Against Ranked Teams (BB) Week 13

[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 13 (1/29-2/4/2018)
St. John’s beat #4 Duke 81-77 = +28 points
Iowa State beat #15 West Virginia 93-77 = +27 points
Oklahoma State beat #7 Kansas 84-79 = +24 points
Alabama beat #23 Florida 68-50 = +21 points
Rutgers lost to #3 Purdue 76-78 = +21 points
Washington beat #9 Arizona 78-75 = +20 points
Texas beat #12 Oklahoma 79-74 = +19 points
Indiana lost to #5 Michigan State 60-63 = +18 points
Georgetown lost to #6 Xavier 91-96 = +15 points
Georgia beat #23 Florida 72-60 = +15 points
Maryland lost to #3 Purdue 67-75 = +15 points
St. John’s lost to #6 Xavier 68-73 = +15 points
Louisville lost to #2 Virginia 64-74 = +14 points
Missouri beat #21 Kentucky 69-60 = +14 points
Texas lost to #10 Texas Tech 71-73 = +14 points
Penn State lost to #5 Michigan State 68-76 = +13 points
Baylor lost to #12 Oklahoma 96-98 = +12 points
Temple beat #16 Wichita State 81-79 = +12 points
Clemson beat #19 North Carolina 82-78 = +11 points
Connecticut lost to #8 Cincinnati 57-65 = +10 points
San Diego lost to #13 St. Mary’s 62-65 = +10 points
Seton Hall lost to #1 Villanova 76-92 = +9 points
Syracuse lost to #2 Virginia 44-59 = +9 points
Houston lost to #8 Cincinnati 70-80 = +8 points
Indiana lost to #17 Ohio State 56-71 = +6 points
Mississippi lost to #11 Auburn 70-79 = +6 points
Creighton lost to #1 Villanova 78-98 = +5 points
Kansas State lost to #7 Kansas 56-70 = +5 points
Washington beat #25 Arizona State 68-64 = +5 points
Brigham Young lost to #14 Gonzaga 60-68 = +4 points
Northwestern lost to #11 Michigan 47-58 = +4 points
Texas Christian lost to #10 Texas Tech 71-83 = +4 points
Vanderbilt lost to #11 Auburn 81-93 = +3 points
Vanderbilt lost to #21 Kentucky 81-83 = +3 points
Massachusetts lost to #22 Rhode Island 83-85 = +2 points
North Carolina lost to #20 Clemson 78-82 = +2 points
San Diego lost to #14 Gonzaga 59-69 = +2 points
Illinois lost to #17 Ohio State 67-75 = +1 point
Notre Dame lost to #4 Duke 66-88 = 0 points
Minnesota lost to #24 Michigan 73-76 = -1 point
Wake Forest lost to #20 Clemson 67-75 = -2 points
Virginia Commonwealth #22 Rhode Island 68-81 = -9 points
Washington State lost to #25 Arizona State 78-88 = -9 points
Washington State lost to #9 Arizona 72-100 = -11 points
Louisiana State lost to #18 Tennessee 61-84 = -15 points
San Francisco lost to #13 St. Mary’s 43-79 = -23 points
Pittsburgh lost to #19 North Carolina 65-96 = -24 points
Mississippi lost to #18 Tennessee 61-94 = -25 points
Kansas State lost to #15 West Virginia 51-89 = -27 points

Comments: St. John’s had a strong week after a long bad stretch and Mike Hopkin’s Washington team is making some noise in the Pac 12, beating both Arizona teams. WE have four games left against ranked teams and will have a chance to crack the standings below if we can hang in these games.

Top 25

Texas Tech +142 points
Oklahoma +117 points
Alabama +106 points
North Carolina State +95 points
Duke +93 points

Michigan State +92 points
Xavier +91 points
Florida +90 points
Texas +87 points
Marquette +84 points

Virginia +84 points
Florida State +73 points
Texas A&M +73 points
Oklahoma State +72 points
Purdue +72 points

Texas Christian +71 points
Villanova +70 points
Michigan +69 points
Kansas +67 points
St. John’s +65 points

Southern Methodist +65 points
Arizona State +64 points
Nebraska +62 points
West Virginia +55 points
Indiana +50 points

Syracuse has +25 points from the losses to Kansas, Virginia (twice) and Florida State
Our future opponents: Wake Forest 0 North Carolina State +95 Miami +38 North Carolina +38 Duke +93 Boston College +19 Clemson +35

The worst team so far is Savannah State with -151 points.