As we have mentioned several times before, we try very hard not to look at any other rankings.
We don't want to be influenced, and also ignoring other rankings allows us plausible deniability if anyone accuses us of copying just because we happen to agree. However, it's difficult to avoid sometimes when we do a search on social media, for example, because often the first post that shows up is NCR's rankings graphics. All of that is to say that we knew that NCR's poll had Kentucky at #1 and ... guess what? We think they were right and we were wrong. While it's entirely possible that Virginia Tech, which was #1 until last week, is the #1 team, it was difficult to put them there when Kentucky beat a fairly highly-ranked South Carolina and did so in convincing fashion.
Meanwhile, last week's #1, Louisville, of course lost, so they couldn't stay. We could have moved Kansas into the #1 but they lost a game, and while we don't penalize college teams for losing to men's clubs, we don't reward them, either. Bowling Green? Maybe, but they did lose to Notre Dame, which was weird. San Diego? They might be the best team in the nation, but they haven't played yet. Sam Houston State? Had they played and won this week, we'd have considered it. Iowa State? Yes, they are in the picture.
We also had several bug movers. UMass is a team we've been a little slow to love and that's in part due to how their schedule panned out. Had they been able to play (and beat) UConn earlier in the season then they might have been higher. In the end they played (and beat) UConn this past week and then beat Boston College. So now they are up 21 spots to #10. Florida beat Florida State (non-league game, we know) and move up 11 spots. We are starting to see something from Boise State and we are also seeing something from Rice. They move up nine and 10 spots, respectively.\
And at #40, Rowan beat Princeton, but overall Princeton has had the better season. We couldn't pick between them so we have them both at #40. For now.
