Just over one-third of AP voters left Badgers off top-25 ballot

Published Oct. 16, 2018 11:40 a.m. ET

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Dave Heller

We all can probably agree that Wisconsin laid an egg at Michigan this past Saturday.

Even so, keeping in mind that the Wolverines were ranked higher, the Badgers were a double-digit underdog in Vegas and this was a road game, it led one to wonder just how far Wisconsin would drop in the Associate Press top-25 poll. The answer: eight spots, from 15 to 23.

Of the 61 AP voters, 21 left Wisconsin off their ballot, or 34.4 percent. Last week, only one person did -- Andy Greder -- and this week he had the Badgers at No. 20 (lending credence to my theory that he just forgot to list UW in his top 25).

Most voters who have Wisconsin unranked had the Badgers at 15 or lower last week, but two had Wisconsin ranked No. 10 in Week 7 (Ben Jones, Sean Manning). That would be a 16-spot drop, which was matched by Conor O'Neill (9 to 25).

A few voters dropped Wisconsin just two slots, most notably Dave Southern (16 to 18) and Rachel Richlinski (17 to 19).

Here’s the complete rankings from this week with a comparison to the voting from Week 7:

Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow (a Larry Ritter Book Award nominee), 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

 

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