Despite not playing, Badgers take hit from some AP top 25 voters
The Wisconsin Badgers were the victim of having not played last year.
In the latest Associated Press top-25 poll, Wisconsin dropped from No. 9 to No. 10 -- losing eight votes from last week -- as big wins by Georgia and TCU propelled those teams ahead of the Badgers (Oklahoma State, which was No. 6, fell to No. 15).
That's completely understandable.
However, three voters moved Wisconsin down four spots in their latest ballot.
Brent Axe and John Adams moved the Badgers to No. 11 where last week they had UW at No. 7. Both have all the teams ranked ahead of UW in the top 25 listed above the Badgers as well as 3-1 Ohio State (No. 11 in the AP poll, No. 9 in Axe's ballot). OK, not a big complaint here, I guess.
Then there's Jon Wilner, who at one point (in Week 2) had Wisconsin ranked No. 3. Then No. 8. Then No. 9. And now, No. 13 -- which is the lowest ranking for the Badgers on any ballot. Besides Ohio State, Wilner has Virginia State and San Diego State ranked higher. Now that's interesting.
That's to say everyone treated Wisconsin that way. A couple of voters -- Lauren Shute and Parrish Alford -- moved the Badgers up two spots to No. 6. Five voters overall have UW at No. 6.
Just 22 voters kept Wisconsin exactly where they had the Badgers last week. Thank goodness we'll have no more of that didn't play nonsense for the rest of the season.
Here's the complete look at the Week 5 ballots along with the previous two weeks for comparison:
| Voter | Week 5 | Week 4 | Week 3 |
| Lauren Shute, SEC Country | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Parrish Alford, Tupelo Daily Journal | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Rick Wright, Albuquerque Journal | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Rob Long, WJFK-FM Washington, D.C. | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Scott Wolf, Los Angeles Daily News | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Adam Jude, Seattle Times | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Jason Galloway, Wisconsin State Journal | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Matt Charboneau, The Detroit News | 7 | 8 | 10 |
| Ross Dellenger, The Advocate, Baton Rouge | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Steve Batterson, Quad City Times | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Aaron Suttles, Tuscaloosa News | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Bob Asmussen, Champaign News-Gazette | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Dave Foster, WZTV Nashville | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Jeff Miller, Orange County Register | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Jerry DiPaola, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | 8 | 10 | 12 |
| John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Jonny Miller, WBZ Boston | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| Matt McCoy, WTVN-AM Columbus | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Pat Caputo, Oakland Press | 8 | 8 | 17 |
| Sam McKewon, Omaha World-Herald | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Soren Petro, WHB Kansas City | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Adam Zucker, CBS Sports Network | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Chris Murray, Reno Gazette-Journal | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| Ed Daigneault, Republican-American | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| Garland Gillen, WVUE-TV New Orleans | 9 | 6 | 6 |
| Keith Sargeant, NJ.com | 9 | 10 | 8 |
| Kellis Robinett, Wichita Eagle | 9 | 8 | 11 |
| Lauren Brownlow, WRAL Baltimore | 9 | 7 | 7 |
| Mitch Vingle, Charleston Gazette-Mail | 9 | 9 | 7 |
| Robert Gagliardi, Laramie Boomerang | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Tony Parks, KZNS Salt Lake City | 9 | 6 | 6 |
| Andy Greder, St. Paul Pioneer Press | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Bill Landis, Cleveland Plain Dealer | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| Dave Reardon, Honolulu Star-Advertiser | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| Grace Raynor, The Post and Courier | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Pat Dooley, Gainesville Sun | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| Robert Cessna, Bryan-College Station Eagle | 10 | 8 | 8 |
| Ryan Aber, The Oklahoman | 10 | 12 | 12 |
| Sammy Batten, Fayettesville Observer | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Terry Hutchens, CNHI Sports Indiana | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Tom Murphy, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Brent Axe, Syracuse Media Group | 11 | 7 | 8 |
| Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Brian Howell, Daily Camera | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News | 11 | 10 | 12 |
| Dave Southern, Idaho Statesman | 11 | 12 | 14 |
| David Briggs, Toledo Blade | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| Gary Horowitz, Statesman Journal | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| Jason Butt, Macon Telegraph | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| John Adams, Knoxville News Sentinel | 11 | 7 | 8 |
| Matt Baker, Tampa Bay Times | 11 | 12 | 14 |
| Matt Brown, Sports On Earth | 11 | 11 | 13 |
| Michael Lev, Arizona Daily Star | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| Rece Davis, ESPN | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| Safid Deen, Orlando Sentinel | 11 | 12 | 9 |
| Scott Hamilton, Winston-Salem Journal | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| Andy Bitter, Roanoke Times | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald | 12 | 10 | 10 |
| Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News | 13 | 9 | 8 |
