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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 2821927, member: 289"] 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 [/QUOTE]

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