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 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 17
St. John’s beat #10 Creighton 91-71 = +36 points
Wake Forest beat #7 Duke 113-101 = +31 points
Florida State beat #11 Louisville 82-67 = +30 points
Michigan State beat #9 Maryland 78-66 = +29 points
Texas Christian beat #2 Baylor 75-72 = +27 points
Clemson beat #6 Florida State 70-69 = +21 points
Kansas State beat #1 Kansas 58-62 = +21 points
Ohio State beat #19 Michigan 77-63 = +21 points
Virginia beat #7 Duke 52-50 = +21 points
California beat #21 Colorado 76-62 = +19 points
Iowa beat #16 Penn State 77-68 = +19 points
Kentucky beat #15 Auburn 73-66 = +18 points
Oklahoma beat #22 Texas Tech 65-51 = +18 points
Providence beat #12 Villanova 58-54 = +18 points
Oklahoma beat #20 West Virginia 73-62 = +17 points
Michigan State beat #18 Iowa 78-70 = +16 points
Minnesota lost to #9 Maryland 73-74 = +16 points
Texas beat #20 West Virginia 67-57 = +16 points
Colorado State lost to #5 San Diego State 60-66 = +15 points
George Mason lost to #4 Dayton 55-62 = +15 points
Nevada-Reno lost to #5 San Diego State 76-83 = +14 points
Texas beat #22 Texas Tech 68-58 = +14 points
Wisconsin beat #19 Michigan 81-74 = +14 points
Stanford beat #21 Colorado 72-64 = +13 points
St. Mary’s lost to #3 Gonzaga 76-86 = +13 points
Auburn lost to #8 Auburn 73-66 = +11 points
Rutgers lost to #16 Penn State 64-65 = +9 points
Texas A&M lost to #8 Kentucky 60-69 = +9 points
Davidson lost to #4 Dayton 67-82 = +7 points
Kansas State lost to #2 Baylor 66-85 = +5 points
Louisville lost to #6 Florida State 67-82 = +5 points
Marquette lost to #13 Seton Hall 79-88 = +4 points
St. John’s lost to #12 Villanova 60-71 = +3 points
Mississippi lost to #15 Auburn 58-67 = +2 points
Oklahoma State lost to #1 Kansas 58-83 = 0 points
Penn State lost to #18 Iowa 68-77 = -1 point
Virginia Tech lost to #11 Louisville 52-68 = -1 point
Oregon State lost to #14 Oregon 54-69 = -3 points
Iowa lost to #24 Michigan State 70-78 = -6 points
Pepperdine lost to #17 Brigham Young 64-81 = -8 points
Maryland lost to #24 Michigan State 66-78 = -10 points
Michigan lost to #23 Ohio State 63-77 = -11 points
Cincinnati lost to #25 Houston 55-68 = -12 points
San Diego lost to #3 Gonzaga 59-94 = -12 points
Nebraska lost to #23 Ohio State 54-75 = -18 points

Comments: Ranked teams were 24-20 this week so a lot of points were earned. Six different games had both teams ranked. The Big Ten is lookin’ good.


Top 25

Ohio State +153 points
Michigan State +137 points
Purdue +137 points
Baylor +135 points
Iowa +128 points

Creighton +125 points
Kansas +123 points
Florida State +120 points
Providence +117 points
Kentucky +106 points

Oklahoma +105 points
Texas Tech +103 points
Virginia +102 points
Oregon +99 points
Seton Hall +92 points

West Virginia +92 points
Michigan +91 points
Rutgers +86 points
Duke +84 points
Wisconsin +83 points

Clemson +81 points
Marquette +79 points
Arizona +71 points
Kansas State +71 points
Florida +69 points

Syracuse has +31 points

SU’s opponents: Virginia +102, Colgate -22, Seattle -18, Cornell -25, Bucknell none, Oklahoma State +2, Penn State +56, Iowa +128, Georgia Tech +31, Georgetown +63, Oakland -24, North Florida -17, Niagara 0, Notre Dame +13, Virginia Tech +17, Virginia +102, Boston College +14, Virginia Tech +17, Notre Dame +13, Pittsburgh +25, Clemson +81, Duke +84, Wake Forest +41, North Carolina State +67, Florida State +120, Louisville +66, Georgia Tech +58, Pittsburgh +25, North Carolina +64, Boston College 0, U of Miami -4