Against Ranked Teams - Basketball - Week 10

[SWC75]

This year I will be again charting how teams have done “against ranked teams”, which is something that always comes up at the end of the year when the arguments over who should be in the NCAA tournament start. As usual, this is not meant to end those arguments, just to give those making them something to look at in forming their opinions. This is just one thing to look at. But I think it’s a big thing.

I will again be using my “new procedure” this year. The old procedure was that I would first grant teams playing ranked teams a certain number of points based on who they are playing. If you played the #1 team, (I use the AP- writer’s poll for continuity), you get 25 points. If you are playing the #2 team, you get 24 points, etc. down to getting 1 point for playing the #25 team. I call these “schedule points”. Here’s a chart to make it simple:
1-25, 2-24, 3-23, 4-22, 5-21, 6-20, 7-19, 8-18, 9-17, 10-16, 11-15, 12-14, 13-13, 14-12, 15-11, 16-10, 17-9, 18-8, 19-7, 20-6, 21-5, 22-4, 23-3, 24-2, 25-1.
(Of course you can always just subtract the ranking from 26. That will work every time.)

Then I look at the point differential in the actual game. If you defeated the ranked team, you add the number of points you won by to the schedule points. If you lost to that team, you subtract the margin you lost by from the schedule points. (I call these ‘game’ points.) The difference is that formerly I didn’t count any deficit: if you got to zero, you got zero. This year I’m going to record negative points, too, so a team can get full ‘credit’ for a really bad performance.

Week 10
Purdue beat #8 Michigan State 71-42 = +47 points
Baylor beat #3 Kansas 67-55 = +35 points
Iowa beat #12 Maryland 67-49 = +32 points
Indiana beat #11 Ohio State 66-54 = +27 points
Maryland beat #11 Ohio State 67-55 = +27 points
Oregon State beat #24 Arizona 82-65 = +19 points
Rutgers beat #20 Penn State 72-61 = +17 points
Texas Tech lost to #4 Baylor 52-57 = +17 points
Vanderbilt lost to #5 Auburn 79-83 = +17 points
Arizona beat #9 Oregon 73-74 = +16 points
Syracuse beat #18 Virginia 63-55 = +16 points
West Virginia beat #22 Texas Tech 66-54 = +16 points
Boston College beat #18 Virginia 60-53 = +15 points
Georgia Tech lost to #2 Duke 64-73 = +15 points
Minnesota beat #19 Michigan 75-67 = +15 points
Wisconsin beat #20 Penn State 58-49 = +15 points
Wichita State beat #21 Memphis 76-67 = +14 points
Kansas lost to #4 Baylor 55-67 = +10 points
Notre Dame lost to #13 Louisville 64-67 = +10 points
Baylor beat #22 Texas Tech 57-52 = +9 points
Arizona State lost to #9 Oregon 69-78 = +8 points
Providence lost to #6 Butler 58-70 = +8 points
Wake Forest lost to #10 Florida State 68-78 = +6 points
Creighton lost to #16 Villanova 59-64 = +5 points
Alabama lost to #14 Kentucky 67-76 = +3 points
Georgia lost to #14 Kentucky 69-78 = +3 points
Oregon beat #24 Arizona 74-73 = +3 points
Minnesota lost to #8 Michigan State 58-74 = +2 points
Ohio State lost to #12 Maryland 55-67 = +2 points
Boise State lost to #7 San Diego State 65-83 = +1 point
Purdue lost to #19 Michigan 78-84 = +1 point
South Florida lost to #21 Memphis 64-68 = +1 point
Connecticut lost to #23 Wichita State 86-89 = 0 points
Loyola Marymount lost to #1 Gonzaga 62-87 = 0 points
Georgia lost to #5 Auburn 60-82 = -1 point
Wyoming lost to #7 San Diego State 52-72 = -1 point
Iowa State lost to #3 Kansas 53-79 = -3 points
U of Miami lost to #13 Louisville 58-74 = -3 points
Texas Tech lost to #17 West Virginia 54-66 = -3 points
Georgetown lost to #16 Villanova 66-80 = -4 points
Oklahoma State lost to #17 West Virginia 41-55 = -5 points
Memphis lost to #23 Wichita State 67-76 = -6 points
Wake Forest lost to #2 Duke 59-90 = -7 points
Massachusetts lost to #15 Dayton 60-88 = -17 points
San Diego lost to #1 Gonzaga 50-94 = -19 points
Utah lost to #25 Colorado 52-91 = -38 points

Comments: you don’t want to play Purdue. The two top performances this season are their 69-40 crushing of #5 Virginia in Week 5, (+50 points) and their 71-42 rout over #8 Michigan State on Saturday (+47 points). Ohio State had a great start but now that they are in a slump, other teams are feeding off their reputation.


Top 25

Ohio State +109 points
Purdue +107 points
Baylor +90 points
Kentucky +78 points
Michigan State +78 points
Oregon +78 points
Kansas +74 points
Michigan +73 points

Florida State +72 points
Iowa +69 points
West Virginia +64 points
Minnesota +53 points
Duke +52 points
Texas Tech +52 points

Colorado +46 points
Rutgers +44 points
Wisconsin +44 points
Gonzaga +42 points
Georgia +37 points

North Carolina +37 points
Tennessee +37 points
Seton Hall +36 points

Arizona +34 points
Georgetown +33 points
Louisville +32 points
Pepperdine +30 points
Evansville +28 points
Illinois +28 points
South Carolina +28 points
Virginia +28 points

Syracuse has +17 points

SU’s opponents: Virginia +28, Colgate -22, Seattle -18, Cornell -25, Bucknell none, Oklahoma State -36, Penn State +23, Iowa +69, Georgia Tech +15, Georgetown +33, Oakland -24, North Florida -17, Niagara 0, Notre Dame +13, Virginia Tech +11, Virginia +28, Boston College 0, Virginia Tech +11, Notre Dame +13, Pittsburgh +7, Clemson -9, Duke +52, Wake Forest -1, North Carolina State +13, Florida State +76, Louisville +32, Georgia Tech +15, Pittsburgh +7, North Carolina +37, Boston College 0, U of Miami -5


The worst team so far is Alabama State with -71 points. Don’t spend it all in one place…