Some AP top-25 voters put Big Ten teams on ballot, but not Badgers

With the Big Ten back in business — well, in late October — Associated Press top-25 voters were instructed they could put teams from the conference on their ballots this past week.

Many did, and as a result Wisconsin came in at No. 19, just behind No. 18 Oklahoma, which is 1-1 this season.

Other Big Ten teams ranked are Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, while Minnesota and Iowa both received votes.

The Badgers, who again aren’t scheduled to play until Oct. 24, received three votes in the top 10, with the high vote being No. 8 by Parrish Alford of the Tupelo (Miss.) Daily Journal.

Fifteen voters didn’t put Wisconsin in their ballot. Which makes sense — after all the Badgers don’t play for weeks and there’s plenty of time to get them in the top 25 before Oct. 24 (which brings up an interesting question of whether Big Ten teams will move up or down in the poll without having played).

However …

Of those 15 voters, four did have Big Ten teams on their ballot but chose not to include Wisconsin. Let’s take a look:

Jerry DiPaola, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Ranked Ohio State (No. 3) and no other Big Ten teams, which is, shall we say, interesting.

Pat Dooley: Badgers got snubbed here as Dooley ranked Ohio State (No. 1!!!), Penn State (9) and Michigan (21).

Tom Green, Alabama Media Group: A different thought here as Green put Big Ten teams lower on his ballot, with Ohio State at No. 16 and Penn State No. 19.

Michael Lev, Arizona Daily Star: Has Ohio State at No. 3 and Penn State No. 7.

Here’s all the votes from Week 4. We’ve included the preseason votes — the last time Wisconsin could be put on a ballot — for comparison’s sake:

Note: n/a = voter did not submit a ballot that week