Against Ranked Teams- Week Seven

[SWC75]

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.

I didn’t do that for this year’s football season because with some conferences opting out and then opting back in later in the seasons, the rankings were a mess. But everybody is playing basketball now, or trying to, so I’ve decided to keep track of performances against ranked teams in this sport. I’ve decided to add an extra wrinkle: I will keep track of the performances of the ranked teams themselves by totaling the points earned against them, with the +/- reversed. This will measure their performance “as a ranked team” We’ll see how that goes and I’ll decide whether to continue with that.

(First alteration: When ranked teams play each other, their only points will be under the first test. Otherwise the Gonzaga-Kansas game would look like this:
Gonzaga beat #6 Kansas 102-90: Gonzaga +32 Kansas -32
Kansas lost to #1 Gonzaga 90-102: Kansas +13 Gonzaga -13
That would give Gonzaga +19 points and Kansas -19 points. They should both get credit for playing each other in a competitive game. Giving Gonzalez +32 points and Kansas +13 makes more sense.)

WEEK SEVEN (1/4-7)
Oklahoma State lost to #14 West Virginia 84-87: Oklahoma State +9 West Virginia -9
Texas Christian lost to #6 Kansas 64-93: Texas Christian -9 Kansas +9
Iowa State lost to #4 Texas 72-78: Iowa State +16 Texas -16
Mississippi State beat #13 Missouri 78-63: Mississippi State +28 Missouri -28
Michigan State beat #15 Rutgers 68-45: Michigan State +34 both ranked
Rutgers lost to #23 Michigan State 45-68: Rutgers -20 both ranked
Kansas State lost to #18 Texas Tech 71-82: Kansas State -3 Texas Tech +3
North Carolina State lost to #15 Clemson 70-74: No Carolina St +7 Clemson -7
Oklahoma lost to #2 Baylor 61-76: Oklahoma +9 Baylor -9
Seton Hall lost to #7 Creighton 53-89: Seton Hall -17 Creighton +17
Arkansas lost to #9 Tennessee 74-79: Arkansas +12 Tennessee -12
Michigan beat #16 Minnesota 82-57: Michigan +35 both ranked
Minnesota lost to #10 Michigan 57-82: Minnesota -15 both ranked
Wichita State lost to #11 Houston 63-70: Wichita State +8 Houston -8
Louisville beat #19 Virginia Tech 73-71: Louisville +9 Virginia Tech -9
Boston College lost to #21 Duke 82-83: Boston College +4 Duke -4
Wake Forest lost to #22 Virginia 61-70: Wake Forest -5 Virginia +5
Maryland lost to #5 Iowa 67-89: Maryland -1 Iowa +1
Indiana lost to #8 Wisconsin 73-80: Indiana +11 Wisconsin -11
Northwestern lost to #12 Illinois 56-81: Northwestern -11 Illinois +11
Colorado beat #17 Oregon 79-72: Colorado +16 Oregon -16
Brigham Young lost to #1 Gonzaga 69-86: Brigham Young +8 Gonzaga -8
Purdue beat #23 Michigan State 55-54: Purdue +4 Michigan State -4
Portland lost to #1 Gonzaga 88-116: Portland -3 Gonzaga +3
Texas Christian lost to #2 Baylor 49-67: Texas Christian +6 Baylor -6
Texas beat #14 West Virginia 72-70: Texas +14 both ranked
West Virginia lost to #4 Texas 70-72: West Virginia +20 both ranked
Oklahoma lost to #6 Kansas 59-63: Oklahoma +16 Kansas -16
St. John’s lost to #7 Creighton 79-97: St. John’s +1 Creighton -1
Texas A&M lost to #9 Tennessee 54-68: Texas A&M +3 Tennessee -3
Tulane lost to #11 Houston 50-71: Tulane -6 Houston +6
Ohio State beat #15 Rutgers 79-68: Ohio State +20 Rutgers -20
Utah lost to #17 Oregon 73-79: Utah +3 Oregon -3
Iowa State lost to #18 Texas Tech 64-91: Iowa State -19 Texas Tech +19
Wake Forest lost to #21 Duke 68-79: Wake Forest -6 Duke +6
Boston College lost to #22 Virginia 49-61: Boston College -8 Virginia +8
Notre Dame lost to #19 Virginia Tech 63-77: Notre Dame -7 Virginia Tech +7
Iowa beat #16 Minnesota 86-71: Iowa +25 both ranked
Minnesota lost to #5 Iowa 71-86: Minnesota +6 both ranked

After recording these scores, I’m not sure how I feel about the new stat. it gives too much credit for blow-out wins over over-matched opponents. But everyone plays games like that and maybe teams that don’t blow-out over-matched opponents should be debited for that by not getting as much credit. I’m also worried that the points accumulated against unranked teams might be more prolific than the points against ranked teams because that would be more games. What I’ll do is to keep track of them separately and also add them together. That way, if I decide I don’t like the new stat, I can just report the points “against ranked teams”.

TOP TEN AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Gonzaga +109
Iowa +98
Texas +86
Kansas +80
Wisconsin +80
West Virginia +72
Minnesota +66
Michigan +61
Illinois +55
Oklahoma +55

TOP TEN AS A RANKED TEAM AGAINST UNRANKED TEAMS
Texas Tech +137
Ohio State +110
Illinois +69
Iowa +63
Virginia +45
Baylor +43
Tennessee +33
Texas +32
Rutgers +32
North Carolina +28

TOP TEN COMBINED
Iowa +161
Texas Tech +136
Gonzaga +131
Illinois +124
Texas +118
Kansas +100
Ohio State +98
Michigan +79
Rutgers +73
Baylor +67
Tennessee +67