Okay, so at this point, Syracuse has a legitimate claim to the No. 1 spot in both polls. Two very strong victories over teams ranked in the top 11 this week (Baylor, Villanova), plus a host of other quality wins give the Orange its strongest non-conference resume in quite awhile. But because Arizona didn't lose, and has two nice pelts of their own (Duke, San Diego State), they remain above SU on most ballots for both this week's AP and Coaches Polls, respectively.
What continues to make little sense is how Ohio State is receiving any first-place votes -- not just over Syracuse, but Arizona as well. The media seemed to give up on that farce a couple weeks ago, but one coach continues to hold out and give the Buckeyes the top spot despite a lackluster strength of schedule.
The AP Voter(s) You Arbitrarily Love This Week: After grabbing just two first-place votes in the AP Poll last week, the Orange grabbed three more following the win over Villanova. On top of typical first-place voters Mark Berman (Roanoke Times) and Rick Bozich (WDRB-TV, Louisville), Chuck McGill (Charleston WV Daily Mail), Mark McCarter (AL.com) and Jon Wilner (San Jose Mercury News) were converted over the weekend.
The AP Voter(s) You Arbitrarily Hate This Week: Ron Morris (surprise!) decided we're the nation's sixth-best team. The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Ed Graney slotted us fifth. A bunch of folks had us third, which... whatever.
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So no, contrary to the brief firestorm I started on Twitter earlier, no one voted us 10th. Some combination of typos and misreading on my part brought me to that conclusion. Lucky for us, the internet didn't burn to the ground as a result.
If you're looking for other ACC teams in this week's rankings, Duke was 7th in the AP and 8th in the Coaches Poll. North Carolina was 19th in both polls. Both Florida State and Pittsburgh managed to receive votes in both polls, though given the log jam that's been going on at the bottom of the rankings for the past month or so, it's going to be tough for either to jump up yet.
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Do you think we deserve the No. 1 spot? Or at least, we're a solid No. 2 directly behind Arizona, right? We can toss around credentials between the Orange and Wildcats, but I just don't believe Ohio State and Wisconsin belong in the conversation given their own weaker resumes. Agree/disagree? Share your thoughts in the comments below.