Sports

Good Morning, Illini Nation: How I voted this week

Nairavoice · Nov 9, 2026 · 2 min read

Nov. 9—I’m not afraid to admit when I was wrong, and I was clearly wrong about Purdue being a top 25-caliber team ahead of the 2026-27 season. I put too much credence into Matt Painter’s ability as a coach and not enough into the fact this Boilermakers roster is not on the same level as the last 4-5 years.

Losses to Gonzaga (reasonable) and Valparaiso (great for the Rev, not so much if you’re a Purdue fun) in the first week of the season made it very clear I could not vote for the Boilermakers this week. There’s a non-zero chance I won’t vote for Purdue the rest of this season.

For the rest of the teams I voted for last week that took a loss in Week 1, I feel I was less wrong about them. Arizona, Arkansas, Michigan and Miami all lost to ranked teams. Missouri took a chance on playing Saint Louis and it came back to bite the Tigers, but Dennis Gates’ squad always felt boom or bust to me. And Iowa State should be fine once Killyan Toure returns.

All told, there weren’t that many changes to my ballot this week compared to the one I submitted for the preseason poll. Duke, Illinois, Florida and Virginia remained my top four teams. The Gators and Cavaliers already have a signature win apiece. The Blue Devils and Illini get their chance this week.

The biggest change on my ballot was moving UCLA to No. 6 after wins against Arizona and North Florida. I was already higher on the Bruins than most, with only one voter ranking Mick Cronin’s team higher than I did at No. 13 in the preseason.

UCLA Beating Arizona was impressive. As was Nikola Kusturica’s nearly perfect 29-point performance against North Florida. So UCLA got a big bump.

Here’s my full ballot this week with some early, and perhaps fleeting, love for Memphis after its 2-0 start with wins against Iowa State and VCU: