Against Ranked Teams (basketball) Week 12

[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’m going to do it a bit differently 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 between this year and last year if that I didn’t count any deficit: if you got to zero, you got zero. This year I’m going to try to record negative points, too, so a team can get full ‘credit’ for a really bad performance.

WEEK 12

North Carolina beat #10 Virginia Tech 103-82 = +37 points
Purdue beat #6 Michigan State 73-63 = +30 points
Alabama beat #20 Mississippi 74-53 = +27 points
Michigan State beat #13 Maryland 69-55 +27 points
Kansas State beat #14 Texas Tech 58-45 = +25 points
Kentucky beat #9 Kansas 71-63 = +25 points
Kentucky beat #22 Mississippi State 76-55 = +25 points
Illinois beat #13 Maryland 78-67 = +24 points
Michigan State beat #19 Iowa 82-67 = +22 points
Iowa State beat #20 Mississippi 87-73 = +20 points
Vanderbilt lost to #1 Tennessee 83-88 = +20 points
Minnesota lost to #5 Michigan 57-59 = +19 points
Mississippi State beat #16 Auburn 92-84 = +18 points
Northern Illinois beat #14 Buffalo 77-75 = +14 points
Iowa State lost to #9 Kansas 76-80 = +13 points
South Carolina beat #16 Auburn 80-77 = +13 points
Louisville beat #21 North Carolina State 84-77 = +12 points
Minnesota beat #19 Iowa 92-87 = +12 points
Georgia Tech lost to #2 Duke 53-66 = +11 points
Kansas lost to #8 Kentucky 63-71 = +10 points
Arkansas lost to #14 Texas Tech 64-67 = +9 points
Pittsburgh lost to #2 Duke 64-79 = +9 points
Xavier lost to #12 Marquette 82-87 = +9 points
West Virginia lost to #1 Tennessee 66-83 = +8 points
Kansas beat #24 Iowa State 80-76 = +6 points
Maryland lost to #6 Michigan State 55-69 = +6 points
Iowa lost to #6 Michigan State 67-82 = +5 points
DePaul lost to #12 Marquette 69-79 = +4 points
Clemson lost to #21 North Carolina State 67-69 = +3 points
Kent State lost to #14 Buffalo 79-88 = +3 points
Butler lost to #18 Villanova 72-80 = 0 points
Wake Forest lost to #3 Virginia 45-68 = 0 points
Indiana lost to #5 Michigan 46-69 = -2 points
Mississippi State lost to #8 Kentucky 55-76 = -3 points
Tulsa lost to #17 Houston 65-77 = -3 points
North Carolina State lost to #23 Louisville 77-84 = -4 points
Notre Dame lost to #3 Virginia 55-82 = -4 points
Missouri lost to #25 Louisiana State 80-86 = -5 points
Syracuse lost to #10 Virginia Tech 56-78 = -6 points
Virginia Tech lost to #11 North Carolina 82-103 = -6 points
Georgia lost to #25 Louisiana State 82-92 = -9 points
Mississippi lost to #24 Iowa State 73-87 = -12 points
Pittsburgh lost to #23 Louisville 51-66 = -12 points
Seton Hall lost to #18 Villanova 52-80 = -20 points
Colorado State lost to #7 Nevada-Reno 60-100 = -21 points
Santa Clara lost to #4 Gonzaga 39-98 = -27 points
East Carolina lost to #17 Houston 50-94 = -35 points

Comments: Kentucky seems to be making a big move with two #25 games. Both Michigan and Now Michigan State have had their moment blunted with losses but they have plenty of time to build it up again before the first of their two confrontations on 2/24. Duke is still Duke and Virginia is still Virginia but don’t forget that North Carolina is still North Carolina.

THE TOP 25

Duke +167 points
Michigan State +149 points
Michigan +119 points
North Carolina +117 points
Virginia +107 points

Kansas +100 points
Marquette +88 points
Iowa State +87 points
Purdue +84 points
Kentucky +77 points

Louisville +75 points
Wisconsin +70 points
Alabama +62 points
Kansas State +60 points
Arizona State +59 points

Auburn +54 points
Texas +53 points
Baylor +52 points
Florida State +50 points
Iowa +49 points

Louisiana State +47 points
New Mexico +47 points
Tennessee +46 points
Gonzaga +44 points
Syracuse +41 points


The worst total so far is Tennessee Tech with -104 points