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.

(The last couple of years I’ve also kept track of ranked team’s performances vs. unranked teams by totaling the points gained or lost against them but that was a lot of extra work and tended to favor schools with weak schedules so I’m dropping that measure this year, as I did for the football version of this.)

WEEK 1 (11/7-11/13)
Michigan State lost to #2 Gonzaga 63-64 = +23
UC Irvine beat #21 Oregon 69-56 = +18
Temple beat #16 Villanova 68-64 = +14
UNC Wilmington lost to #1 North Carolina 56-69 = +13
Arkansas-Pine Bluff lost to #14 Texas Christian 72-73 = +11
Charleston lost to #1 North Carolina 86-102 = +9
St. Thomas (Minn) lost to #9 Creighton 60-72 = +5
Norfolk State lost to #5 Baylor 70-87 = +4
South Florida lost to #15 Auburn 59-67 = +3
Lamar lost to #14 Texas Christian 66-77 = +1
Brigham Young lost to #19 San Diego State 75-82 = 0
Eastern Michigan lost to #22 Michigan 83-88 = -1
Texas-El Paso lost to #12 Texas 57-72 = -1
North Dakota State lost to #10 Arkansas 58-76 = -2
North Dakota State lost to #5 Kansas 59-82 = -2
Duquesne lost to #4 Kentucky 52-77 = -3
LaSalle lost to #16 Villanova 68-81 = -3
St. Joseph’s lost to #3 Houston 55-81 = -3
North Carolina Central lost to #18 Virginia 61-73 = -4
Omaha lost to #5 Kansas 64-89 = -4
Long Beach State lost to #8 UCLA 69-93 = -6
George Mason lost to #15 Auburn 52-70 = -7
Jacksonville lost to #7 Duke 44-71 = -8
Sacramento State lost to #8 UCLA 50-76 = -8
Southern University lost to #17 Arizona 78-95 = -8
Fordham lost to #10 Arkansas 48-74 = -10
Howard lost to #4 Kentucky 63-95 = -10
Southern Methodist lost to #24 Dayton 62-74 = -10
Longwood lost to #20 Alabama 54-75 = -15
Purdue -Fort Wayne lost to #22 Michigan 56-75 = -15
Cal State Fullerton lost to #19 San Diego State 57-80 = -16
North Florida lost to #2 Gonzaga 63-104 = -17
Tennessee Tech lost to #11 Tennessee 43-75 = -17
North Dakota lost to #9 Creighton 61-96 = -18
Morehead State lost to #13 Indiana 53-88 = -22
Northwestern (Louisiana) State lost to #25 Texas Tech = -23
Texas Southern lost to #25 Texas Tech 54-78 = -23
Northern Colorado lost to #3 Houston 36-83 = -24
Lindenwood lost to #24 Dayton 46-73 = -25
Eastern Illinois lost to #23 Illinois 57-87 = -27
South Carolina Upstate lost to #7 Duke 38-84 = -27
Florida A&M lost to #21 Oregon 45-80 = -30
Liberty lost to #20 Alabama 59-95 = -30
Nicholls lost to #18 Arizona 75-117 = -34
Kansas City lost to #23 Illinois 48-86 = -35
Houston Cristian lost to #12 Texas 31-82 = -37
Bethune-Cookman lost to #13 Indiana 49-101 = -39
Monmouth lost to #18 Virginia 42-89 = -39
Mississippi Valley State lost to #5 Baylor 53-117 = -43

Comments: Not much in the way of Power Conference teams playing ranked teams. For the next two months a lot of teams that won’t be in this “Top 25” will dominate the scoring, mostly acquiring negative points.)

TOP 25
Michigan State +23
UC Irvine beat +18
Temple beat +14
UNC Wilmington +13
Arkansas-Pine Bluff +11

Charleston +9
St. Thomas (Minn) +5
Norfolk State +4
South Florida +3
Lamar +1

Brigham Young 0
Eastern Michigan -1
Texas-El Paso -1
Duquesne -3
LaSalle -3

St. Joseph’s -3
North Carolina Central -4
North Dakota State -4
Omaha -4
Long Beach State -6

George Mason -7
Jacksonville -8
Sacramento State -8
Southern University -8
Fordham -10
Howard -10
Southern Methodist -10

The worst performance against ranked teams so far is that of Mississippi Valley State (-43)
Syracuse has yet to play a ranked team.

WEEKLY CHAMPIONS:
WEEK 1 Michigan State lost to #2 Gonzaga 63-64 = +23

TOP TEN PERFORMANCES:
WEEK 1 Michigan State lost to #2 Gonzaga 63-64 = +23
WEEK 1 UC Irvine beat #21 Oregon 69-56 = +18
WEEK 1 Temple beat #16 Villanova 68-64 = +14
WEEK 1 UNC Wilmington lost to #1 North Carolina 56-69 = +13
WEEK 1 Arkansas-Pine Bluff lost to #14 Texas Christian 72-73 = +11
WEEK 1 Charleston lost to #1 North Carolina 86-102 = +9
WEEK 1 St. Thomas (Minn) lost to #9 Creighton 60-72 = +5
WEEK 1 Norfolk State lost to #5 Baylor 70-87 = +4
WEEK 1 South Florida lost to #15 Auburn 59-67 = +3
WEEK 1 Lamar lost to #14 Texas Christian 66-77 = +1