Wisconsin Football Doesn’t Fall Too Far in the Latest AP Poll

The Week 3 AP Poll was released on Sunday and the Wisconsin football team finds themselves on the outside looking in. I don’t think anyone expected the Badgers to stay in the AP Top 25 after their loss to Washington State on Saturday night. But with how good Washington State looked, I didn’t think they were going to fall too far, especially when I saw that Wazzu entered the rankings at No. 23.

In the Week 3 poll, the Badgers came in at No. 31, earning 10 total points in the voting system. Let’s take a look at how the AP voters viewed the Wisconsin Badgers in Week 3.

Breaking Down Where Wisconsin Football Falls in the AP Voting

Last week, I questioned ESPN’s College Gameday host Rece Davis when he was one of two voters who left the Wisconsin football team off his ballot completely. Now, it looks like he knew something 61 other voters didn’t know.

After their loss to Wazzu, most of the voters jumped ship for the time being. Of the 63 voters that make up the AP Poll, 59 of them left the Badgers off of their ballots. That means there are still four believers out there. Let’s look at the voting breakdown from College Poll Tracker.

Two voters put the Badgers at No. 23: Emily Leiker and Jon Wilner.

Emily Leikner is a beat writer for the Syracuse Orange at Syracuse.com. In her two previous ballots, she put Wisconsin at 21 (preseason) and 22 (Week 2).

Another interesting note from her ballot is that she left Washington State off and also didn’t include Iowa, either.

Jon Wilner is a reporter for the San Jose Mercury News. Something that’s interesting is that CPT tells us that Jon has a ‘bias’ towards Washington State, often ranking them higher than they actually end up. I’m assuming he kept the Badgers on his ballot because he thinks more highly of the Cougars than a lot of other voters. I think he also thinks relatively highly of this Wisconsin football team. In his past ballots, he put the Badgers at 16 (preseason) and 15 (Week 2).

The Badgers also received two votes at No. 24 from Chuck Landon and Jordan Guskey.

Chuck Landon is a reporter for the Charleston Gazette-Mail out of Huntington, WV. In his previous ballot, he had Wisconsin football at 18 (Week 2). Apparently, he didn’t vote in the preseason poll.

Jordan Guskey is a reporter for the Topeka Captial-Journal out of Kansas. In previous ballots, he had Wisconsin football at 22 (preseason) and 19 (Week 2).

Where Do Other Big Ten Teams Fall In the Poll?

Let’s take a look at where other Big Ten teams landed in the Week 3 AP Poll and a little breakdown for each team.

Michigan – No. 2: The Wolverines had no problem defeating UNLV, 35-7 to start their year 2-0. They earned 1,458 points, 82 behind No. 1 Georgia. While most of the voters had them in the second spot, two voters did put Michigan as their No. 1 team.

Ohio State – No. 6: Despite starting the year ranked 3rd and currently sitting at 2-0, the Buckeyes have dropped twice. Last week, they were No. 5. This week, they dropped another spot to 6. Their highest spot on a ballot was No. 2 by two voters. Their lowest was 11.

Penn State – No. 7: Coming in right behind the Buckeyes are the Nittany Lions to round out the powerhouse teams in the Big Ten. They have been at No. 7 since the preseason poll came out. Their highest appearance on a ballot this week is No. 4 by four voters. The lowest they appeared this week is No. 12 by Jon Wilner.

Iowa – No. 25: The Hawkeyes find themselves in the top 25 for the first time this season. They are one point behind UCLA for the No. 24 spot. They appeared as high as No. 19 this week on one ballot and were left off of 22 total ballots.

Wisconsin – NR (No. 31) – As previously stated, Wisconsin football received votes as high as No. 23.

Minnesota – NR (No. 34) – The Gophers earned three points by getting one vote at No. 24. They are tied at No. 34 with Cincinnati.

Maryland – NR (No. 37) – The Terrapins received one point. They got one vote at No. 25. They are tied with James Madison, Oklahoma State, and Wyoming at No. 37 with one point.

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