Against Ranked Teams (basketball) - Week 17

[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 17

Tennessee beat #4 Kentucky 71-52 = +41 points
Virginia Tech beat #3 Duke 77-72 = +28 points
Penn State beat #17 Maryland 78-61 = +26 points
Kansas beat #16 Kansas State 64-49 = +25 points
Ohio State beat #22 Iowa 90-70 = +24 points
Central Florida beat #8 Houston 69-64 = +23 points
Creighton beat #10 Marquette 66-60 = +22 points
Villanova beat #10 Marquette 67-61 = +22 points
Indiana beat #6 Michigan State 63-62 = +21 points
Clemson lost to #5 North Carolina 79-81 = +19 points
Utah State beat #12 Nevada-Reno 81-81 = +19 points
Arkansas lost to #4 Kentucky 66-70 = +18 points
Rutgers beat #22 Iowa 72-86 = +18 points
Mississippi lost to #7 Tennessee 71-73 = +17 points
Michigan beat #17 Maryland 69-62 = +16 points
Syracuse lost to #5 North Carolina 85-93 = +13 points
Oklahoma State lost to #11 Texas Tech 80-84 = +11 points
St. Mary’s lost to #1 Gonzaga 55-69 = +11 points
Maryland lost to #9 Michigan 62-69 = +10 points
Indiana beat #19 Wisconsin 75-73 = +9 points
Alabama lost to #13 Louisiana State 69-74 = +8 points
Oklahoma State lost to #15 Kansas 67-72 = +6 points
Pacific lost to #1 Gonzalez 66-86 = +5 points
Baylor lost to #16 Kansas State 60-66 = +4 points
California beat #25 Washington 76-73 = +4 points
North Carolina State lost to #18 Florida State 73-78 = +3 points
Penn State lost to #19 Wisconsin 57-61 = +3 points
Texas A&M lost to #13 Louisiana State 55-66 = +2 points
Duke lost to #20 Virginia Tech 72-77 = +1 point
Memphis lost to #23 Cincinnati 69-71 = +1 point
Notre Dame lost to #18 Florida State 61-68 = +1 point
Kentucky lost to #7 Tennessee 52-71 = 0 points
Pittsburgh lost to #2 Virginia 49-73 = 0 points
Southern Methodist lost to #23 Cincinnati 49-52 = 0 points
Stanford lost to #25 Washington 61-62 = 0 points
Texas Christian lost to #11 Texas Tech 66-81 = 0 points
UNLV lost to #12 Nevada-Reno 66-81 = -1 points
Miami University lost to #21 Buffalo 69-77 = -3 points
Kansas State lost to #15 Kansas 49-64 = -4 points
Illinois lost to #14 Purdue 56-73 = -5 points
Georgia Tech lost to #2 Virginia 51-81 = -6 points
University of Miami lost to #3 Duke 57-87 = -7 points
Akron lost to #21 Buffalo 64-77 = -8 points
Nebraska lost to #9 Michigan 53-82 = -12 points
East Carolina lost to #8 Houston 65-99 = -16 points
Samford lost to #24 Wofford 64-85 = -19 points
Ohio State lost to #14 Purdue 51-86 = -23 points
Chattanooga lost to #24 Wofford 54-80 = -24 points

Comments: I’ve never seen so many team lose by the margin you are supposed to lose by to that highly ranked an opponent, (and get 0 points). But if you want 22 points, beat Marquette. Tennessee sure got revenge on Kentucky. Will there be a rubber match in the SECT? Ohio State rose to +20 points on the season with their win over Iowa and fell to -3 with the blow-out at Purdue after they’d lost their best player. Syracuse is up to +83 points and will pick up 24 schedule points against #2 Virginia tonight. Then we’ll see if they can add to that or how much they will drop from it. It would be fun to become the 14th team in +100 points club.



THE TOP 25

North Carolina +221 points
Duke +215 points
Michigan State +189 points
Virginia +183 points
Michigan +175 points

Louisville +137 points
Kansas +134 points
Kentucky +124 points
Iowa State +109 points
Tennessee +102 points

Indiana +101 points
Marquette +101 points
Wisconsin +100 points
Louisiana State +93 points
Iowa +86 points

Syracuse +83 points
Texas +80 points
Maryland +79 points
Virginia Tech +76 points

Purdue +72 points
Alabama +70 points
Texas Tech +67 points
Florida State +65 points
Kansas State +65 points

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

 

[SURU]

You have the Rutgers Iowa score reversed but besides that good job!

 

[SWC75]

You have the Rutgers Iowa score reversed but besides that good job!

Thanks. I'm not used to Rutgers winning.