Against Ranked Teams- basketball - after Week 3

[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 #3 (11/22-28)
Gonzaga beat #2 UCLA 83-63 Gonzaga +44 both ranked
Cincinnati beat #14 Illinois 71-51 Cincinnati +32 Illinois -32
Duke beat #1 Gonzaga 84-81 Duke +28 both ranked
Dayton beat #4 Kansas 74-73 Dayton +23 Kansas -23
Iona beat #10 Alabama 72-68 Iona +20 Alabama -20
Northern Iowa beat #16 St. Bonaventure 90-80 Northern Iowa +20 St. Bonaventure -20
Gonzaga lost to #5 Duke 81-84 Gonzaga +18 both ranked
Wisconsin beat #12 Houston 65-63 Wisconsin +16 Houston -16
Connecticut beat #19 Auburn 115-109 Connecticut +13 both ranked
Iowa State beat #25 Xavier 82-70 Iowa State +13 Xavier -13
Virginia Commonwealth lost to #6 Baylor 61-69 Va Commonwealth +12 Baylor -12
Bellarmine lost to #2 UCLA 62-75 Bellarmine +11 UCLA -11
North Texas lost to #4 Kansas 59-71 North Texas +10 Kansas -10
Virginia Tech lost to #9 Memphis 61-69 Virginia Tech +9 Memphis -9
Arizona State lost to #6 Baylor 63-75 Arizona State +8 Baylor -8
Michigan State beat #22 Connecticut 64-60 Michigan State +8 Connecticut -8
Ohio State beat #21 Seton Hall 79-76 Ohio State +8 Seton Hall -8
Cincinnati lost to #13 Arkansas 67-73 Cincinnati +7 Arkansas -7
Iona lost to #4 Kansas 83-96 Iona +9 Kansas -9
Drake lost to #10 Alabama 71-80 Drake +7 Alabama -7
Kansas State lost to #13 Arkansas 64-72 Kansas State +5 Arkansas -5
UCLA lost to #1 Gonzaga 63-83 UCLA +5 both ranked
Kansas State lost to #14 Illinois 64-72 Kansas State +4 Illinois -4
Michigan State lost to #6 Baylor 58-75 Michigan State +3 Baylor -3
Texas-Rio Grande lost to #14 Illinois 85-94 Texas – Rio Grande +3 Illinois -3
California lost to #21 Seton Hall 59-62 California +2 Seton Hall -2
UNLV lost to #2 UCLA 51-73 UNLV +2 UCLA -2
Ohio State lost to #23 Florida 68-71 Ohio State 0 Florida 0
Tennessee Tech lost to #15 Tennessee 69-80 Tennessee Tech 0 Tennessee 0
Virginia Tech lost to #25 Xavier 58-59 Virginia Tech 0 Xavier 0
Auburn lost to #22 Connecticut 109-115 Auburn -2 both ranked
Iowa State beat #9 Memphis 59-78 Iowa State -2 Memphis +2
Loyola-Chicago lost to #19 Auburn 53-62 Loyola-Chicago -2 Auburn +2
Pennsylvania lost to #13 Arkansas 60-76 Pennsylvania -3 Arkansas +3
Utah lost to #18 Brigham Young 64-75 Utah -3 Brigham Young +3
Virginia Commonwealth lost to #22 Connecticut 63-70 Va Commonwealth -3 Connecticut +3
Butler lost to #12 Houston 52-70 Butler -4 Houston +4
The Citadel Lost to #5 Duke 81-107 The Citadel -5 Duke +5
Tarleton lost to #20 Michigan 54-65 Tarleton -5 Michigan +5
California Baptist lost to #8 Texas 44-68 California Baptist -6 Texas +6
LaSalle lost to #7 Villanova 46-72 LaSalle -7 Villanova +7
Albany lost to #10 Kentucky 61-86 Albany -9 Kentucky +9
Bethune-Cookman lost to #21 Seton Hall 70-84 Bethune-Cookman -9 Seton Hall +9
Texas Southern lost to #18 Brigham Young 64-81 Texas Southern -9 Brigham Young +9
San Diego State lost to #24 Southern California 43-58 San Diego State -13 So California +13
St. Joseph’s lost to #24 Southern California 55-70 St. Joseph -13 So California +13
Syracuse lost to #19 Auburn 68-89 Syracuse -14 Auburn +14
Oregon lost to #12 Houston 49-78 Oregon -15 Houston +15
U of Miami lost to #10 Alabama 64-96 U of Miami -16 Alabama +16
California lost to #23 Florida 60-80 California -17 Florida +17
North Florida lost to #10 Kentucky 52-86 North Florida -18 Kentucky +18
Ohio State lost to #24 Southern California 71-98 Ohio State -25 So California +25
Central Michigan lost to #1 Gonzaga 54-107 Central Michigan -28 Gonzaga +28
Omaha lost to #3 Purdue 40-97 Omaha -34 Purdue +34
Troy lost to #23 Florida 45-84 Troy -36 Florida +36
Sacramento State lost to #17 Arizona 59-105 Sacramento State -37 Arizona +37


Top Ten Against Ranked Teams
Gonzaga +95
Villanova +56
Duke +52
Brigham Young +46
Purdue +44
Arizona +40
Cincinnati +39
UCLA +36
Iona +29
Tennessee +28

The worst is Long Island -50

Syracuse is not on this list yet. The following SU opponents (or potential opponents), are: Auburn -2, Clemson +1, Duke +52, Lafayette -14, U of Miami -16, North Carolina +4, Villanova +56, Virginia -9 Virginia Commonwealth +9, Virginia Tech +9

Top Ten as a Ranked Team Against Unranked Teams
Connecticut +99
Florida +87
Kentucky +68
Southern California +67
Auburn +60
Gonzaga +56
Purdue +56
Baylor +50
Duke +49
Tennessee +44

The worst team is Oregon -36

Syracuse is not on this list yet. The following SU opponents (or potential opponents), are: Baylor +70,
Connecticut +99, Duke +49, Florida State +29, North Carolina +12, Villanova +23,
Virginia +20