Against ranked teams (basketball) Week 1

[SWC75]

This is my basketball version of “Against Ranked Teams” on the football board. At the end of the season the question “How did they do against ranked teams” is a big subject of discussion. This is my attempt to quantify it. Instead of waiting to see the final rankings, I think it’s more fun to use the weekly rankings and watch the points accumulate during the season. You could argue that a team’s weekly ranking was an accurate reflection of how good they were at the time of the game: if they slumped or had injuries later it shouldn’t reduce the impact of that game. In order to put a numerical value on a performance against a ranked team I first give a team “schedule points on the basis of 25 for playing a #1 ranked team, 24 for a #2 ranked team, etc. Just subtract the ranking from 26 and you’ve got the schedule points. Then add the margin of victory or subtract the margin of defeat. The result are the ‘points’, positive or negative that the team will accumulate from that game.

WEEK 1
Texas A&M beat #11 West Virginia 88-65 = +38 points
Vermont lost to #5 Kentucky 69-73 = +17 points
Utah Valley lost to #5 Kentucky 63-73 = +11 points
Columbia lost to #6 Villanova 60-75 = +5 points
Georgia Tech lost to #21 UCLA 60-63 = +2 points
Northern Iowa lost to #9 North Carolina 69-86 = 0 points
George Mason lost to #16 Louisville = -1 point
DePaul lost to #14 Notre Dame 58-72 = -2 points
Elon lost to #1 Duke 68-97 = -2 points
MD-Baltimore County lost to #3 Arizona = -2 points
Loyola Maryland lost to #19 Northwestern 75-79 = -3 points
South Carolina Upstate lost to #15 Minnesota 77-92 = -4 points
Utah Valley lost to #1 Duke 69-99 = -5 points
Monmouth lost to #23 Seton Hall 65-75 = -7 points
North Florida lost to #2 Michigan State 66-98 = -8 points
Texas Southern lost to #18 Gonzaga 69-97 = -10 points
Northern Arizona lost to #3 Arizona 67-101 = -11 points
St. Francis (Pa.) lost to #22 St. Mary’s 68-85 = -13 points
Tennessee State lost to #4 Kansas 56-92 = -14 points
Savannah State lost to #12 Cincinnati 77-107 = -16 points
Fairleigh Dickinson lost to #23 Seton Hall 68-90 = -19 points
Gardner-Webb lost to #13 U of Miami 45-77 = -19 points
Navy lost to #13 U of Miami 55-89 = -21 points
West Virginia lost to #25 Texas A&M 65-88 = -22 points
SIU-Edwardsville lost to #20 Purdue 74-105 = -25 points
Fullerton State lost to #10 Southern California 42-84 = -26 points
Missouri-KC lost to #7 Wichita State 57-109 = -33 points
Central Arkansas lost to #24 Baylor 66-107 = -39 points
Morehead State lost to #17 Xavier 49-101 = -43 points
Chicago State lost to #20 Purdue 42-11 = -63 points

Comments: I doubt many of the above teams will be considered for the Big Dance: they are the type of teams ranked teams like to open with. But it’s a start. The rankings below will become more meaningful as the season progresses. One way to pick up points is to play Kentucky, who is struggling with unranked, (and unknown: Utah Valley?) opponents early. But Texas A&M opened well.

Note: Utah Valley, a community college until 2008, is now the largest university in the state of Utah:
Utah Valley University - Wikipedia


Top 25

Texas A&M +38 points
Vermont +17 points
Utah Valley +6 points
Columbia +5 points
Georgia Tech +2 points

Northern Iowa 0 points
George Mason -1 point
DePaul -2 points
Elon -2 points
MD-Baltimore County -2 points

Loyola Maryland -3 points
South Carolina Upstate -4 points
Monmouth -7 points
North Florida -8 points
Texas Southern -10 points

Northern Arizona -11 points
St. Francis (Pa.) -13 points
Tennessee State -14 points
Savannah State -16 points
Fairleigh Dickinson -19 points

Gardner-Webb -19 points
Navy -21 points
West Virginia -22 points
SIU-Edwardsville -25 points
Fullerton State -26 points

Syracuse has yet to play a ranked team.

The worst team so far is by Chicago State, -63 points