Three AP top 25 voters still have Badgers in top 10

What price was to be paid for losing on the road to a team that was 2-4 entering the game (and on a four-game losing streak)?

For Wisconsin, it meant dropping from No. 6 to No. 13 in the latest Associated Press top-25 poll.



While some fans might have thought the Badgers would fall further, there was some precedent. After all, after then-No. 3 Georgia fell at home to unranked South Carolina, which had been 1-3 against FBS teams, the Bulldogs slipped seven spots to No. 10.

As it turned out, Wisconsin also dropped seven spots … but three voters kept the Badgers in the top 10: Audrey Dahlgren of WLNS-TV (Lansing, Mich.), Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald and Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. All three had UW at No. 6 last week.

For what it’s worth, Dave Reardon of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, who had Wisconsin at No. 3 last week, the highest of any AP voter, moved the Badgers nine spots to No. 12.

Eight voters dropped Wisconsin down nine spots and six slid the Badgers down 10.

Five voters had Wisconsin ranked No. 17, including three – Rece Davis of ESPN, Joe Dubin of WSMV-TV (Nashville) and Tom Green of Alabama Media Group.

The lowest the Badgers were ranked was 18, a slide of 12 spots from both Brian Howell of the Daily Camera and Jim Polzin of the Wisconsin State Journal. Polzin, of course, saw Wisconsin’s loss in person. But so did Bob Asmussen of the Champaign News-Gazette, who ranked the Badgers at No. 13 after having them also at No. 6 last week.

Here’s how all the AP voters cast their ballots in Week 9 compared to last week:

* - Blair Kerkoff took over in Week 9 for Andy Schiffer, also of the Kansas City Star

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