Against Ranked Teams - Week 10 | Syracusefan.com

Against Ranked Teams - Week 10

SWC75

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The last few years I’ve attempted to quantify team’s performances against ranked teams, (historically a big factor in decisions made about getting into playoffs) with a system that gives points to teams for the ranking of their opponents and adds or subtracts the point differential in their games, (adds in a win, subtracts in a loss). The ‘ranking’ points are 25 for playing a #1 ranked team, 24 for playing a #2 ranked team, etc., down to 1 point for playing a 25th ranked team. These points are easily computed by subtracting the ranking number from 26, (26-1 = 25; 26-25 =1, etc.). Over the course of the season, I add the points earned by each team in their games against ranked teams as a sort of standings but have always maintained that this is just one thing to look at in evaluating the team, not a final overall ranking.

Last year I added a new wrinkle to the basketball version of this. I totaled the points each ranked team’s opponent earned against them, (positive or negative) to get a measure of how well the ranked teams performed in these games. I then added those points together with the points against ranked teams to make my NCAA picks and it worked out pretty well so I decided to try it for football. The numbers will gain meaning each week and should be very interesting by the end of the season.

One thing I’ve found is that when ranked teams play each other, it works better if I just keep track of “against ranked teams” Example:
#5 Georgia beat #3 Clemson 10-3 Georgia +30 Clemson -30
#3 Clemson lost to #5 Georgia 3-10 Clemson +14 Georgia -14
If you add them together Georgia gets +16 and Clemson -16 yet the game was decided by 7 points.
So the first figure is “against ranked teams and the second figure “as a ranked team against an unranked team”.

WEEK 10 (11/6/21) NOTE: ESPN started listing the Playoff Committee’s rankings next to the team this week. Texas-San Antonio were not in those rankings going into the week.
Purdue beat #3 Michigan State 40-29 Purdue +34 Michigan State -34
Texas A&M beat #13 Auburn 20-3 Texas A&M +30 both ranked
Boise State beat #23 Fresno State 40-14 Boise State +29 Fresno State -29
North Carolina beat #9 Wake Forest 58-55 North Carolina +20 Wake Forest -20
Louisiana State lost to #2 Alabama 14-20 Louisiana State +18 Alabama -18
Nebraska lost to #5 Ohio State 17-26 Nebraska +16 Ohio State -16
Texas Christian beat #12 Baylor 30-28 Texas Christian +16 Baylor -16
Illinois beat #20 Minnesota 14-6 Illinois +14 Minnesota -14
Arkansas beat #17 Mississippi State 31-28 Arkansas +12 Mississippi State -12
Tulsa lost to #6 Cincinnati 20-28 Tulsa +12 Cincinnati -12
Washington lost to #4 Oregon 16-26 Washington +12 Oregon -12
Tennessee beat #18 Kentucky 45-42 Tennessee +11 Kentucky -11
Northwestern lost to #22 Iowa 12-17 Northwestern -1 Iowa +1
Indiana lost to #7 Michigan 7-29 Indiana -3 Michigan +3
Liberty lost to #16 Mississippi 14-27 Liberty -3 Mississippi +3
Auburn lost to #14 Texas A&M 3-20 Auburn -5 both ranked
Hawaii lost to #24 San Diego State 10-17 Hawaii -5 San Diego State +5
West Virginia lost to #11 Oklahoma State 3-24 West Virginia -6 Oklahoma State +6
Florida State lost to #19 North Carolina State 14-28 Florida State -7 North Carolina State +7
Missouri lost to #1 Georgia 6-43 Missouri -12 Georgia +12
Navy beat #10 Notre Dame 6-34 Navy -12 Notre Dame +12
Duke lost to #25 Pittsburgh 29-54 Duke -24 Pittsburgh +24
Idaho State lost to #15 Brigham Young 14-59 Idaho State -34 Brigham Young +34
Rutgers lost to #21 Wisconsin 3-52 Rutgers -44 Wisconsin +44

Comment: The “Bonfire of the Vanities” continued: 9 ranked teams went down and 12 teams playing ranked teams gained points from the result.


Top 10 Against Ranked Teams through Week 2
Georgia +149
Alabama +95
Iowa +89
Purdue +75
Arkansas +66
Penn State +66
Auburn +60
Texas A&M +59
Boise State +54
Stanford +51

Syracuse is at +4 after the Wake Forest game.
SU’s opponents: Ohio none Rutgers -71 Albany none Liberty -3 Florida State +7 Wake Forest none Clemson +7 Virginia Tech +32 Boston College -27 Louisville -1 North Carolina State +23 Pittsburgh none

The worst team on this list is Vanderbilt at -74

Top 10 as a Ranked Team Against Unranked Teams through Week 2
Coastal Carolina +140
Ohio State +96
Georgia +80
Auburn +68
Mississippi +57
Michigan +56
Oklahoma +47
Cincinnati +34
Nebraska +33
Texas A&M +32

Syracuse has not been ranked so they have had no opportunity to accumulate points on this list.
SU’s opponents: Ohio none Rutgers none Albany none Liberty none Florida State none Wake Forest +6 Clemson -6 Virginia Tech -3 Boston College none Louisville none North Carolina State +24 Pittsburgh +28

The worst team on this list is Oregon at -51
 

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