Four AP top 25 voters think Badgers are one of four best teams in nation
Wisconsin is laying in the weeds no more.
Perhaps not everyone was buying into the Badgers. That changed following Saturday’s 38-0 win over Michigan State, UW’s fourth shutout in six games.
Thanks in part, of course, to Georgia losing, Wisconsin moved up in the Associated Press top-25 poll from No. 8 to No. 6.
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Last week only six voters had UW at No. 6 — and none had the Badgers ranked higher than that. This week, the vast majority of voters had the Badgers ranked as high as at least No. 6.
Five voters ranked Wisconsin at No. 5, three at No. 4 and one, Dave Reardon of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, at No. 3.
On the flip side, five voters had UW at No. 7 and two, Alex Schiffer of the Kansas City Star and Theo Lawson of the Spokesman-Review at No. 8 (both had the Badgers at No. 11 last week).
Let’s take a quick look at the four who have Wisconsin as a top-four team in the country.
Reardon was one of the few who had Wisconsin at No. 6 last week. He had ranked the Badgers No. 18 in the preseason.
Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times had UW ranked No. 15 in the preseason and as high as No. 8 in Week 4, which was highest vote for the Badgers in that week’s poll. He kept UW at No. 8 in Weeks 5-6 before moving the Badgers to No. 7 last week.
Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman didn’t have Wisconsin ranked in the preseason poll or after the first game. He had the Badgers at 21 in Week 3 and 20 in Week 4 before jumping UW to No. 7 in Week 5 (and Weeks 6-7).
Sam McKewon also had the Badgers unranked in the preseason before debuting them at No. 17 in Week 2. From there he moved UW to No. 14 in Weeks 3 and 4 before pushing the Badgers up to No. 7 in Week 5, dropping them to 8 in Week 8 and back to No. 7 in Week 7.
The latter three all have Wisconsin at No. 4.
It appears that finally, seeing is indeed believing.
Here’s how all the AP voters cast their ballots in Week 8 compared to the last two weeks:
| Voter | Week 8 | Week 7 | Week 6 | Week 5 |
| Dave Reardon, Honolulu Star-Advertiser | 3 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
| Chadd Cripe, Idaho Statesman | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Matt Baker, Tampa Bay Times | 4 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Sam McKewon, Omaha World-Herald | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Adam Zucker, CBS Sports Network | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Jerry DiPaola, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | 5 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Ryan Aber, The Oklahoman | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post | 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Aaron McMann, Mlive Media Group | 6 | 9 | 11 | 11 |
| Andy Greder, St. Paul Pioneer Press | 6 | 7 | 10 | 10 |
| Audrey Dahlgren, WLNS-TV | 6 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Bob Asmussen, Champaign News-Gazette | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Brett McMurphy, Stadium Network | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Brian Howell, Daily Camera | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Brooks Kubena, The Advocate | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune | 6 | 11 | 12 | 11 |
| Chris Murray, Reno Gazette-Journal | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Conor O’Neill, Winston-Salem Journal | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| David Briggs, Toledo Blade | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Davis Potter, Casper Star-Tribune | 6 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal | 6 | 9 | 11 | 9 |
| Eric Boynton, Spartanburg Herald-Journal | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Garland Gillen, WVUE-TV New Orleans | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Gary Horowitz, Statesman Journal | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Gene Henley, Chattanooga Times/Free Press | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| James Kratch, The Star Ledger | 6 | 11 | 11 | 9 |
| Jim Polzin, Wisconsin State Journal | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Joe Dubin, WSMV-TV | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| John Bednarowski, Marietta Daily Journal | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Jon Johnson, The Dothan Eagle | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Josh Furlong, KSL.com | 6 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Lauren Brownlow, WRAL Baltimore | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Mark Whicker, L.A. Daily News | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| Matt Brown, The Athletic | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Matt McCoy, WTVN-AM Columbus | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Michael Lev, Arizona Daily Star | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| Nate Mink, Syracuse Media Group | 6 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Nathan Baird, Cleveland.com | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Neill Ostrout, Journal Inquirer | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Norm Wood, The Daily Press | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Pat Dooley, Gainesville Sun | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| Rece Davis, ESPN | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Rob Long, WJFK-FM Washington, D.C. | 6 | 9 | n/a | 7 |
| Robert Cessna, Bryan-College Station Eagle | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| Steve Batterson, Quad City Times | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Steve Virgen, Albuquerque Journal | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Steve Wiseman, Durham Herald-Sun | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Tom Bragg, Charleston Gazette-Mail | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Tom Green, Alabama Media Group | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Tom Murphy, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Dylan Sinn, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette | 7 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Jim Holder, WTVA-Tupelo | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| Michael Vega, Boston Globe | 7 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| Soren Petro, 810 WHB Kansas City | 7 | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| Alex Schiffer, Kansas City Star | 8 | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| Theo Lawson, Spokesman-Review | 8 | 11 | 12 | 12 |
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
