Associated Press Top 25 basketball poll: Jerry Carino's ballot

1. Purdue (14-1)

2. Kansas (13-1)

3. Houston (14-0)

4. UConn (13-2)

5. Tennessee (11-3)

6. Kentucky (11-2)

7. North Carolina (11-3)

8. Arizona (12-3)

9. Illinois (11-3)

10. Oklahoma (13-1)

11. Marquette (11-4)

12. Duke (11-3)

13. Memphis (13-2)

14. Baylor (12-2)

15. Wisconsin (11-3)

16. Auburn (12-2)

17. San Diego State (13-2)

18. Utah State (14-1)

19. Colorado State (13-2)

20. Dayton (12-2)

21. BYU (12-2)

22. Creighton (11-4)

23. Nevada (14-1)

24. Clemson (11-3)

25. Princeton (13-1)

Also considered: Seton Hall (10-5), Cincinnati (12-2), Wake Forest (11-3), St. John’s (11-4).

Dropped out: No. 17 Florida Atlantic (11-4) after losing to Charlotte; No. 19 James Madison (14-1) after losing to Southern Miss; No. 20 Texas after losing to Texas Tech; No. 22 Ole Miss (13-1) after losing by 26 to No. 5 Tennessee; No. 23 Providence (11-4) after losing to Seton Hall and Creighton; No. 24 Gonzaga (11-4), which is 0-4 against Quad 1, 2-4 against Quads 1-2 and has no top 50 wins.

Entered:

San Diego State, which should have made the poll last week, at No. 17 (Kenpom 21, Net 21, 2-2 vs. Quad 1, 4-2 vs. Quads 1-2, 5-2 road/neutral.

Utah State at No. 18 after a win over No. 13 Colorado State (Kenpom 43, Net 26, 2-0 vs. Quad 1, 4-1 vs. Quads 1-2, 7-1 road/neutral).

Dayton at No. 20 (Kenpom 32, Net 19, 3-1 vs. Quad 1, 5-2 vs. Quads 1-2, 5-2 road/neutral).

Creighton at No. 22 after a win over No. 23 Providence (Kenpom 15, Net 14, 2-2 vs. Quad 1, 5-4 vs. Quads 1-2, 4-3 road/neutral).

Nevada at No. 23 (Kenpom 35, Net 29, 2-0 vs. Quad 1, 2-1 vs. Quads 1-2, 6-1 road/neutral).

Princeton at No. 25 after a 31-point win over Harvard (Kenpom 50, Net 28, 0-1 vs. Quad 1, 4-1 vs. Quads 1-2, 7-1 road/neutral, including an NCAA-best 6-1 on the road).

Why Princeton? I’ve seen the Tigers in person twice. They were superb both times. Their loss at St. Joe’s was a high-level game in a very tough environment. These guys proved last March how good they were, and although Tosan Evbuomwan is in the G League right now, vastly improved guard Xaivian Lee (33 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists vs. Harvard) is playing close to an All-American level. And they’ve been consistently good for two months. It’s time to rank them.

How close is Seton Hall? Right there. If this was the 25 hottest teams in the country, the Pirates would be a no-brainer. But the AP Top 25 poll is about body of work first and foremost, and five losses is one too many at this juncture, despite the three great wins. I’m not metrics apostle, but the Hall is just a bit too far back in Kenpom (67) and the Net (73) and with a 3-4 record vs. Quads 1-2 and a 2-4 road/neutral mark, they don’t quite match the measurables of the teams on my ballot. The Pirates will get some votes today, and if they go 2-0 this week – adding a potential Quad 1 win at Butler – the chances are good they’ll break into the poll Jan. 15.

More analysis: There was an unusual amount of shuffling in and out this week after eight teams in the bottom half of the poll suffered losses…The big riser is Auburn, which jumps nine spots after a 32-point win at Arkansas…the biggest fall is by BYU, which drops nine spots after an 11-point home loss to Cincinnati…It’s eye-opening that there are four Mountain West teams on this ballot but hey, that league has been good for several years, they schedule well, and in college basketball – on the court at least, as we see every March – high-major and mid-major are just labels really.

By conference: Big 12 (5), Mountain West (4), ACC (3), Big East (3), Big Ten (3), SEC (3), American (1), Atlantic 10 (1), Ivy (1), Pac-12 (1).

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: AP Top 25 basketball poll: Jerry Carino's ballot