Against Ranked teams - Basketball - Week 13

[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 13

Creighton beat #8 Villanova 76-61 = +33 points
Xavier beat #10 Seton Hall 74-62 = +28 points
Virginia beat #5 Florida State 61-56 = +26 points
Stanford beat #11 Oregon 70-60 = +25 points
Auburn beat #13 Kentucky 75-66 = +22 points
Texas Tech beat #12 West Virginia 89-81 = +22 points
San Francisco lost to #2 Gonzaga 79-83 = +20 points
Texas Tech lost to #3 Kansas 75-78 = +20 points
Maryland beat #18 Iowa 82-72 = +18 points
Duquesne lost to #7 Dayton 69-73 = +15 points
Iowa beat #19 Illinois 72-65 = +14 points
Providence beat #16 Butler 65-61 = +14 points
Wisconsin beat #14 Michigan State 64-63 = +13 points
Iowa State lost to #1 Baylor 53-67 = +11 points
California lost to #11 Oregon 72-77 = +10 points
UCLA beat #20 Colorado 72-68 = +10 points
Utah State lost to #4 San Diego State 68-80 = +10 points
Virginia Tech lost to #5 Florida State 63-74 = +10 points
DePaul lost to #10 Seton Hall 57-64 = +9 points
Santa Clara lost to #2 Gonzaga 72-87 = +9 points
Texas Christian lost to #1 Baylor 52-68 = +9 points
Mississippi lost to #17 Auburn 82-83 = +8 points
Syracuse lost to #9 Duke 88-97 = +8 points
Cincinnati beat #21 Houston 64-62 = +7 points
Michigan beat #25 Rutgers 69-63 = +7 points
Tulsa beat #23 Wichita State 54-51 = +6 points
Fordham lost to #7 Dayton 56-70 = +5 points
Georgetown lost to #16 Butler 64-69 = +5 points
Kansas State lost to #12 West Virginia 57-66 = +5 points
Pittsburgh lost to #9 Duke 67-79 = +5 points
Vanderbilt lost to #13 Kentucky 62-71 = +4 points
Boston College lost to #6 Louisville 69-86 = +3 points
Wisconsin lost to #18 Iowa 62-68 = +2 points
Illinois lost to #18 Iowa 65-72 = +1 point
Iowa lost to #15 Maryland 72-82 = +1 point
Kentucky lost to #17 Auburn 66-75 = 0 points
North Carolina State lost to #6 Louisville 57-77 = 0 points
Minnesota lost to #19 Illinois 51-59 = -1 point
St. John’s lost to #8 Villanova 59-79 = -2 points
East Carolina lost to #21 Houston 59-69 = -5 points
Mississippi lost to #22 Louisiana State 63-73 = -6 points
New Mexico lost to #4 San Diego State 57-85 = -6 points
Purdue lost to #25 Rutgers 63-70 = -6 points
Oklahoma State lost to #3 Kansas 50-65 = -8 points
Alabama lost to #22 Louisiana State 76-90 = -10 points
Nebraska lost to #24 Penn State 64-76 = -10 points
Indiana lost to #24 Penn State 49-64 = -13 points
Southern California lost to #20 Colorado 57-78 = -15 points
Northwestern lost to #14 Michigan State 50-79 = -17 points

Comment: Ohio State, who has slumped badly remains atop the standings based on great early season success. Some schools are now nipping at their heals, including Texas Tech and Iowa. That Baylor team that beat us last year in the NCAA is flying high now, (10 players, including four starters back from last year). Top 25 teams not in the top 25 vs. ranked teams: Gonzaga +42, San Diego State none- zip!, Dayton +16, Maryland +45, Auburn +22, LSU +9, Butler +16, Illinois +29, Penn State +42, Colorado +46, Houston +33.

Top 25

Ohio State +109 points
Iowa +105 points
Texas Tech +103 points
Purdue +91 points
Baylor +90 points

Kentucky +88 points
Michigan +83 points
Michigan State +78 points
Oregon +78 points
Kansas +74 points

Florida State +72 points
Wisconsin +69 points
Virginia +67 points
Seton Hall +65 points
West Virginia +64 points

Duke +61 points
Louisville +61 points
Arizona +60 points
Creighton +60 points
Florida +59 points

Tennessee +54 points
Tulsa +52 points
DePaul +51 points
Minnesota +49 points
Villanova +47 points

Syracuse has +25 points

SU’s opponents: Virginia +67, Colgate -22, Seattle -18, Cornell -25, Bucknell none, Oklahoma State -19, Penn State +42, Iowa +104, Georgia Tech +31, Georgetown +42, Oakland -24, North Florida -17, Niagara 0, Notre Dame +13, Virginia Tech +21, Virginia +67, Boston College 0, Virginia Tech +21, 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…