Some AP voters moved Badgers up on top-25 ballot after Ohio State loss

When Wisconsin lost at unranked Illinois it was no surprise that the Badgers slid down seven spots in the Associated Press top-25 poll.

But what would happen after UW’s blowout loss at Ohio State? After all, Wisconsin was a two-touchdown underdog in this road game.

The Badgers weren’t the only ranked team to lose last week, either. Then No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 9 Auburn, No. 15 Texas. No. 23 Iowa State and No. 24 Arizona State also fell.

Still, a loss is a loss and Wisconsin was expected to drop in the poll, and it did, from No. 13 to No. 18. But, and you knew there was a but coming, believe it or not five voters moved the Badgers up on their ballot.

ESPN’s Rece Davis and the Wisconsin State Journal’s Jim Polzin each moved Wisconsin up two spots. Davis had the Badgers at No. 17 last week but dropped Texas (from 14 to not ranked) and Notre Dame (from 9 to 17) below Wisconsin, while pushing UW up. Polzin also moved Wisconsin up the two spots by moving Texas (13 to 25) and Notre Dame (10 to 20) down. Both Davis and Polzin did keep Michigan, ranked No. 14 and which earlier this year lost at Wisconsin, one spot behind the Badgers, though.

The three voters who moved Wisconsin up one spot were Syracuse Media Group’s Nate Mink (14 to 13), The Star Ledger’s James Kratch (15 to 14) and the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette’s Dylan Sinn (17 to 16).

In addition, three voters kept Wisconsin in the same spot they had them in Week 9 – the Tampa Bay Times’ Matt Baker (12), Charleston Gazette-Mail’s Tom Bragg (12) and San Jose Mercury News’ Jon Wilner (14).

Of course, Wisconsin did fall in the poll, so those voters were the exceptions. Wisconsin appeared between Nos. 20-25 on 18 ballots

And there are Garland Gillen of WVUE-TV (New Orleans) and the Gaineville Sun’s Pat Dooley – they both didn’t have Wisconsin anywhere on their ballot.

Here’s how all the AP voters cast their ballots in Week 10 compared to last week:

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