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-Please read this before scrolling down because otherwise your head might explode. I want everyone to understand what it is they are looking at. This is NOT a ranking of how good I think teams actually currently are, or how good I think they will be in March. This is simply assessing a team’s CURRENT MERIT.
For instance, Baylor is almost certainly a top 25 team, but at this moment in the season the only games they’ve won are home buy games, so they are ranked behind a team like Little Rock, who probably isn’t anywhere close to as good as Baylor, but at this moment in time has managed to win two games away from home.
So, what you get is an insane looking ranking system and an equally insane looking bracket. I know that. But, I still like doing it this way. I think in the end it is important for the selection committee to measure a team based on their merit. It’s what we do with our mock committees. And, the best way to get into the habit of doing that is to start doing it right away.
-You see several ACC teams that are high in the rankings. The reason is because when they opened the season with conference games, it meant that they were playing and winning games that weren’t just buy games. Well, half of them were anyway.
-Evansville is the #1 overall team. They’re unbeaten, and they have a road win at Kentucky. No one else comes close to matching that.
-Kentucky is still very high. They’ve got a neutral floor win against Michigan State. Michigan State is also high because they’ve got a road win against Seton Hall. The top seven teams have all already beaten a ranked team away from home.
- EVANSVILLE – 3-0, road win @ Kentucky
- DUKE – 4-0, neutral win vs Kansas
- KENTUCKY – neutral win s Michigan State, home loss to Evansville
- MICHIGAN STATE – 2-1, neutral loss vs Kentucky, home win @ Seton Hall
- OREGON – 4-0, neutral win vs Memphis
- TEXAS – 4-0, 3 buy wins, win @ Purdue
- Tennessee – 3-0, neutral win vs Washington
- Virginia – 3-0, win @ Syracuse
- Oklahoma – 3-0, neutral wins vs Minnesota and Oregon State
- Florida State – 2-1, win @ Florida, loss @ Pittsburgh
- WINTHROP – 2-2, all road games, wins @ Saint Mary’s and @ Hartford, loss @ ETSU and Fresno State
- Ohio State – 3-0, home wins vs Cincinnati and Villanova
- Penn State – 3-0, win @ Georgetown
- West Virginia – 2-0, win @ Pittsburgh
- SAN DIEGO STATE – 3-0, win @ BYU
- Auburn – 4-0, neutral win vs Davidson, road win @ South Alabama
- SAINT MARY’S – 2-1, neutral win vs Wisconsin, home loss to Winthrop
- VERMONT – 4-0, 3 road wins @ St. Bonaventure, @ Bucknell, @ Saint John’s
- Washington – 2-1, neutral win vs Baylor, neutral loss vs Tennessee
- DePaul – 5-0, 4 buy wins, win @ Iowa
- Louisville – 4-0, win @ Miami FL
- Byu – 3-1, home loss to San Diego State, road win @ Houston
- Oregon State – 3-1, home win vs Iowa State, road win @ Wyoming, neutral loss vs Oklahoma
- Colorado – 2-0, neutral win vs Arizona State
- Maryland – 3-0, home win vs Rhode Island
- North Carolina 3-0, win @ UNCW, home win v Notre Dame
- VCU – 4-0, home win vs LSU
- SETON HALL – 2-1, home loss vs Michigan State, win @ Saint Louis
- UC IRVINE – 3-1, road wins @ San Diego and @ Boise State, loss @ Pepperdine
- Virginia Tech – 4-0, win @ Clemson
- FURMAN – 4-0, road wins @ Gardner Webb and @ Charleston Southern
- Usc – 4-0, win @ Nevada
- Marquette – 2-1, home win vs Purdue, loss @ Wisconsin
- MONTANA STATE – 4-1, loss @ Utah State, win @ UNCG, 2 neutral wins
- KENT STATE – 3-0, road wins @ Towson and @ Wright State
- UCONN – 2-1, home win vs Florida, home loss vs Saint Joseph’s
- Gonzaga – 4-0, win @ Texas A&M
- Ohio U – 3-1, road wins @ Saint Bonaventure and @ Iona, loss @ Villanova
- BELMONT – 2-1, win @ Boston College, loss @ Illinois State
- NICHOLLS – 2-2, win @ Pittsburgh, losses @ Illinois and @ LSU
- SOUTH DAKOTA – 4-0 2 neutral wins, road win @ Hawaii
- LITTLE ROCK – 3-1, wins @ Missouri State and @ Central Arkansas
- WILLIAM & MARY – 4-0, 3 road wins (High Point, American, Wofford)
- Oklahoma State – 4-0, win @ Charleston
- Ucf – 2-1, win @ Illinois State, home loss to Miami FL
- Michigan – 3-0, home win vs Creighton
- Wisconsin – 3-1, neutral loss vs Saint Mary’s, home win vs Marquette
- Xavier – 4-0, home win vs Missouri
- Pittsburgh – 2-2, home win vs Florida St, road win v Robert Morris, home loss v Nicholls
- Kansas – 2-1, neutral loss vs Duke, home win vs UNCG
- Arizona – 4-0, home wins vs Illinois and New Mexico State
- San Franscisco – 4-0, win @ Southern Illinois
- Miami FL – 3-1, win @ UCF, home loss to Louisville
- Rhode Island – 2-1, loss @ Maryland, home win vs Alabama
- Illinois – 2-1, loss @ Arizona, win @ Grand Canyon
- Saint Joseph’s – 2-2, losses @ Loyola Chicago and @ Old Dominion, win @ UConn
- DARTMOUTH – 4-1, wins @ Buffalo and @ UMass Lowell, neutral loss vs Jacksonville
- CHARLOTTE – 2-1, loss @ James Madison, home wins vs Davidson and Wake Forest
- WRIGHT STATE – 3-1, road wins @ Miami OH and @ Tennessee Tech, home loss vs Kent State
- Penn – 2-1, win @ Alabama, loss @ Rice
- Utah – 3-0, home win vs Minnesota
- Butler – 4-0, home win vs Minnesota
- Northern Iowa – 4-0, win @ Northern Illinois
- Pepperdine – 3-1, wins @ CSUN and @ Alilene Christian, loss @ California
- Delaware – 5-0, 3 neutral wins, win @ Lafayette
- Brown – 3-0, win @ Bryant
- Campbell – 2-2, wins @ Coastal Carolina and @ Citadel, loss @ UNCW
- Temple – 3-0, win @ La Salle
- LIBERTY – 4-0, 3 buy wins, win @ East Carolina
- Boston College – 3-1, win @ South Florida, home loss to Belmont
- Umass – 4-0, win @ Fairfield, home win vs Northeastern
- East Tennessee State – 3-0, road win vs UT Martin
- Richmond – 4-0, home wins vs Vanderbilt
- Umbc – 4-0, 1 div1 win @ FGCU
- Southern Utah – 2-1, win @ Nebraska, loss @ BYU
- Western Kentucky – 3-0, win @ Eastern Kentucky
- UC Riverside – 2-2, road win @ Nebraska, losses @ Sacramento State and @ Pacific
- BUCKNELL – 2-2, road win @ Fairfield, losses to Vermont and Canisius
- Old Dominion – 3-1, home win vs Saint Joseph’s
- Utah State – 4-0, home win vs Montana State
- Harford – 3-1, win @ Marist
- UTAH VALLEY – 3-1, win @ UAB, road loss @ Denver
- Eastern Washington – 2-1, win @ Seattle, loss @ Saint Louis
- Yale – 2-2, win @ Stony Brook, losses @ San Francisco and Oklahoma State
- Middle Tennessee – 3-0, win @ Lipscomb
- Texas Tech – 3-0, neutral win vs Houston Baptist
- Villanova – 2-1, 2 buy wins, loss @ Ohio State
- Florida – 2-2, 2 buy wins, home loss to Florida State, road loss @ UConn
- Lsu – 2-1, 2 buy wins, loss @ VCU
- Mississippi State – 4-0 in buy games
- Purdue – 2-2, 2 buy wins, losses vs Texas at home, @ Marquette
- Ucla – 3-0, home win vs UNLV
- California – 3-0, home win vs UNLV
- Kansas State – 3-0 in buy games
- Illinois State – 2-1, home win vs Belmont, home loss to UCF
- Njit – 1-3, win @ Cornell
- Baylor – 2-1, 2 buy wins, neutral loss vs Washington
- Memphis – 3-1, 3 buy wins, loss vs Oregon
- Cincinnati – 2-1, 2 buy wins, loss @ Ohio State
- Houston – 1-1, home loss to BYU
- Wichita State – 3-0 in buy games
- Creighton – 2-1, loss @ Michigan
- Iowa State – 2-1, 2 buy wins, loss @ Oregon State
- Georgetown – 3-1, home loss to Penn State
- RIDER – 2-1, road wins @ Coppin State and @ Delaware State, loss @ Arizona State
- Indiana – 4-0 in buy games
- Missouri – 2-1, 2 buy wins, loss @ Xavier
- Georgia – 3-0 in buy games
- Tcu – 2-0 in buy games
- George Mason – 4-0 in buy games
- Saint Louis – 3-1, 3 buy wins, home loss to Seton Hall
- Dayton – 2-0 in buy games
- New Mexico – 4-0 in buy games
- Arkansas – 3-0 in buy games
- Smu – 3-0 in buy games
- Stanford – 4-0 in buy games
- South Carolina – 3-0 in buy games
- Northeastern – 2-2, home win vs Harvard, losses @ UMass and @ Old Dominion
- Duquesne – 3-0 in buy games
- Tulane – 3-0 in buy games
- Fordham – 3-0 in buy games
- COPPIN STATE – 1-3, road win @ Loyola Chicago
- SAINT FRANCIS U – 2-2, road win @ Morgan State
- GRAMBLING – 3-0, win @ SELA
