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For the second consecutive week, and yes, the second week ever, the Villanova Wildcats are the #1 team in the country and we're going to dig in to how the AP Voters cast their ballots.
This week, 'Nova grabbed 44 of the 65 First Place ballots, with the Kansas Jayhawks collecting the balance. This is an improvement over the 32 votes for the top spot that the 'Cats got last week.
Mapping the Voters
Blue for those voting 'Nova 1st, Purple for those voting Kansas 1st.
The AP Voters (who put 'Nova #1)
| Name | Outlet | City, State |
|---|---|---|
| B.J. Rains | Idaho Press-Tribune | Nampa, ID |
| Bob Holt | Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | Little Rock, AR |
| Bob Sutton | The Times News | Burlington, NC |
| Bret Strelow | The Fayetteville Observer | Fayetteville, NC |
| Cecil Hurt | The Tuscaloosa News | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Chris Dachille | WBAL-TV | Baltimore, MD |
| Chris Murray | Reno Gazette-Journal | Reno, NV |
| Christian Caple | The News Tribune | Tacoma, WA |
| Cormac Gordon | Island Advance | Staten Island, NY |
| Dana O'Neil | ESPN.com | Bristol, CT |
| Dave Borges | New Haven Register | New Haven, CT |
| Dick Vitale | ABC-ESPN | Bristol, CT |
| Doug Haller | The Arizona Republic | Phoenix, AZ |
| Elton Alexander | The Plain Dealer | Cleveland, OH |
| Fletcher Mackel | WDSU-TV | New Orleans, LA |
| J.P. Butler | Olean Times Herald | Olean, NY |
| Jay Drew | Salt Lake Tribune | CitySalt Lake City, UT |
| Jeff Faraudo | Bay Area News Group | Walnut Creek, CA |
| Jerry Carino | Gannett | Somerville, NJ |
| Joe Juliano | The Philadelphia Inquirer | Philadelphia, PA |
| John Feinstein | National Public Radio | Washington, DC |
| John McNamara | The Capital Gazette | Annapolis, MD |
| John Werner | Waco Tribune-Herald | Waco, TX |
| Jon Rothstein | CBS Sports | New York, NY |
| Jon Wilner | San Jose Mercury | San Jose, CA |
| Kelly Hines | Tulsa World Tulsa | Tulsa, OK |
| Kevin Brockway | The Gainesville Sun | Gainesville, FL |
| Matt Vautour | Daily Hampshire Gazette | Northampton, MA |
| Matt Velazquez | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Milwaukee, WI |
| Michelle Kaufman | Miami Herald | Miami, FL |
| Pat Rooney | Daily Camera | Boulder, CO |
| Ray Coleman | WAPT-TV | Jackson, MS |
| Richard Croome | The Eagle | Bryan, TX |
| Rick Bozich | WDRB-TV | Louisville, KY |
| Scott Mansch | Great Falls Tribune | Great Falls, MT |
| Scott Wolf | Los Angeles Daily | Los Angeles, CA |
| Seth Davis | CBS-Sports Illustrated | New York, NY |
| Shannon Ryan | Chicago Tribune | Chicago, IL |
| Soren Petro | Sports Radio 810 | Leawood, KS |
| Terry Toohey | Delaware County Daily | Primos, PA |
| Tod Palmer | Kansas City Star | Kansas City, MO |
| Tyson Alger | The Oregonian | Portland, OR |
| Zac Boyer | The Washington Times | Washington, DC |
| Zach Osterman | Indianapolis Star | Indianapolis, IN |
18 of the remaining votes put Jay Wright's squad at #2, this includes Aaron Brenner of The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC) who posted 'Nova at #7 in the Cats' first week at #1.
The remaining three voters put Villanova at #3; Chuck McGill of the Charleston (WV) Daily, Kevin Lyttle Austin (TX) American-Statesman, and Nick Carboni WBIR-TV (Knoxville, TN). All of them had Kansas and Oklahoma ahead of the Wildcats.
This last week showed that voters are swinging to the idea of being OK with Villanova being #1. And that spread across the US doesn't seem to have any correlation to geographic locale.