For today’s News, Notes, and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE
For Jon Teitel’s coverage of this weekend’s DC Area games – CLICK HERE
Okay, so before we go any further I want to make sure everyone knows what they are looking at. This IS NOT a ranking of how good I believe the teams actually are, or how good I think they will be at the end of the year. It is simply a ranking with one central question in mind “How hard was it to win the games that the teams have won?” Nothing more. I think Villanova is clearly better than Oakland, but Villanova hasn’t (yet) won a game that’s as difficult to win as Oakland’s win at Oklahoma State. Very few teams have. That’s why Oakland is ranked so far ahead of so many teams that are likely better than they are. I also feel that going on the road and winning, even if it is against an under the radar team that isn’t all that good, is still harder to do than winning a home buy game. When it comes to merit, winning home buy games pretty much get you none.
Right now, I go out of my way to avoid trying to speculate how good teams actually are. I’m merely trying to measure them on merit. It is a weird way to do it. So far as I know, no one else does it this way. But…it’s the way that I personally like to do it. It gets me in the habit of evaluating teams based on how I think they should be evaluated with no bias or prejudice or assumption in play. And, it does allow me to identify teams that are better than what I would assume a little sooner than normal each year. So, without further ado, here are the admitted unpractical, unreliable, and inaccurate rankings after Week 1. And…sure…why not just take a few more minutes to bracket them??
- DUKE – 3-0, win vs Kentucky
- KANSAS – 2-0, neutral win vs Michigan State
- UCLA – 2-0, home buy win, home win vs Villanova
- GONZAGA – 2-0, blowout home win vs Texas
- OAKLAND – 1-1, loss @ West Virginia, win @ Oklahoma State
- FURMAN – 1-0 in D1 games, win @ Louisville
- Virginia Tech – 2-0, win @ Navy
- UCF – 2-0, win @ Miami FL
- UC DAVIS – 2-0, win @ Utah State
- WAGNER – 2-0, home win vs Hartford, win @ VCU
- VERMONT – 1-1, win @ Northern Iowa, loss @ Maryland
- OHIO U – 2-0, home win vs Belmont, win @ Cleveland State
- UMass Lowell – 2-0, win @ Dayton
- NAVY – 1-1, home loss to VA Tech, win @ Virginia
- Miami OH – 2-0, wins @ Georgia Tech, vs Lamar
- Oregon – 2-0, home buy win, home win vs SMU
- Usc – 2-0, home buy win, win @ Temple
- FLORIDA – 2-0, home win vs Florida State
- NICHOLLS – 1-0, win @ Northern Iowa
- Northern Illinois – 1-1, win @ Washington, loss @ Indiana
- The Citadel – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Pitt
- West Virginia – 2-0 at home, win vs Pitt
- NORTHERN COLORADO – 3-0, 2 D1 wins, neutral vs Pacific, @ Hawaii
- Byu – 2-0, home by win, home win vs San Diego State
- MICHIGAN – 2-0, buy win vs PV A&M, home win vs Buffalo
- Iowa State – 2-0, home buy win, home win vs Oregon State
- Boston College – 2-0 in buy games, home win vs Dartmouth
- DARTMOUTH – 1-1, win @ Georgetown, loss @ Boston College
- GEORGIA SOUTHERN – 2-0, win @ South Florida
- Colorado – 2-0, home wins vs Montana State and New Mexico
- Cincinnati – 2-0 at home, wins vs Evansville and Georgia
- EASTERN KENTUCKY – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Milwaukee
- Toledo – 2-0, win @ Valpo, home win vs Detroit
- Princeton – 1-1 vs D1, neutral win vs South Carolina, loss vs Minnesota
- Cornell – 2-0, road wins @ Binghamton and Lafayette
- HOFSTRA – 1-1, win @ Duquesne, loss @ Houston
- Delaware – 1-1, win @ Siena, loss @ Davidson
- Louisiana – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Southern Miss
- Binghamton – 1-1, home loss to Cornell, win @ Sacred Heart
- Njit – 1-1, home loss to Merrimack, win @ Lehigh
- Alabama – 2-0, home wins vs LA Tech and South Dakota State
- Maryland – 3-0, 2 buy game wins, 1 win vs Vermont
- Youngstown State – 1-1, loss @ Penn State, win @ SEMO
- SEMO – 1-1, win @ Missouri State, home loss vs Youngstown State
- UNC Greensboro – 2-0, win @ Northern Kentucky
- WESTERN ILLINOIS – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Nebraska
- South Dakota State – 2-1, home win vs Bradley, win @ SFA
- Chattanooga – 2-0, win @ LMU
- Uic – 1-1, loss @ Dayton, win @ Valpo
- MONMOUTH – 1-1, loss @ Charlote, win @ Towson
- HOWARD – 1-0 in D1 games, win @ Bradley
- North Dakota State – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Cal Poly
- Long Beach State – 1-0, road win @ Idaho
- Marist – 1-1. Loss @ American, win @ Columbia
- CAMPBELL – 1-1, neutral win vs Hartford, loss @ Duke
- SOUTHERN – 1-1, loss @ Louisville, win @ Tulane
- Texas – 1-1, home buy win, loss @ Gonzaga
- SETON HALL – 2-0, both buy games, but one was against Yale
- South Carolina – 2-1, home buy win, neutral win vs WKU, loss vs Princeton
- South Dakota – 1-1, neutral win vs Air Force, road loss @ Drake
- San Francisco – 3-0, all home wins, Davidson is the best win
- Villanova – 1-1, buy game win, loss @ UCLA
- Baylor – 1-0 in buy games
- Kentucky – 1-1, home buy win, neutral loss vs Duke
- Ohio State – 2-0 in buy games
- Illinois – 2-0 in buy games
- Houston – 2-0 in buy games
- Purdue – 2-0 in buy games
- North Carolina – 2-0 in buy games
- Florida State – 1-1, buy win vs Penn, loss at Florida
- NEW MEXICO STATE – 2-0, home wins vs UCI and UTEP
- Memphis – 2-0 in buy games
- Auburn – 2-0 in buy games
- Texas Tech – 2-0 in buy games
- SAINT BONAVENTURE – 2-0 in buy games
- UConn – 2-0 in buy games
- COLORADO STATE – 2-0 in buy games
- Oklahoma – 2-0 in buy games
- Wisconsin – 2-0 in buy games
- Clemson – 2-0 in buy games
- LOYOLA CHICAGO – 2-0 in buy games
- NC State – 2-0 in buy games
- Smu – 2-0 in buy games
- Drake – 1-0 in buy games
- Mississippi State – 2-0 in buy games
- Iowa – 2-0 in buy games
- Creighton – 2-0 in buy games
- Wake Forest – 2-0 in buy games
- Notre Dame – 1-0 in buy games
- Saint Louis – 2-0 in D1 buy games
- Marquette – 2-0 in buy games
- Wichita State – 2-0 in buy games
- UAB – 2-0 in buy games
- Rhode Island – 2-0 in buy games
- Providence – 2-0 in buy games
- Richmond – 1-1 – home buy win, neutral loss vs Utah State
- San Diego State – 1-1, buy game win, loss @ BYU
- Little Rock – 1-0 vs D1, home win vs Southern Illinois
- Butler – 3-0 in buy games
- Tcu – 1-0 in buy games
- Kansas State – 1-0 in buy games
- Xavier – 2-0 in buy games
- Saint John’s – 2-0 in buy games
- Indiana – 2-0 in buy games
- Arizona – 2-0 in buy games
- Rutgers – 2-0 in buy games
- George Mason – 2-0 in buy games
- Northwestern – 2-0 in buy games
- DePaul – 2-0 in buy games
- Penn State – 1-0 in buy games
- Towson – 1-1, road win @ Albany, home loss vs Monmouth
- Colgate – 1-1, home win vs Northeastern, loss @ NC State
- Virginia – 1-1 in buy games, lost to Navy
- Tennessee – 2-0 in buy games
- Texas A&M – 3-0 in buy games
- Arkansas – 2-0 in buy games
- Utah – 2-0 in buy games
- Lsu – 2-0 in buy games
- Saint Mary’s – 2-0 in buy games
- Missouri – 1-0 in buy games
- Louisville – 1-1 in buy games, lost to Furman
- Sacred Heat – 1-2, win @ La Salle, losses @ Providence, vs Binghamton
- Washington State – 2-0 in buy games
- Ole Miss – 2-0 in buy games
- Vanderbilt – 2-0 in buy games
- Santa Clara – 2-0 in buy games
-So, this is always amusing to look at. A First Four game between Villanova and Baylor on the #16 line with the winner taking on Duke is probably something that you will not see at the end of the year as things play out more. You probably (well…most definitely) won’t see so many Under the Radar teams with protected seeds either. But, as of now, after Week 1, those teams have played and won on the road, and many of the bigger programs have not. So, if you’re trying to go strictly off of merit, then this is how it looks.