"You start with what we’re trying to do with the AP poll,” Newell said. “I think we all could have different answers, and reasonable minds could disagree about what we’re doing here, you know what I mean? To me, it goes down to two basic trains of thought: Are you trying to rank the best teams or are you trying to rank the most deserving teams?”
Newell’s approach has always been to try to rank the best teams. To him, that has meant relying on more datapoints and advanced metrics to sort through all the teams and come up with his top-25. He leans on the metrics from
KenPom.com, T-Rank, Sagarin, Team Rankings and BPI to come up with his ballot each week. Those algorithms take into consideration how a team looks possession by possession over the course of a game.
This week, those metrics have Auburn ninth, seventh, 10th, ninth and 12th, respectively. All five of those metrics also have Gonzaga as the No. 1 team in the country.
Of course, Newell understands his voting philosophy isn’t shared by everyone. While he aims to try to determine the best teams — and try to answer the question of who would be favored, head-to-head, on a neutral court — others often try to determine the most deserving team when compiling their ballot.
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