win Minnesota hasn't given many voters a reason to keep UW in the top 5. After being ranked No. 5 last week, only 19 voters had the Badgers between 2-5 (yes, Josh Kendall once again had UW at No. 2) on their ballot.
Of the 12 voters who had Wisconsin ranked at No. 7 or higher, five had Penn State (which beat a sub-.500 Michigan State team) at No. 6 and nine had the Sooners at 5 or 6.
But now for the real surprising part. Four voters have USC ranked higher than Wisconsin. Three-loss USC.
Well, they must be coming off a big win, right? Well, the Trojans did beat Notre Dame, which most years might be saying something, but not this season. Regardless, that name recognition victory (the Irish finished at 4-8) plus one the previous week over UCLA (like Notre Dame, also 4-8) might have been enough to push them ahead of Wisconsin. I guess.
But No. 4? That's where Garland Gill and Sam McKewon have USC. Ed Johnson has USC at 6 and Wisconsin at 7.
The wackiest ballot (I mean besides Kendall, who I've detailed previously)? How about Patrick Brown, who moved Wisconsin from No. 6 to No. 9. After a win. Against a winning team. Brown has USC at 5, Penn State 6 and Colorado 8, not to mention 8-4 Pittsburgh at 14.
Here's all the ballots from Week 14 plus the previous four weeks for a comparison:
| Voter | Week 14 | Week 13 | Week 12 | Week 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Kendall, The State | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Ed Daigneault, Republican-American | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| Graham Watson, Yahoo Sports | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| Joey Knight, Tampa Bay Times | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Mandy Mitchell, WRAL-TV | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| Matt Charboneau, The Detroit News | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Ross Dellenger, The Advocate, Baton Rouge | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Scott Hamilton, Winston-Salem Journal | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Andy Greder, St. Paul Pioneer Press | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| Jason Galloway, Wisconsin State Journal | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Jeff Miller, Orange County Register | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Joe Dubin, WSMV-TV | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| John Shinn, The Norman (Okla.) Transcript | 5 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
| Jonny Miller, WBZ News Radio | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Mike Barber, Richmond Times-Dispatch | 5 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| Pete DiPrimio, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Adam Jude, Seattle Times | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Adam Zucker, CBS Sports Network | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| Bob Asmussen, Champaign News-Gazette | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| Brent Axe, Syracuse Post-Standard | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Brett McMurphy, ESPN | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Brian Howell, Daily Camera | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| Chris Murray, Reno Gazette-Journal | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Dana Sulonen, Opelika-Auburn News | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Ferd Lewis, Honolulu Star-Advertiser | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Garland Gillen, WVUE-TV New Orleans | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| Garry Smits, Florida Times-Union | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Jerry DiPaola, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Keith Sargeant, NJ.com | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Matt Galloway, Topkea Capital-Journal | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Matt McCoy, WTVN-AM Columbus | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Michael Bonner, Jackson Clarion-Ledger | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Michael Lev, Arizona Daily Star | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 |
| Nathan Deen, Savannah Morning News | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Pat Caputo, Oakland Press | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Rob Long, WJFK-FM Washington, D.C. | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Robert Gagliardi, Wyoming Tribune Eagle | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Sam McKewon, Omaha World-Herald | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Scott Wolf, Los Angeles Daily News | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Steve Batterson, Quad City Times | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Tom Murphy, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Tony Parks, KZNS | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Bill Landis, Cleveland Plain Dealer | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| Dave Southern, Idaho Statesman | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| David Briggs, Toledo Blade | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Ed Johnson, Albuquerque Journal | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Gary Horowitz, Statesman Journal | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Marq Burnett, SEC Country | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Matt Porter, Palm Beach Post | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Mitch Vingle, Charleston Gazette-Mail | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Robert Cessna, Bryan-College Station Eagle | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Steve Wiseman, Durham Herald-Sun | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| Joe Walljasper, Columbia Tribune | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Patrick Brown, Chattanooga Times | 9 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
Dave Heller is the author of the upcoming book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
