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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 2885111, member: 289"] 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 [/QUOTE]

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