Left off 10 ballots, preseason AP poll different this year for Badgers

What a difference a year makes.

Last season at this time, there were a lot of high expectations for the Wisconsin Badgers. That was reflected in the Associated Press’ preseason top-25 poll, where the Badgers were ranked in the top nine by every voter but one (who had UW at 13).

Coming off an 8-5 season and now having a relatively untested quarterback and a young defense, Wisconsin came in at No. 19 in this year’s Week 1 poll (yes, they call the preseason poll the Week 1 poll).

There were no top-10 votes for the Badgers this year in Week 1. The highest vote Wisconsin received was at 14 by two AP voters.

Twenty-six times Wisconsin was on a ballot at No. 18 or higher and 25 times from 20-25. That means 10 voters left the Badgers off their ballot altogether. Interestingly (perhaps), this includes Bob Asmussen of the Champaign News-Gazette who had Wisconsin ranked No. 1 in last year’s preseason poll.

As we said at the top, what a difference a year makes.

Keep in mind that the AP doesn’t give directions to voters, other than to be objective, on how to cast their ballots. So, some might be projecting how a team will fare over an entire season while others are giving their thoughts on a how they feel about a team entering a season.

With all that in mind, here’s how AP voters cast their ballots in Week 1/preseason:

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