Against Ranked Teams- Week 18

[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 18

Michigan State beat #7 Michigan 75-63 = +31 points
North Carolina beat #4 Duke 79-70 = +31 points
Oklahoma lost to #13 Kansas 68-81 = +26 points
Auburn beat #5 Tennessee 84-80 = +25 points
Houston beat #20 Cincinnati 85-69 = +22 points
Wake Forest lost to #4 Duke 70-71 = +21 points
Florida State beat #15 Virginia Tech 73-64 = +20 points
Louisville lost to #2 Virginia 68-73 = +19 points
Minnesota beat #11 Purdue 73-69 = +19 points
Seton Hall beat #16 Marquette 73-64 = +19 points
Mississippi lost to #6 Kentucky 76-80 = +16 points
Florida lost to #10 Louisiana State 78-79 = +15 points
Duke lost to #3 North Carolina 70-79 = +14 points
Georgetown beat #10 Marquette 86-84 = +12 points
Florida lost to #6 Kentucky 57-66 = +11 points
Iowa State lost to #8 Texas Tech 73-80 = +11 points
Boston College lost to #3 North Carolina 66-79 = +10 points
Central Florida beat #20 Cincinnati 58-55 = +9 points
Seton Hall beat #23 Villanova 79-75 = +7 points
Temple beat #25 Central Florida 67-62 = +6 points
Baylor lost to #13 Kansas 70-78 = +5 points
Michigan lost to #9 Michigan State 63-75 = +5 points
Ohio U. lost to #19 Buffalo 79-82 = +4 points
Mississippi State lost to #5 Tennessee 54-71 = +4 points
Wake Forest lost to #14 Florida State 57-65 = +4 points
Southern Methodist lost to #12 Houston 79-90 = +3 points
Virginia Tech lost to #14 Florida State 64-73 = +3 points
Nebraska lost to #9 Michigan State 76-91 = +2 points
Northwestern lost to #11 Purdue 57-70 = +2 points
Texas lost to #8 Texas Tech 51-70 = -1 points
Air Force lost to #17 Nevada-Reno 79-90 = -2 points
Cincinnati lost to #25 Central Florida 55-58 = -2 points
Cincinnati lost to #12 Houston 69-85 = -2 points
Ohio State lost to #21 Wisconsin 67-73 = -2 points
Syracuse lost to #2 Virginia 53-79 = -2 points
U of Miami lost to #15 Virginia Tech 70-84 = -3 points
Bowling Green lost to #19 Buffalo 73-84 = -4 points
Texas Christian lost to #18 Kansas State 52-64 = -4 points
East Tennessee State lost to #22 Wofford 72-81 = -5 points
Vanderbilt lost to #10 Louisiana State 59-80 = -5 points
Minnesota lost to #24 Maryland 60-69 = -7 points
Oklahoma lost to #18 Kansas State 53-68 = -7 points
Iowa lost to #21 Wisconsin 45-65 = -16 points
San Diego State lost to #17 Nevada-=Reno 53-81 = -19 points
Virginia Military lost to #22 Wofford 72-99 = -23 points

Comment: Well, Michigan State swept Michigan and North Carolina swept Duke who swept Virginia who swept everybody else. The point accumulated in Week 18 will be overwhelmed by the points to be obtained in week 19 as the power conference tournaments are played.


THE TOP 25

North Carolina +252 points
Duke +229 points
Michigan State +220 points
Virginia +183 points
Michigan +180 points

Louisville +156 points
Kansas +134 points
Kentucky +124 points
Iowa State +120 points
Tennessee +102 points

Indiana +101 points
Marquette +101 points
Wisconsin +100 points
Louisiana State +93 points
Florida State +85 points

Syracuse +81 points
Maryland +79 points
Texas +79 points
Virginia Tech +79 points
Florida +76 points

Auburn +74 points
Purdue +72 points
Alabama +70 points
Iowa +70 points
Texas Tech +67 points

The worst total so far is Tennessee Tech with -104 points