CRAWFORD | My Week 1 Associated Press men's college basketball Top 25 ballot | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The AP preseason poll is about what we think. The first regular-season poll is about what we know.

I'm a big believer in analytics. If KenPom offered a platinum tier, I'd sign up yesterday. Bart Torvik? Essential. ESPN's BPI? Sure, even that. I look at them all — and more.

But I also believe in following instructions. And when I signed on to vote in the Associated Press Top 25, it came with a set of guidelines:

Base your vote on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation.
Avoid regional bias. "Homerism" will be challenged and could lead to dismissal.
Pay attention to head-to-head results.
Don't be afraid to make significant changes week to week — just be able to justify them.

Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford

Now, "performance" is in the eye of the beholder. A No. 1 offensive efficiency rating counts as performance. So does shutting down a quality opponent on defense. But more than anything, it means beating good basketball teams. So in this first regular-season ballot, I've prioritized teams that have won big games — or at least shown well in defeat.

I still respect the metrics — and a few rankings here reflect that — but the scales are starting to tilt. Quality wins and head-to-head results already matter. In fact, they've shaped this ballot: Arizona vs. Florida. Michigan State vs. Arkansas. If two teams are within shouting distance of each other and they've played? The winner has to go higher.

So here it is. I built a composite from the computers. I weighed it against AP instructions. Then I added weight for quality results, wins so far, then less for exhibition wins, then head-to-head.

Finally, I went back and ranked who I thought looked like the better teams, and gave that a small say in the list.

Let the arguments begin.

Duke: A quality win over Texas and an exhibition win over Tennessee match up the computer love for the Blue Devils. A nod to performance bumps them over Houston – for now.
Houston: Elite metrics, plus a solid exhibition win over Mississippi State.
Arizona: Came from 12 down to beat national champion Florida in Las Vegas. Probably the best win of the young season so far.
Florida: No shame in playing a tough opener and coming up short. Next major tests come against Duke and Connecticut in early December.
Connecticut" Haven't had a true regular-season test yet, but had a decent exhibition win over Michigan State. They'll face BYU and Arizona in the next 10 days.
Kentucky: The exhibition win over Purdue still looms large. The loss to Georgetown and some struggles with injured point guards matter, but the Wildcats looked strong in Jaland Lowe's debut. They'll play at Louisville Tuesday.
Gonzaga: Mark Few's team pounded Oklahoma over the weekend and gets Creighton on Tuesday.
Purdue: Their game at Alabama on Thursday will tell a lot.
Alabama: The win over St. John's in the Garden was impressive. A grown-up schedule awaits, with games against Purdue, Illinois and Gonzaga in their next three, plus Clemson and Arizona down the road.
Illinois: The computers love the Illini, based on offensive and defensive efficiency. Just need to see more than wins over Jackson State and Florida Gulf Coast.
Michigan: Another team the computers love. And they're riding the memory of an exhibition win over St. John's.
Louisville: The Cardinals haven't beaten anyone yet but have been impressive offensively since an exhibition loss to Kansas. Tuesday vs. Kentucky will tell a lot.
BYU: Quality win over Villanova in its opener and will face UConn on Saturday.
North Carolina: Win over Kansas was impressive.
St. John's: Defense will be addressed after giving up 103 in a loss to Alabama.
Tennessee: They're cupcake city until games against Rutgers and Houston just before Thanksgiving but were competitive in an exhibition loss to Duke.
Iowa State: At Mississippi State Monday night will give us something more to go on.
Texas Tech: At Illinois on Tuesday will be must-see.
Vanderbilt: A road win at UCF was a good start.
Kansas: Double-digit loss in Chapel Hill, but one of the top freshman in the country and an impressive exhibition win at Louisville.
Michigan State: Big win over Arkansas in East Lansing.
Arkansas: Three-point loss to Michigan State shouldn't knock them out.
Indiana: They beat Marquette by 23 in Chicago. Beat Baylor in an exhibition. They've earned a spot early on.
UCLA: Had them higher in the preseason, but they dropped in the computer rankings with a couple of less-than-impressive wins, and they drop here, too.
Georgetown: The computer rankings give the Hoyas no respect, but who has had a more impressive few weeks than this? Win an exhibition game at Kentucky (even a shorthanded UK team) and win a true road game at Maryland by 10. Performance matters.