One AP top-25 voter left Badgers off ballot but had Iowa ranked
The Wisconsin Badgers moved up one spot in the latest Associated Press top-25 poll this week to No. 15 … but maybe it should have been 14?
Wisconsin accumulated 710 points in the latest poll while No. 14 Florida had 719. That is equal to a 16th-place vote if, say, someone didn't have the Badgers ranked at all. But would anyone have UW unranked?
Yup.
Andy Greder left Wisconsin completely off his top-25 ballot, which OK, maybe there's an argument to be made there even though every other voter ranked the Badgers, with the lowest coming in at No. 20.
But Greder had Iowa -- the team that lost to Wisconsin at home two weeks ago, has the same record as the Badgers and just beat *checks notes* Minnesota -- ranked No. 24. Greder also has 3-2 TCU ranked No. 21 (his rankings from 15-25 are Miami, Auburn, Oregon, Texas A&M, NC State, Colorado, TCU, Kentucky, South Florida, Iowa and Cincinnati). And one more note: Two weeks ago, after that win over Iowa, Greder had Wisconsin ranked No. 14 (he did not cast a ballot last week).
What happened in two weeks? Maybe it was just an honest mistake. Because we're not sure what else it could be.
While the absence on Greder's ballot might have cost Wisconsin one slot in the AP top 25, let's face it, it won't matter too much after this Saturday when the Badgers play at Michigan. Win that game, and UW will get a nice boost. Lose, and, well, maybe a lot more voters will follow Greder's path.
That being said, a few voters did rank Wisconsin higher than Michigan this week. The list (voter - UW, Michigan):
Aaron McMann - 12, 13
Ben Jones - 10, 12
Bob Asmussen - 8, 12
Brandon Marcello - 10, 17
Conor O'Neill - 9, 11
John Bednarowski - 9, 13
John Clay - 13, 14
Jonny Miller - 9, 14
Kirk Bohls - 12, 15
Lauren Brownlow - 9, 17
Mike Barber - 12, 15
Robert Gagliardi - 11, 13
Scott Rabalais - 15, 16
Sean Manning - 10, 12
Steve Batterson - 11, 13
Here’s the complete rankings from this week with a comparison to the voting from Weeks 5-7:
| Voter | Week 7 | Week 6 | Week 5 |
| Bob Asmussen, Champaign News-Gazette | 8 | 11 | 13 |
| Conor O'Neill, Winston-Salem Journal | 9 | 11 | 11 |
| John Bednarowski, Marietta Daily Journal | 9 | 12 | 13 |
| Johnny Miller, WBZ Radio | 9 | 11 | 13 |
| Lauren Brownlow, WRAL Baltimore | 9 | 12 | 13 |
| Ben Jones, Tuscaloosa News | 10 | 13 | 12 |
| Brandon Marcello, 247 Sports | 10 | 14 | 14 |
| Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press | 10 | 12 | 12 |
| Sean Manning, The Dominion Post | 10 | 11 | 13 |
| Soren Petro, WHB Kansas City | 10 | 12 | 12 |
| Robert Gagliardi, Laramie Boomerang | 11 | 11 | 13 |
| Steve Batterson, Quad City Times | 11 | 13 | 13 |
| Aaron McMann, Mlive Media Group | 12 | 13 | 12 |
| Blake Toppmeyer, Knoxville News Sentinel | 12 | 16 | 15 |
| David Briggs, Toledo Blade | 12 | 14 | 13 |
| Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman | 12 | 17 | 18 |
| Mike Barber, Richmond Times-Dispatch | 12 | 13 | 13 |
| Brent Axe, Syracuse Media Group | 13 | 18 | 18 |
| Dylan Sinn, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette | 13 | 15 | 15 |
| Grace Raynor, The Post and Courier | 13 | 17 | 15 |
| John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader | 13 | 13 | 14 |
| Sam McKewon, Omaha World-Herald | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Scott Hamilton, Winston-Salem Journal | 13 | 16 | 16 |
| Brian Howell, Daily Camera | 14 | 13 | 14 |
| Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune | 14 | 15 | 14 |
| Joey Kaufman, Southern Cal News Group | 14 | 13 | 13 |
| Matt McCoy, WTVN-AM Columbus | 14 | 17 | 17 |
| Robert Cessna, Bryan-College Station Eagle | 14 | 16 | 15 |
| Steve Layman, WTVF-TV Nashville | 14 | 15 | 15 |
| Tom Murphy, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | 14 | 17 | 17 |
| Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News | 15 | 15 | 13 |
| Ferd Lewis, Honolulu Star-Advertiser | 15 | 14 | 14 |
| Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald | 15 | 21 | 19 |
| Neill Ostrout, Journal Inquirer | 15 | 17 | 18 |
| Ryan Aber, The Oklahoman | 15 | 16 | 14 |
| Scott Rabalais, The Advocate | 15 | 14 | 13 |
| Steve Virgen, Albuquerque Journal | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Chris Murray, Reno Gazette-Journal | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Dave Southorn, Idaho Statesman | 16 | 17 | 15 |
| Jerry DiPaola, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | 16 | 13 | 11 |
| Kellis Robinett, Wichita Eagle | 16 | 17 | 17 |
| Matt Baker, Tampa Bay Times | 16 | 13 | 13 |
| Michael Lev, Arizona Daily Star | 16 | 19 | 17 |
| Pat Dooley, Gainesville Sun | 16 | 18 | 15 |
| Rece Davis, ESPN | 16 | 16 | 15 |
| Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland Plain Dealer | 17* | 17 | 18 |
| Gary Horowitz, Statesman Journal | 17 | 18 | 20 |
| Rachel Richlinski, WLBT/FOX 40 | 17 | 17 | 15 |
| Rob Long, WJFK-FM Washington, D.C. | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| Tony Parks, KZNS Salt Lake City | 17 | 18 | 21 |
| Garland Gillen, WVUE-TV New Orleans | 18 | 18 | 20 |
| Garry Smits, Florida Times-Union | 18 | 16 | 16 |
| Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News | 18 | 19 | 19 |
| Keith Sargeant, NJ.com | 18 | 17 | 19 |
| Matt Brown, The Athletic | 18 | 18 | 16 |
| Brett McMurphy, Stadium Network | 19 | 20 | 22 |
| Jason Galloway, Wisconsin State Journal | 19 | 18 | 18 |
| Adam Jude, Seattle Times | 20 | 15 | 12 |
| Jim Alexander, The Press Enterprise | 20 | 21 | 16 |
| Andy Greder, St. Paul Pioneer Press | n/a | n/a | 14 |
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
