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 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 12

Tulsa beat #20 Memphis 80-40 = +46 points
Villanova beat #13 Butler 76-61 = +28 points
Oklahoma lost to #1 Baylor 57-61 = +21 points
Notre Dame lost to #5 Florida State 84-85 = +20 points
Indiana beat #11 Michigan State 67-63 = +19 points
Texas Christian beat #18 Texas Tech 65-54 = +19 points
UNLV lost to #4 San Diego State 67-71 = +18 points
Tennessee lost to #3 Kansas 68-74 = +17 points
Georgia Tech lost to #6 Louisville 64-68 = +16 points
Florida lost to #1 Baylor 61-72 = +14 points
Providence lost to #9 Villanova 60-64 = +13 points
Richmond lost to #7 Dayton 79-87 = +11 points
Kentucky beat #18 Texas Tech 76-74 = +10 points
Southern Methodist beat #20 Memphis 74-70 = +10 points
Marquette lost to #13 Butler 85-89 = +9 points
Texas Tech lost to #15 Kentucky 74-76 = +9 points
Indiana lost to #17 Maryland 76-77 = +8 points
Iowa beat #24 Rutgers 85-80 = +7 points
Providence lost to #10 Seton Hall 64-73 = +7 points
Iowa State lost to #16 Auburn 76-80 = +6 points
Wyoming lost to #4 San Diego State 55-72 = +5 points
Arizona State beat #22 Arizona 66-65 = +5 points
Southern California lost to #13 Oregon 70-79 = +4 points
Michigan lost to #21 Illinois 62-64 = +3 points
Butler lost to #9 Villanova 61-76 = +2 points
Clemson lost to #6 Louisville 62-80 = +2 points
Kansas State lost to #3 Kansas 60-81 = +2 points
Rutgers lost to #19 Iowa 80-85 = +2 points
Georgia lost to #15 Kentucky 79-89 = +1 point
Pacific lost to #2 Gonzaga 59-92 = +1 point
Nebraska lost to #24 Rutgers 72-75 = -1 point
Northwestern lost to #17 Maryland 66-77 = -2 points
Connecticut lost to #25 Houston 59-63 = -3 points
Minnesota lost to #11 Michigan State 52-70 = -3 points
South Carolina lost to #16 Auburn 67-80 = -3 points
St. Bonaventure lost to #7 Dayton 60-86 = -7 points
UCLA lost to #12 Oregon 75-96 = -7 points
Missouri lost to #14 West Virginia 51-74 = -11 points
Washington lost to #23 Colorado 62-76 = -11 points
U of Miami lost to #8 Duke 59-89 = -12 points
Purdue lost to #21 Illinois 62-79 = -12 points
South Florida lost to #25 Houston 49-68 = -18 points
Washington State lost to #23 Colorado 56-78 = -19 points
Texas lost to #14 West Virginia 59-97 = -26 points

Comments: This week was less volatile than last week, when 11 teams earned 20 or more points. But what happened to Memphis? Only 3 SU opponents played ranked teams so their standigns didn’t move much.

Top 25

Ohio State +109 points
Purdue +97 points
Baylor +90 points
Iowa +90 points
Kentucky +88 points

Michigan State +78 points
Oregon +78 points
Michigan +76 points
Kansas +74 points
Florida State +72 points

Seton Hall +65 points
West Virginia +64 points
Duke +61 points
Louisville +61 points
Texas Tech +61 points

Arizona +60 points
Florida +59 points
Alabama +55 points
Tennessee +54 points
Wisconsin +54 points

Minnesota +50 points
Villanova +47 points
Colorado +46 points
Rutgers +46 points
Tulsa +46 points

Syracuse has +17 points

SU’s opponents: Virginia +41, Colgate -22, Seattle -18, Cornell -25, Bucknell none, Oklahoma State -19, Penn State +42, Iowa +90, Georgia Tech +31, Georgetown +37, Oakland -24, North Florida -17, Niagara 0, Notre Dame +13, Virginia Tech +11, Virginia +41, Boston College 0, Virginia Tech +11, Notre Dame +13, Pittsburgh +7, Clemson -9, Duke +61, Wake Forest -1, North Carolina State +13, Florida State +76, Louisville +61, Georgia Tech +31, Pittsburgh +7, North Carolina +37, Boston College 0, U of Miami -4


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