Against Ranked Teams (Basketball) Week One

[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 1
Florida State beat #6 Florida 63-51 = +32 points
Kentucky beat #1 Michigan State 69-62 = +32 points
Duke beat #3 Kansas 68-66 = +25 points
Kansas lost to #4 Duke 66-68 = +20 points
Michigan State lost to #2 Kentucky 62-69 = +17 points
Washington beat #16 Baylor 67-64 = +13 points
UNC Greensboro lost to #3 Kansas 62-74 = +11 points
U of Miami lost to #5 Louisville 74-87 = +7 points
Texas beat #23 Purdue 70-66 = +7 points
Notre Dame lost to #9 North Carolina 65-76 = +6 points
North Florida lost to #6 Florida 59-74 = +5 points
Wisconsin lost to #20 St. Mary’s 63-65 = +4 points
Montana State lost to #17 Utah State 73-81 = +1 point
UNC Wilmington lost to #9 North Carolina 62-78 = +1 point
Rhode Island lost to #7 Maryland 55-73 = +1 point
Syracuse lost to #11 Virginia 34-48 = +1 point
Cincinnati lost to #18 Ohio State 56-64 = 0 points
North Texas St lost to #25 Va Commonwealth 56-59 = -2 points
Youngstown State lost to #5 Louisville 55-78 = -2 points
Fresno State lost to #15 Oregon 57-71 = -3 points
Stony Brook lost to #12 Seton Hall 57-74 = -3 points
Bowling Green lost to #22 Louisiana State 79-88 = -5 points
Holy Cross lost to #7 Maryland 71-95 = -5 points
Georgia Southern lost to #24 Auburn 74-83 = -7 points
Davidson lost to #24 Auburn 66-76 = -8 points
Siena lost to #19 Xavier 63-81 = -11 points
Colorado State lost to #4 Duke 55-89 = -12 points
Eastern Illinois lost to #13 Texas Tech 60-85 = -12 points
Jacksonville lost to #19 Xavier 57-76 = -12 points
UMass-Lowell lost to #18 Ohio State 56-76 = -12 points
Alabama State lost to #8 Gonzaga 64-95 = -13 points
St. Francis (Pa) lost to #25 Va Commonwealth 58-72 = -13 points
Illinois lost to #21 Arizona 69-90 = -16 points
James Madison lost to #11 Virginia 34-65 = -16 points
Eastern Kentucky lost to #2 Kentucky 49-91 = -18 points
Green Bay lost to #23 Purdue 57-79 = -19 points
Boise State lost to #15 Oregon 75-106 = -20 points
Wagner lost to #12 Seton Hall 71-105 = -20 points
South Carolina State lost to #14 Memphis 64-97 = -21 points
Bethune Cookman lost to #13 Texas Tech 44-79 = -22 points
Army lost to #10 Villanova 54-97 = -27 points
Binghamton lost to #1 Michigan State 47-100 = -28 points
Arkansas Pine Bluff lost to #8 Gonzaga 60-110 = -32 points
Central Arkansas lost to #16 Baylor 61-105 = -34 points
Illinois-Chicago lost to #14 Memphis 46-92 = -34 points
Northern Arizona lost to #21 Arizona 52-91 = -34 points
Weber State lost to #17 Utah State 34-89 = -46 points

Comments: It’s the first week and most of the games were against weak opponents. But those big early games are likely to stand up for a while in the standings.

Top 25

Florida State +32 points
Kentucky +32 points
Duke +25 points
Kansas +20 points
Michigan State +17 points

Washington +13 points
U of Miami +7 points
Texas +7 points
Notre Dame +6 points
North Florida +5 points

Wisconsin +4 points
Montana State +1 point
UNC Wilmington +1 point
Rhode Island +1 point
Syracuse +1 point

Cincinnati 0 points
North Texas State -2 points
Youngstown State -2 points
Fresno State -3 points
Stony Brook -3 points

Bowling Green -5 points
Holy Cross -5 points
Georgia Southern -7 points
Davidson -8 points
Siena -11 points