Lone AP Voter Who Voted Louisville Over Kentucky as No. 1 Explains Thought Process
By Chris Pyo
After beating preseason No. 1 Michigan State by a score of 69-62, Kentucky was expected to unanimously rise to the top of the AP Top 25 rankings.
Well, they're indeed No. 1 heading into the second week of the NCAA season, but there was one AP voter who didn't vote for Kentucky. In fact, he voted for Kentucky's in-state rivals, Louisville, to be at the top of the mountain.
John Calipari, last week: " I know we beat No. 1 on a neutral court, but some people will not vote for us. They'll either abstain or vote for somebody else.”
— Not Jerry Tipton (@NotJerryTipton) November 11, 2019
AP voter @DaveBorges, this week:
h/t: @d_c555 pic.twitter.com/t3jkGjVVVr
One would expect that writer, Dave Borges, to have some sort of specific bias against Kentucky. Maybe he's covered Louisville for such a long time that he's excited to be able to put them over Kentucky.
Nope. Borges covers the UConn Huskies up in Connecticut. So then what's the deal?
Borges' explanation for voting Louisville over Kentucky was predicated on the fact that he was unbelievably high on the Cardinals at the start of the season, ranking them No. 2 during the preseason.
In case you were wondering, UConn beat writer Dave Borges of the New Haven Register voted Louisville No. 1.
— TheCatsPause247 (@TheCatsPause247) November 11, 2019
After No. 1 Michigan State lost and Louisville started off the season 2-0, Borges saw nothing wrong with moving Louisville up a spot, completely disregarding Kentucky's strong start to the season and ranking them No. 4, behind Louisville, Duke and UNC.
It's only the start of the season, and the rankings will definitely shift around, but Kentucky fans must be losing their heads over Borges' unwillingness to rank the Wildcats No. 1.