Against Ranked Team - basketball - after Week #5

[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.

I didn’t do that for this year’s football season because with some conferences opting out and then opting back in later in the seasons, the rankings were a mess. But everybody is playing basketball now, or trying to, so I’ve decided to keep track of performances against ranked teams in this sport. I’ve decided to add an extra wrinkle: I will keep track of the performances of the ranked teams themselves by totaling the points earned against them, with the +/- reversed. This will measure their performance “as a ranked team” We’ll see how that goes and I’ll decide whether to continue with that.

When ranked teams play each other, their only points will be under the first test. Otherwise the Duke-Kentucky game would look like this:
Duke beat #10 Kentucky 79-71: Duke +24 Kentucky -24
Kentucky lost to #9 Duke 71-79: Kentucky +9 Duke -9
That would give Duke +15 points and Kentucky -15 points. They should both get credit for playing each other in a competitive game. Giving Duke +24 points and Kentucky +9 makes more sense.)

WEEK #5 (12/6-12)
Baylor beat #6 Villanova 57-36 Baylor +41 both ranked
Oklahoma beat #12 Arkansas 88-66 Oklahoma +36 Arkansas -36
Rutgers beat #1 Purdue 70-68 Rutgers +27 Purdue -27
Seton Hall beat #7 Texas 64-60 Seton Hall +23 both ranked
Ohio State beat #22 Wisconsin 73-55 Ohio State +22 Wisconsin -22
Texas Southern beat #20 Florida 69-54 Texas Southern +21 Florida -21
Notre Dame beat #10 Kentucky 66-62 Notre Dame +20 Kentucky -20
Texas Tech beat #13 Tennessee 57-52 Texas Tech +18 Tennessee -18
Houston lost to #9 Alabama 82-83 Houston +16 both ranked
North Carolina State lost to #1 Purdue 72-82 North Carolina St +15 Purdue -15
Creighton beat #24 Brigham Young 83-71 Creighton +14 Brigham Young -14
West Virginia beat #15 Connecticut 56-53 West Virginia +14 Connecticut -14
Alabama beat #14 Houston 83-82 Alabama +13 both ranked
Illinois lost to #11 Arizona 79-83 Illinois +11 Arizona -11
Marquette lost to #4 UCLA 56-67 Marquette +11 UCLA -11
Maryland beat #20 Florida 70-68 Maryland +8 Florida -8
Syracuse lost to #6 Villanova 53-67 Syracuse +6 Villanova -6
Southern U. lost to #10 Kentucky 64-76 Southern U. +4 Kentucky -4
Villanova lost to #2 Baylor 36-57 Villanova +3 both ranked
St. Bonaventure lost to #15 Connecticut 64-74 St. Bonaventure +1 Connecticut -1
Texas-El Paso lost to #4 Kansas 52-78 Texas-El Paso -4 Kansas +4
Indiana lost to #22 Wisconsin 59-64 Indiana -1 Wisconsin +1
Jackson State lost to #17 Iowa State 37-47 Jackson State -1 Iowa State +1
Long Beach State lost to #16 Southern California 62-73 Long Beach State -1 So California +1
Minnesota lost to #19 Michigan State 67-75 Minnesota -1 Michigan State +1
Texas lost to #23 Seton Hall 60-64 Texas -1 both ranked
Eastern Kentucky lost to #16 So California 68-80 E. Kentucky -2 So. California +2
Merrimack lost to #5 Gonzaga 55-80 Merrimack -4 Gonzaga +4
Charlotte lost to #12 Arkansas 66-86 Charlotte -6 Arkansas +6
Towson lost to #21 Ohio State 74-85 Towson -6 Ohio State +6
Penn State lost to #19 Michigan State 64-80 Penn State -9 Michigan State +9
Utah State lost to #24 Brigham Young 71-82 Utah State -9 Brigham Young +9
Iowa lost to #17 Iowa State 53-73 Iowa -11 Iowa State +11
Rutgers lost to #23 Seton Hall 63-77 Rutgers -11 Seton Hall +11
Wisconsin lost to #21 Ohio State 55-73 Wisconsin -13 Ohio State +13
Wyoming lost to #11 Arizona 65-94 Wyoming -14 Arizona +14
Georgia Tech lost to #25 Louisiana State 53-69 Georgia Tech -15 Louisiana State +15
Missouri lost to #8 Kansas 65-102 Missouri -19 Kansas +19
Alcorn State lost to #14 Houston 45-77 Alcorn State -20 Houston +20
Nebraska lost to #18 Auburn 68-99 Nebraska -23 Auburn +23
North Florida lost to #20 Florida 55-85 North Florida -24 Florida +24
UNC Greensboro lost to #13 Tennessee 36-76 UNC Greensboro -27 Tennessee +27


Top Ten Against Ranked Teams
Gonzaga +96
Villanova +59
Oklahoma +55
Duke +52
Seton Hall +47
Brigham Young +46
Alabama +45
Purdue +44
Baylor +41
Arizona +40

The worst is Bryant -56

Syracuse is -8. The following SU opponents (or potential opponents), are: Auburn -2, Clemson +1, Duke +52, Florida State -4, Georgia Tech -14, Lafayette -14, U of Miami -16, North Carolina +27, North Carolina St +15 Notre Dame +20 Villanova +59, Virginia -9 Virginia Commonwealth +9, Virginia Tech +9

Top Ten as a Ranked Team Against Unranked Teams
Houston +141
Auburn +112
Connecticut +104
Southern California +80
Baylor +73
Florida +63
Tennessee +57
Seton Hall +56
Kentucky +55
Arizona +50

The worst team is Michigan -96

Syracuse is not on this list yet. The following SU opponents (or potential opponents), are: Auburn +112 Duke +19, Florida State +29, North Carolina +12, Villanova +27, Virginia +20