First off, I wanted to post my ballot for this week’s AP Top 25.

The poll can be found here.

My vote:

1. Kansas
2. Texas
3. Purdue
4. Kentucky
5. West Virginia
6. Syracuse
7. Georgetown
8. Villanova
9. North Carolina
10. Duke
11. Michigan State
12. Tennessee
13. Florida
14. Washington
15. Connecticut
16. Ohio State
17. Memphis
18. Texas Tech
19. New Mexico
20. Kansas State
21. Texas A&M
22. UNLV
23. Butler
24. Clemson
25. Missouri State

* I’m not as sold on Gonzaga and Georgia Tech as the rest of the voters are, apparently. I’d like to see Georgia Tech beat someone before I rank them. Gonzaga is up there on the strength of its name and its title in the Maui Invitational, but that field wasn’t as good as we originally thought. I’ve really warmed up to Georgetown, and Kansas State had a great week last week beating Xavier and UNLV. Cincinnati would have been at No. 24 had it closed out the Musketeers Sunday night. Great double overtime game. Love that Crosstown Shootout in Cincy. And Missouri State? Well, I was pretty high on Tulsa at the start of the year and Missouri State beat the Golden Hurricane, so I’ll keep the Bears at No. 25 as long as they remain unbeaten. A Missouri Valley team tends to make noise every year in the NCAAs, and the Bears look pretty strong to this point. Memphis is ranked pretty much entirely on its effort against Kansas. I know it was a loss, but the Tigers are the only team to give the top-ranked Jayhawks a game.

Some LU notes:

* I know people tend to make fun of Liberty for scheduling three straight non-DI cupcakes, but it’s kind of the reality in the lower levels of Division I basketball. You need to fill home dates, and you’re not going to get Clemson and Old Dominion to come to town for every home game. Plus, with the youth on this Liberty team, playing three games against teams you’re supposed to beat soundly probably isn’t a bad thing. There’s still a lot of figure out in terms of chemistry and rotations, and the schedule gets pretty difficult again after this stretch—the two games in the UCF tournament followed by three Big South roadies at VMI, Presbyterian and Winthrop.

* Everyone on Shawnee State’s roster is from Ohio, save for G Zak Metz, who is from Owingsville, Ky.

* Shawnee State is an NAIA school.

* F Antwan Burrus was named the Big South’s freshman of the week for his 15 points in 12 minutes outburst against Kentucky Christian Saturday. Burrus could be kind of a wild card for the Flames as the season progresses. The kid has a college ready body, for sure. It looks like he can shrug about 400 pounds from the look of his traps. Like every other freshman on this team, though, it’s about stringing together consistent performances. Burrus played seven minutes in the first two Big South games and didn’t score. If he can find a rhythm, he’s the sort of player who could help Liberty defensively in the season’s final two months.

* G Jeremy Anderson has hit a 3-pointer in each of his last three games, including a 4-for-5 game against Kentucky Christian. Watching him against Charleston Southern, it looked like Anderson was close to finding a stroke. A lot of his shots were hitting off the back of the rim. You’ve got to remember that he’s been out of basketball for a long time thanks to his two foot injuries. He’s another player who could help off the bench down the stretch.

* I’ve been pretty impressed with F Patrick Konan so far. He needs to learn to finish around the basket better, but that will come. His intangibles—hustle and energy—have been off the charts.

* G Kyle Ohman is now 97 points shy of 1,000 for his career.

Not much else to talk about now.