Against ranked teams (basketball) Week 5

[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 FIVE

Michigan State beat #18 Iowa 90-68 = +30 points
Tennessee beat #1 Gonzaga 76-73 = +28 points
Washington lost to #1 Gonzaga 79-81 = +23 points
New Mexico State lost to #2 Kansas 60-63 = +21 points
Marquette beat #12 Wisconsin 74-69 = +19 points
Northwestern lost to #5 Michigan 60-62 = +19 points
Seton Hall beat #9 Kentucky 84-83 = +18 points
Gonzaga lost to #7 Tennessee 73-76 = +16 points
Arizona State lost to #6 Nevada-Reno 66-72 = +14 points
Virginia Commonwealth lost to #4 Virginia 49-57 = +14 points
Florida lost to #10 Michigan State 59-63 = +12 points
Grand Canyon lost to #6 Nevada-Reno 66-74 = +12 points
Nevada-Reno beat #20 Arizona State 72-66 = +12 points
Tulsa beat #16 Kansas State 47-46 = +11 points
South Carolina lost to #5 Michigan 78-89 = +10 points
Minnesota beat #24 Nebraska 85-78 = +9 points
Rutgers lost to #12 Wisconsin 64-69 = +9 points
Dayton lost to #8 Auburn 72-82 = +8 points
Connecticut lost to #11 Florida State 71-79 = +7 points
Purdue beat #23 Maryland 62-60 = +5 points
Troy lost to #11 Florida State 67-83 = -1 point
Wofford lost to #2 Kansas 47-72 = -1 point
Illinois lost to #19 Ohio State 67-77 = -3 points
Arkansas-Pine Bluff lost to #13 Texas tech 47-65 = -5 points
Temple lost to #21 Villanova 59-69 = -5 points
Iowa lost to #10 Michigan State 68-90 = -6 points
Iowa State lost to #18 Iowa 84-98 = -6 points
Clemson lost to #22 Mississippi State 71-82 = -7 points
Hartford lost to #3 Duke 54-84 = -7 points
St. Joseph’s lost to #21 Villanova 58-70 = -7 points
UNC Ashville lost to #8 Auburn 41-67 = -8 points
McNeese State lost to #22 Mississippi State 77-90 = -9 points
St. Bonaventure lost to #17 Buffalo 62-80 = -9 points
Virginia Military lost to #15 Virginia Tech 68-89 = -10 points
Yale lost to #3 Duke 58-91 = -10 points
Loyola (Chicago) lost to #23 Maryland 41-55 = -11 points
South Carolina Upstate lost to #25 Furman 60-74 = -13 points
Morgan State lost to #4 Virginia 45-83 = -16 points
UNC- Wilmington lost to #14 North Carolina 69-97 = -16 points
Creighton lost to #24 Nebraska 75-94 = -17 points
Elon lost to #25 Furman 77-98 = -20 points
LeMoyne lost to #17 Buffalo 55-89 = -25 points
South Carolina State lost to #15 Virginia Tech 44-81 = -26 points

Comments: LeMoyne actually got some points, even if they were negative points. Mike Hopkin’s Washington team got plenty of positive points for almost knocking off #1 Gonzaga before Tennessee actually did it. The Zags are making sure they play a lot of good teams before settling into their conference schedule. The games between the two Michigan teams will be very interesting to watch this year.


THE TOP 25

Duke +103 points
Michigan +103 points
Michigan State +79 points
Marquette +60 points
Kansas +48 points

Tennessee +46 points
Gonzaga +43 points
Auburn +42 points
Wisconsin +33 points
Louisville +31 points

Arizona State +30 points
Indiana +27 points
North Carolina +27 points
Furman +26 points
Oregon +26 points

Connecticut +25 points
New Mexico State +21 points
Tulsa +21 points
Northwestern +19 points
Purdue +19 points

Buffalo +18 points
Dayton +18 points
Florida State +18 points
Seton Hall +18 points
Syracuse +18 points

The worst total so far is Tennessee Tech with -84 points