Badgers having tough time gaining footing with AP voters
Usually when you make the top 10 of the Associated Press top-25 poll, a team has pretty solid footing. Win and a team(s) above you loses, then move up a spot on the ballot.
This, however, has not been the case for the Wisconsin Badgers.
Yes, the Badgers did jump up from No. 10 to No. 9 last week as then-No. 5 USC fell from the ranks of the unbeaten. But Wisconsin gained just five votes overall from Week 4 to Week 5. Compare that to the two teams ahead of UW in the poll: No. 8 TCU gained 51 votes and No. 7 Michigan added 27.
After last week's win over Northwestern, 14 AP voters moved Wisconsin down on their ballot. Lauren Brownlow of WRAL-Baltimore slid the Badgers down four spots, from 9 to 13, while SEC Country's Lauren Shute pushed UW from 6 to 9.
Wisconsin is listed as low as No. 14, but Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News, continuing a trend of the Badgers falling in Wilner's eyes (he had them at No. 3 back in Week 2).
Seven voters do have Wisconsin ranked at No. 6 -- up from the four last week.
The Badgers' lack of a win over a big-time opponent, or a convincing win over the Wildcats, obviously isn't helping. Would a big victory at Nebraska help? And how much would a loss hurt? Stay tuned next week, same bat time, same bat channel.
Here's the complete look at the Week 5 ballots along with the previous two weeks for comparison:
| Voter | Week 6 | Week 5 | Week 4 |
| Adam Jude, Seattle Times | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Jonny Miller, WBZ Boston | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Matt Charboneau, The Detroit News | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Parrish Alford, Tupelo Daily Journal | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| Rick Wright, Albuquerque Journal | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Rob Long, WJFK-FM Washington, D.C. | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Scott Wolf, Los Angeles Daily News | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Bob Asmussen, Champaign News-Gazette | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Dave Foster, WZTV Nashville | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Jeff Miller, Orange County Register | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Matt McCoy, WTVN-AM Columbus | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Ross Dellenger, The Advocate, Baton Rouge | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Sam McKewon, Omaha World-Herald | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Steve Batterson, Quad City Times | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Adam Zucker, CBS Sports Network | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| Chris Murray, Reno Gazette-Journal | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| Ed Daigneault, Republican-American | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Garland Gillen, WVUE-TV New Orleans | 8 | 9 | 6 |
| Jason Galloway, Wisconsin State Journal | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| Jerry DiPaola, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| Pat Caputo, Oakland Press | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Soren Petro, WHB Kansas City | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Andy Greder, St. Paul Pioneer Press | 9 | 10 | 9 |
| Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News | 9 | 11 | 10 |
| Dave Reardon, Honolulu Star-Advertiser | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Kellis Robinett, Wichita Eagle | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| Lauren Shute, SEC Country | 9 | 6 | 8 |
| Mitch Vingle, Charleston Gazette-Mail | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Robert Gagliardi, Laramie Boomerang | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Sammy Batten, Fayettesville Observer | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Scott Hamilton, Winston-Salem Journal | 9 | 11 | 10 |
| Tony Parks, KZNS Salt Lake City | 9 | 9 | 6 |
| Aaron Suttles, Tuscaloosa News | 10 | 8 | 9 |
| Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| Brian Howell, Daily Camera | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Grace Raynor, The Post and Courier | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman | 10 | 8 | 8 |
| Michael Lev, Arizona Daily Star | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Pat Dooley, Gainesville Sun | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Safid Deen, Orlando Sentinel | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Terry Hutchens, CNHI Sports Indiana | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Tom Murphy, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| Andy Bitter, Roanoke Times | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| Bill Landis, Cleveland Plain Dealer | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| Dave Southern, Idaho Statesman | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| David Briggs, Toledo Blade | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Gary Horowitz, Statesman Journal | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Jason Butt, Macon Telegraph | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| John Adams, Knoxville News Sentinel | 11 | 11 | 7 |
| Keith Sargeant, NJ.com | 11 | 9 | 10 |
| Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald | 11 | 12 | 10 |
| Rece Davis, ESPN | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| Robert Cessna, Bryan-College Station Eagle | 11 | 10 | 8 |
| Ryan Aber, The Oklahoman | 11 | 10 | 12 |
| Brent Axe, Syracuse Media Group | 12 | 11 | 7 |
| Matt Baker, Tampa Bay Times | 12 | 11 | 12 |
| Matt Brown, Sports On Earth | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| Lauren Brownlow, WRAL Baltimore | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News | 14 | 13 | 9 |