SWC75
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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.
(First alteration: When ranked teams play each other, their only points will be under the first test. Otherwise the Gonzaga-Kansas game would look like this:
Gonzaga beat #6 Kansas 102-90: Gonzaga +32 Kansas -32
Kansas lost to #1 Gonzaga 90-102: Kansas +13 Gonzaga -13
That would give Gonzaga +19 points and Kansas -19 points. They should both get credit for playing each other in a competitive game. Giving Gonzaga +32 points and Kansas +13 makes more sense.)
WEEK NINE (1/18-24)
Baylor beat #9 Kansas 77-69: Baylor +25 both ranked
Kansas lost to #2 Baylor 69-77: Kansas +16 both ranked
St. John’s beat #23 Connecticut 74-70: St. John’s +7 Connecticut -7
Seton Hall lost to #3 Villanova 74-76: Seton Hall +21 Villanova -21
Florida beat #6 Tennessee 75-49: Florida +46 Tennessee -46
Maryland lost to #7 Michigan 63-87: Maryland -5 Michigan +5
Purdue beat #15 Ohio State 67-65: Purdue +13 Ohio State -13
Louisiana State lost to #18 Alabama 75-105: LSU -22 Alabama +22
South Carolina lost to #19 Missouri 70-81: So Carolina -4 Missouri +4
Penn State lost to #22 Illinois 65-79: Penn State -10 Illinois +10
Tulsa lost to #8 Houston 59-86: Tulsa -9 Houston +9
Northwestern lost to #10 Wisconsin 52-68: even even
Providence beat #11 Creighton 74-70 Providence +19 Creighton -19
Georgia Tech beat #20 Clemson 83-65: Georgia Tech +24 Clemson -24
Indiana beat #4 Iowa 81-69: Indiana +34 Iowa -34
California lost to #24 UCLA 57-61: California -2 UCLA +2
Purdue lost to #7 Michigan 53-70: Purdue +2 Michigan -2
Pacific lost to #1 Gonzaga 49-95: Pacific -21 Gonzaga +21
Oklahoma State lost to #2 Baylor 66-81: Oklahoma State +9 Baylor -9
Providence lost to #3 Villanova 56-71: Providence +8 Villanova -8
Missouri beat #6 Tennessee 73-64: Missouri +29 both ranked
Tennessee lost to #19 Missouri 64-73: Tennessee -2 both ranked
Temple lost to #8 Houston 51-68: Temple +1 Houston -1
Oklahoma beat #9 Kansas 75-68: Oklahoma +24 Kansas -24
Ohio State beat #10 Wisconsin 74-62: Ohio State +28 both ranked
Wisconsin lost to #15 Ohio State 62-74: Wisconsin-1 both ranked
Creighton beat #23 Connecticut 74-66: Creighton +11 both ranked
Connecticut lost to #11 Creighton 66-74: Connecticut +3 both ranked
Georgia Tech lost to #13 Virginia 62-64: Georgia Tech +11 Virginia -11
Kansas State lost to #14 West Virginia 47-69: Kansas State -10 West Virginia +10
Syracuse beat #16 Virginia Tech 78-60: Syracuse +28 Virginia Tech -28
Maryland beat #17 Minnesota 63-49: Maryland +23 Minnesota -23
Mississippi State lost to #18 Alabama 73-81 even even
Florida State beat #20 Clemson 80-61: Florida State +25 Clemson -25
Oregon State beat #21 Oregon 75-64: Oregon State +16 Oregon -16
Stanford beat #24 UCLA 73-72: Stanford +3 UCLA -3
(The only Sunday game scheduled involving a ranked team has been postponed.)
After recording these scores, I’m not sure how I feel about the new stat. it gives too much credit for blow-out wins over over-matched opponents. But everyone plays games like that and maybe teams that don’t blow-out over-matched opponents should be debited for that by not getting as much credit. I’m also worried that the points accumulated against unranked teams might be more prolific than the points against ranked teams because that would be more games. What I’ll do is to keep track of them separately and also add them together. That way, if I decide I don’t like the new stat, I can just report the points “against ranked teams”.
TOP TEN AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Gonzaga +109
Minnesota +103
Iowa +98
Kansas +96
Texas +95
Michigan +86
Oklahoma +79
Wisconsin +79
West Virginia +72
Baylor +68
TOP TEN AS A RANKED TEAM AGAINST UNRANKED TEAMS
Texas Tech +137
Ohio State +97
Illinois +79
Virginia +38
Baylor +34
Gonzaga +32
Rutgers +32
Texas +32
Iowa +31
North Carolina +28
Houston +28
TOP TEN COMBINED
Texas Tech +195
Ohio State +156
Gonzaga +141
Illinois +133
Iowa +129
Texas +120
Michigan +107
Baylor +102
Virginia +85
Minnesota +80
Syracuse has played two teams that were ranked when we played them, Rutgers, who was ranked #21 when we played them. We lost to them by 10 points. Now we’ve beaten #16 Virginia Tech by 18 points and so, under this system, we’ve got +23 points. Our remaining scheduled opponents have the following combined total points:
Virginia +85
North Carolina State +7
Louisville -28
Clemson -73
North Carolina State +7
Boston College +10
Louisville -28
Notre Dame -21
Duke +19
Georgia Tech +56
North Carolina +8
To the extent that these numbers mean anything, we could be looking at a 9-2 finish, which would put us at 18-6. I’ll sign up for that!
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.
(First alteration: When ranked teams play each other, their only points will be under the first test. Otherwise the Gonzaga-Kansas game would look like this:
Gonzaga beat #6 Kansas 102-90: Gonzaga +32 Kansas -32
Kansas lost to #1 Gonzaga 90-102: Kansas +13 Gonzaga -13
That would give Gonzaga +19 points and Kansas -19 points. They should both get credit for playing each other in a competitive game. Giving Gonzaga +32 points and Kansas +13 makes more sense.)
WEEK NINE (1/18-24)
Baylor beat #9 Kansas 77-69: Baylor +25 both ranked
Kansas lost to #2 Baylor 69-77: Kansas +16 both ranked
St. John’s beat #23 Connecticut 74-70: St. John’s +7 Connecticut -7
Seton Hall lost to #3 Villanova 74-76: Seton Hall +21 Villanova -21
Florida beat #6 Tennessee 75-49: Florida +46 Tennessee -46
Maryland lost to #7 Michigan 63-87: Maryland -5 Michigan +5
Purdue beat #15 Ohio State 67-65: Purdue +13 Ohio State -13
Louisiana State lost to #18 Alabama 75-105: LSU -22 Alabama +22
South Carolina lost to #19 Missouri 70-81: So Carolina -4 Missouri +4
Penn State lost to #22 Illinois 65-79: Penn State -10 Illinois +10
Tulsa lost to #8 Houston 59-86: Tulsa -9 Houston +9
Northwestern lost to #10 Wisconsin 52-68: even even
Providence beat #11 Creighton 74-70 Providence +19 Creighton -19
Georgia Tech beat #20 Clemson 83-65: Georgia Tech +24 Clemson -24
Indiana beat #4 Iowa 81-69: Indiana +34 Iowa -34
California lost to #24 UCLA 57-61: California -2 UCLA +2
Purdue lost to #7 Michigan 53-70: Purdue +2 Michigan -2
Pacific lost to #1 Gonzaga 49-95: Pacific -21 Gonzaga +21
Oklahoma State lost to #2 Baylor 66-81: Oklahoma State +9 Baylor -9
Providence lost to #3 Villanova 56-71: Providence +8 Villanova -8
Missouri beat #6 Tennessee 73-64: Missouri +29 both ranked
Tennessee lost to #19 Missouri 64-73: Tennessee -2 both ranked
Temple lost to #8 Houston 51-68: Temple +1 Houston -1
Oklahoma beat #9 Kansas 75-68: Oklahoma +24 Kansas -24
Ohio State beat #10 Wisconsin 74-62: Ohio State +28 both ranked
Wisconsin lost to #15 Ohio State 62-74: Wisconsin-1 both ranked
Creighton beat #23 Connecticut 74-66: Creighton +11 both ranked
Connecticut lost to #11 Creighton 66-74: Connecticut +3 both ranked
Georgia Tech lost to #13 Virginia 62-64: Georgia Tech +11 Virginia -11
Kansas State lost to #14 West Virginia 47-69: Kansas State -10 West Virginia +10
Syracuse beat #16 Virginia Tech 78-60: Syracuse +28 Virginia Tech -28
Maryland beat #17 Minnesota 63-49: Maryland +23 Minnesota -23
Mississippi State lost to #18 Alabama 73-81 even even
Florida State beat #20 Clemson 80-61: Florida State +25 Clemson -25
Oregon State beat #21 Oregon 75-64: Oregon State +16 Oregon -16
Stanford beat #24 UCLA 73-72: Stanford +3 UCLA -3
(The only Sunday game scheduled involving a ranked team has been postponed.)
After recording these scores, I’m not sure how I feel about the new stat. it gives too much credit for blow-out wins over over-matched opponents. But everyone plays games like that and maybe teams that don’t blow-out over-matched opponents should be debited for that by not getting as much credit. I’m also worried that the points accumulated against unranked teams might be more prolific than the points against ranked teams because that would be more games. What I’ll do is to keep track of them separately and also add them together. That way, if I decide I don’t like the new stat, I can just report the points “against ranked teams”.
TOP TEN AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Gonzaga +109
Minnesota +103
Iowa +98
Kansas +96
Texas +95
Michigan +86
Oklahoma +79
Wisconsin +79
West Virginia +72
Baylor +68
TOP TEN AS A RANKED TEAM AGAINST UNRANKED TEAMS
Texas Tech +137
Ohio State +97
Illinois +79
Virginia +38
Baylor +34
Gonzaga +32
Rutgers +32
Texas +32
Iowa +31
North Carolina +28
Houston +28
TOP TEN COMBINED
Texas Tech +195
Ohio State +156
Gonzaga +141
Illinois +133
Iowa +129
Texas +120
Michigan +107
Baylor +102
Virginia +85
Minnesota +80
Syracuse has played two teams that were ranked when we played them, Rutgers, who was ranked #21 when we played them. We lost to them by 10 points. Now we’ve beaten #16 Virginia Tech by 18 points and so, under this system, we’ve got +23 points. Our remaining scheduled opponents have the following combined total points:
Virginia +85
North Carolina State +7
Louisville -28
Clemson -73
North Carolina State +7
Boston College +10
Louisville -28
Notre Dame -21
Duke +19
Georgia Tech +56
North Carolina +8
To the extent that these numbers mean anything, we could be looking at a 9-2 finish, which would put us at 18-6. I’ll sign up for that!
