Against Ranked Teams- basketball Week 15

[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 15
Clemson beat #5 Louisville 77-62 = +36 points
Georgia Tech beat #5 Louisville 64-58 = +27 points
Baylor beat #14 West Virginia 70-59 = +23 points
Duke beat #8 Florida State 70-65 = +23 points
Creighton beat #10 Seton Hall 87-82 = +21 points
Kansas beat #14 West Virginia 58-49 = +21 points
Providence beat #10 Seton Hall 74-71 = +19 points
Rutgers beat #22 Illinois 72-57 = +19 points
Oregon beat #16 Colorado 68-60 = +18 points
Texas Lost to #1 Baylor 45-52 = +18 points
Nebraska lost to #9 Maryland 70-72 = +15 points
Syracuse lost 77-80 to #8 Florida State = +15 points
Georgetown beat #19 Butler 73-66 = +14 points
Indiana beat #24 Iowa 89-77 = +14 points
Florida State lost to #7 Duke 65-70 = +14 points
West Virginia lost to #3 Kansas 49-58 = +14 points
West Virginia lost to #1 Baylor 59-70 = +14 points
Massachusetts lost to #6 Dayton 63-71 = +12 points
Pepperdine lost to #2 Gonzaga 77-89 = +12 points
Alabama lost to #11 Auburn 91-95 = +11 points
Marquette lost to #15 Villanova 71-72 = +10 points
Michigan State lost to #9 Maryland 60-67 = +10 points
Mississippi lost to #12 Kentucky 62-67 = +9 points
Villanova beat #18 Marquette 72-71 = +9 points
Alabama beat #25 Louisiana State 88-82 = +7 points
Southern Methodist beat #20 Houston 73-72 = +7 points
Oklahoma lost to #3 Kansas 70-87 = +6 points
Rhode Island lost to #6 Dayton 67-81 = +6 points
Boise State lost to #4 San Diego State 55-72 = +5 points
Michigan State beat #22 Illinois 70-69 = +5 points
Oklahoma State lost to #24 Texas Tech 73-70 = +5 points
Missouri lost to #11 Auburn 73-85 = +3 points
Minnesota lost to #21 Iowa 55-58 = +2 points
South Florida lost to #20 Houston 58-62 = +2 points
Xavier lost to #19 Butler 61-66 = +2 points
Colorado lost to #17 Oregon 60-68 = +1 point
Purdue lost to #13 Penn State 76-88 = +1 point
Vanderbilt lost to #12 Kentucky 64-78 = 0 points
New Mexico lost to #4 San Diego State 59-82 = -1 point
Seton Hall lost to #23 Creighton 82-87 = -2 points
Missouri lost to #25 Louisiana State 78-82 = -3 points
Northwestern lost to #13 Penn State 61-77 = -3 points
Temple lost to #15 Villanova 56-76 = -9 points
Utah lost to #17 Oregon 62-80 = -9 points
Oregon State lost to #16 Colorado 47-69 = -12 points
Notre Dame lost to #7 Duke 60-94 = -15 points
DePaul lost to #23 Creighton 64-93 = -26 points
Texas Christian lost to #24 Texas Tech 42-88 = -44 points

Comments: The NCAA committee isn’t likely to care that we played Florida State close but my system acknowledges that. (We are tied for 42nd here.) West Virginia lost two games but gained +28 points because they were playing the #1 and #3 teams in the country. On the other hand, everybody’s still chasing Purdue, 14-12 but a great team in three games.

Top 25

Purdue +137 points
Baylor +113 points
Ohio State +109 points
Iowa +105 points
Texas Tech +103 points

Michigan +102 points
Oregon +96 points
Kansas +95 points
Michigan State +92 points
West Virginia +92 points

Florida State +90 points
Kentucky +88 points
Seton Hall +85 points
Duke +84 points
Creighton +81 points

Virginia +81 points
Providence +80 points
Rutgers +77 points
Marquette +72 points
Wisconsin +69 points

Villanova +68 points
North Carolina +66 points
Alabama +63 points
Georgetown +63 points
Louisville +61 points

Syracuse has +40 points

SU’s opponents: Virginia +81, Colgate -22, Seattle -18, Cornell -25, Bucknell none, Oklahoma State +6, Penn State +57, Iowa +104, Georgia Tech +31, Georgetown +63, Oakland -24, North Florida -17, Niagara 0, Notre Dame +13, Virginia Tech +21, Virginia +81, Boston College +14, Virginia Tech +21, Notre Dame +13, Pittsburgh +7, Clemson +59, Duke +84, Wake Forest +10, North Carolina State +13, Florida State +90, Louisville +61, Georgia Tech +58, Pittsburgh +7, North Carolina +66, 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…