Against Ranked Teams - basketball - Week 1

[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 1 (11/9-11/14/21)
Gonzaga beat #5 Texas 86-74 Gonzaga +33 both ranked
UCLA beat #4 Villanova 86-77 UCLA +31 both ranked
Duke beat #10 Kentucky 79-71 Duke +24 both ranked
Florida beat #20 Florida State 71-55 Florida +22 Florida State -22
Villanova lost to #2 UCLA 77-86 Villanova +15 both ranked
Texas lost to #1 Gonzaga 74-86 Texas +13 both ranked
Michigan State lost to #3 Kansas 74-87 Michigan State +10 Kansas -10
Kentucky lost to #9 Duke 71-79 Kentucky +9 both ranked
Navy beat #25 Virginia 66-58 Navy +9 Virginia -9
Akron lost to #17 Ohio State 66-67 Akron +8 Ohio State -8
Buffalo lost to #6 Michigan 76-88 Buffalo +8 Michigan -8
Campbell lost to #9 Duke 56-67 Campbell +6 Duke -6
Hofstra lost to #15 Houston 75-83 Hofstra +3 Houston -3
Brown lost to #19 North Carolina 87-94 Brown 0 North Carolina 0
Niagara lost to #17 Ohio State 74-84 Niagara -1 Ohio State +1
George Washington lost to #21 Maryland 64-71 George Washington -2 Maryland +2
Mercer lost to #16 Arkansas 61-74 Mercer -3 Arkansas +3
Tarleton lost to #3 Kansas 62-88 Tarleton -3 Kansas +3
South Dakota State lost to #14 Alabama 88-104 South Dakota State -4 Alabama +4
Texas Southern lost to #13 Oregon 66-83 Texas Southern -4 Oregon +4
Canisius lost to #23 St. Bonaventure 60-69 Canisius -6 St. Bonaventure +6
Indiana State lost to #7 Purdue 67-92 Indiana State -6 Purdue +6
Vermont lost to #21 Maryland 57-68 Vermont -6 Maryland +6
Gardner-Webb lost to #16 Arkansas 69-86 Gardner-Webb -7 Arkansas +7
Prairie View A&M lost to #6 Michigan 49-77 Prairie View A&M -8 Michigan +8
Army lost to #9 Duke 56-82 Army -9 Duke +9
Dixie State lost to #1 Gonzaga 63-97 Dixie State -9 Gonzaga +9
Incarnate Word lost to #8 Baylor 60-87 Incarnate Word -9 Arkansas +7
Jackson State lost to #11 Illinois 47-71 Jackson State -9 Illinois +9
Loyola (Md) lost to #19 North Carolina 67-83 Loyola (Md) -9 North Carolina +9
Quinnipiac lost to #21 Maryland 69-83 Quinnipiac -9 Maryland +9
Bellarmine lost to #7 Purdue 67-96 Bellarmine -10 Purdue +10
Southern Methodist lost to #13 Oregon 63-86 Southern Methodist -10 Oregon +10
Tennessee Tech lost to #12 Memphis 65-89 Tennessee Tech -10 Memphis +10
Cal State Bakersfield lost to #2 UCLA 58-95 Cal St Bakersfield -13 UCLA +13
Louisiana Tech lost to #14 Alabama 64-93 Louisiana Tech -17 Alabama +17
Mount St. Mary’s lost to #4 Villanova 51-91 Mount St. Mary’s -18 Villanova +18
Morehead State lost to #22 Auburn 54-77 Morehead State -19 Auburn +19
Radford lost to #25 Virginia 52-73 Radford -20 Virginia +20
UT Martin lost to #18 Tennessee 62-90 UT Martin -20 Tennessee +20
Rice lost to #15 Houston 46-79 Rice -22 Houston +22
Houston Baptist lost to #5 Texas 48-92 Houston Baptist -23 Texas +23
Arkansas State lost to #11 Illinois 53-92 Arkansas State -24 Illinois +24
East Tennessee St lost to #18 Tennessee 62-94 East Tennessee St. -24 Tennessee +24
Louisiana-Monroe lost to #22 Auburn 65-93 Louisiana-Monroe -24 Auburn +24
Robert Morris lost to #10 Kentucky 60-100 Robert Morris -24 Kentucky +24
No Carolina Central lost to #12 Memphis 51-90 NC Central -25 Memphis +25
Siena lost to #23 St. Bonaventure 47-75 Siena -25 St. Bonaventure +25
Pennsylvania lost to #20 Florida State 70-105 Pennsylvania -29 Florida State +29
Coppin State lost to #25 Connecticut 54-89 Coppin State -34 Connecticut +34
Ctl Connecticut lost to #24 Connecticut 48-99 Central Connecticut -49 Connecticut +49

Comment: It’s the big fish vs. the small fish but some of those small fish have teeth! There were a small handful of confrontations between top teams but it’s hard to say how meaningful the results were at this point.

Top Ten Against Ranked Teams
Gonzaga +33
UCLA +31
Duke +24
Florida +22
Villanova +15
Texas +13
Michigan State +10
Kentucky +9
Navy +9
Akron +8
Buffalo +8

The worst is Central Connecticut -49

Syracuse is not on this list yet. The following SU opponents (or potential opponents), are:
Duke +24, Michigan State +10, Villanova +15

Top Ten as a Ranked Team Against Unranked Teams
Connecticut +83
Tennessee +44
Auburn +43
Illinois +33
Florida State +29
St. Bonaventure +25
Kentucky +24
Texas +23
Houston +22
Virginia +20

The worst team is: Arkansas +7

Syracuse is not on this list yet. The following SU opponents (or potential opponents), are:
Connecticut +83, Duke +9, Florida State +29, North Carolina +9, Villanova +18,
Virginia +20