Against Ranked teams - Week 2

[SWC75]

The last few years I’ve attempted to quantify team’s performances against ranked teams, (historically a big factor in decisions made about getting into playoffs) with a system that gives points to teams for the ranking of their opponents and adds or subtracts the point differential in their games, (adds in a win, subtracts in a loss). The ‘ranking’ points are 25 for playing a #1 ranked team, 24 for playing a #2 ranked team, etc, down to 1 point for playing a 25th ranked team. These points are easily computed by subtracting the ranking number from 26, (26-1 = 25; 26-25 =1, etc). Over the course of the season, I add the points earned by each team in their games against ranked teams as a sort of standings but have always maintained that this is just one thing to look at in evaluating the team, not a final overall ranking.

Last year I added a new wrinkle to the basketball version of this. I totaled the points each ranked team’s opponent earned against them, (positive or negative) to get a measure of how well the ranked teams performed in these games. I then added those points together with the points against ranked teams to make my NCAA picks and it worked out pretty well so I decided to try it for football. The numbers will gain meaning each week and should be very interesting by the end of the season.

One thing I’ve found is that when ranked teams play each other, it works better if I just keep track of “against ranked teams” Example:
#5 Georgia beat #3 Clemson 10-3 Georgia +30 Clemson -30
#3 Clemson lost to #5 Georgia 3-10 Clemson +14 Georgia -14
If you add them together Georgia gets +16 and Clemson -16 yet the game was decided by 7 points.
So the first figure is “against ranked teams and the second figure “as a ranked team against an unranked team”.

WEEK 2 (9/1-6)
Arkansas beat #15 Texas 40-21 Arkansas +30 Texas -30
Oregon beat #3 Ohio State 35-28 Oregon +30 both ranked
Iowa beat #9 Iowa State 27-17 Iowa +27 both ranked
Stanford beat #14 So California 42-28 Stanford +26 So. California -26
Colorado lost to #5 Texas A&M 7-10 Colorado +18 Texas A&M -18
Toledo lost to #8 Notre Dame 29-32 Toledo +15 Notre Dame -15
Brigham Young lost to #21 Utah 26-17 Brigham Young +14 Utah -14
Ohio State lost to #12 Oregon 28-35 Ohio State +7 both ranked
Iowa State lost to #10 Iowa 17-27 Iowa State +6 both ranked
Appalachian State lost to #22 U of Miami 23-25 Appalachian State +2 U of Miami -2
Mercer lost to #1 Alabama 14-48 Mercer -9 Alabama +9
South Florida lost to #13 Florida 20-42 South Florida -9 Florida +9
Middle Tennessee lost to #19 Virginia Tech 14-35 Middle Tennessee -14 Virginia Tech +14
Ball State lost to #11 Penn State 13-44 Ball State -16 Penn State +16
Murray State lost to #7 Cincinnati 7-42 Murray State -16 Cincinnati +16
Kansas lost to #17 Coastal Carolina 22-49 Kansas -18 Coastal Carolina +18
Eastern Michigan lost to #18 Wisconsin 7-34 Eastern Michigan -19 Wisconsin +19
Nevada-Las Vegas lost to #23 Arizona State 10-37 UNLV -24 Arizona State +24
Alabama-Birmingham lost to #2 Georgia 7-56 UAB -25 Georgia +25
South Carolina State lost to #6 Clemson 3-49 S. Carolina St -26 Clemson +26
Austin Peay State lost to #20 Mississippi 17-54 Austin Peay Stare -31 Mississippi +31
Georgia State lost to #24 North Carolina 17-59 Georgia State -40 North Carolina +40
Western Carolina lost to #4 Oklahoma 0-76 Western Carolina -54 Oklahoma +54
Alabama State lost to #25 Auburn 0-62 Alabama State -61 Auburn +61


Top 10 Against Ranked Teams through Week 2
Iowa +64
Alabama +43
Arkansas +30
Georgia +30
Oregon +30
Stanford +26
Texas +23
Virginia Tech +23
UCLA +21
Penn State +20


Top 10 as a Ranked Team Against Unranked Teams through Week 2
Auburn +61
Coastal Carolina +52
Oklahoma +35
Cincinnati +33
Mississippi +31
Clemson +26
Georgia +25
Arizona State +24
Florida +22
Wisconsin +19