Against Ranked Teams - basketball after 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.

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 #2 (11/15-21/21)
Brigham Young beat #12 Oregon 81-49 Brigham Young +46 Oregon -46
Arizona beat #4 Michigan 80-62 Arizona +40 Michigan -40
Purdue beat #5 Villanova 80-74 Purdue +27 both ranked
Villanova beat #17 Tennessee 71-53 Villanova +27 both ranked
Tennessee beat #18 North Carolina 89-72 Tennessee +25 both ranked
Seton Hall beat #4 Michigan 67-65 Seton Hall +24 Michigan -24
Marquette beat #10 Illinois 67-66 Marquette +17 Illinois -17
Purdue beat #18 North Carolina 93-84 Purdue +17 both ranked
Villanova lost to #6 Purdue 74-80 Villanova +14 both ranked
Xavier beat #19 Ohio State 71-65 Xavier +13 Ohio State -13
North Carolina lost #6 Purdue 84-93 North Carolina +12 Purdue -12
George Mason beat #20 Maryland 71-66 George Mason +11 Maryland -11
Nevada-Las Vegas lost to #4 Michigan Nevada-Las Vegas +9 Michigan -9
Northern Colorado lost to #8 Texas 49-62 Northern Colorado +5 Texas -5
Hofstra lost to #20 Maryland 67-69 Hofstra +4 Maryland -4
Long Beach State lost to #2 UCLA 79-100 Long Beach State +3 UCLA -3
Tennessee lost to #5 Villanova 53-71 Tennessee +3 both ranked
Western Kentucky lost to #11 Memphis 62-74 Western Kentucky +3 Memphis -3
Howard lost to #5 Villanova 81-100 Howard +2 Villanova -2
Clemson lost to #22 St. Bonaventure 65-68 Clemson +1 St. Bonaventure -1
Saint Louis lost to #11 Memphis 74-90 Saint Louis -1 Memphis +1
South Florida lost to #21 Auburn 52-58 South Florida -1 Auburn +1
Alcorn State lost to #1 Gonzaga 57-84 Alcorn State -2 Gonzaga +2
Boise State lost to #22 St. Bonaventure 61-67 Boise State -2 St. Bonaventure +4
Charleston lost to #18 North Carolina 83-94 Charleston -3 North Carolina +3
Northern Iowa lost to #16 Arkansas 80-93 Northern Iowa -3 Arkansas +3
South Alabama lost to #14 Alabama 68-83 South Alabama -3 Alabama +3
Ohio lost to #13 Kentucky 59-77 Ohio -5 Kentucky +5
Stony Brook lost to #3 Kansas 59-88 Stony Brook -6 Kansas +6
North Carolina lost to #17 Tennessee 72-89 North Carolina -8 both ranked
Virginia lost to #15 Houston 47-67 Virginia -9 Houston +9
North Florida lost to #2 UCLA 63-98 North Florida -11 UCLA +11
Marquette lost to #22 St. Bonaventure 54-70 Marquette -12 St. Bonaventure +12
Mount St. Mary’s beat #13 Kentucky 55-80 Mount St. Mary’s -12 Kentucky +12
Nicholls lost to #9 Baylor 60-89 Nicholls -12 Baylor +12
Lafayette lost to #7 Duke 55-88 Lafayette -14 Duke +14
Oakland lost to #14 Alabama 59-86 Oakland -15 Alabama +14
Florida Gulf Coast lost to #25 Southern California 61-78 Florida Gulf Coast -16 Southern California +16
San Jose State lost to #8 Texas 45-79 San Jose State -16 Texas +16
Bellarmine lost to #1 Gonzaga 50-92 Bellarmine -17 Gonzaga +17
Binghamton lost to #23 Connecticut 63-87 Binghamton -21 Connecticut +21
Gardner-Webb lost to #7 Duke 52-92 Gardner-Webb -21 Duke +21
Stanford lost to #9 Baylor 48-86 Stanford -21 Baylor +21
Bowling Green lost to #19 Ohio State 58-89 Bowling Green -24 Ohio State +24
Wright State lost to #6 Purdue 52-96 Wright State -24 Purdue +24
Central Arkansas lost to #9 Baylor 47-92 Central Arkansas -28 Baylor +28
Milwaukee lost to #24 Florida 45-81 Milwaukee -34 Florida +34
Long Island lost to #23 Connecticut 40-93 Long Island -50 Connecticut +50


Top Ten Against Ranked Teams
Villanova +56
Brigham Young +46
Purdue +44
Arizona +40
Gonzaga +33
UCLA +31
Tennessee +28
Duke +24
Seton Hall +24
Florida +22

The worst is Long Island -50

Syracuse is not on this list yet. The following SU opponents (or potential opponents), are: Clemson +1,
Duke +24, Lafayette -14, Michigan State +10, North Carolina +4, Villanova +56, Virginia -9

Top Ten as a Ranked Team Against Unranked Teams
Connecticut +104
Baylor +70
Auburn +44
Duke +44
Tennessee +44
Kentucky +41
St. Bonaventure +40
Alabama +34
Florida +34
Texas +34

The worst team is: Oregon -36

Syracuse is not on this list yet. The following SU opponents (or potential opponents), are: Baylor +70,
Connecticut +104, Duke +44, Florida State +29, North Carolina +12, Villanova +16,
Virginia +20