Merit Rankings (and Bracket Projections) From the Puppet – Nov 14th

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Before we go any further, I want to make sure everyone knows what they’re looking at.  This IS NOT an attempt to guess what the Selection Committee will do on Selection Sunday.  This IS ALSO NOT an attempt for me to rank the teams based on how good they actually are.  If that’s what you’re looking for then CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE LATEST JNG RANKINGS.  These rankings are simply based on CURRENT MERIT.

UC Irvine is ranked #1.  They won at Oregon.  That is the single best win that anyone has up to this point.  That’s why they’re ranked #1.  It’s not because I believe them to be the best team.

North Carolina is ranked 67th (and not even in the bracket below).  I do not believe that there are 66 teams that are better than they are.  It’s just that when you assess their CURRENT MERIT all they’ve done is win two home buy games.  That’s not hard to do.  If all a team has done is win home buy games, they’ve essentially done nothing.  Any type of road win, even if it came against an Under the Radar team, is worth more merit than winning a home buy game.

So, what’s the point of this??  It gets me in the habit of objectively evaluating the teams.  That’s the biggest thing.  The other point I like to make is that 15 seconds into the game, the scoreboard still shows both the score and the time.  No one says “What’s the point of showing that Mississippi Valley State is beating Baylor 2-0??  It’s not like they’re going to win!!  Why don’t they just wait until ten minutes in to post the score and the time??  This is sort of how I view the Merit Rankings after the first week.  We’re one minute into the game, and this is the score.  Metaphorically speaking the team that’s currently leading very early in the game may end up losing by 50, but as for now, they are ahead.

Just for fun, I placed these teams into a bracket and seeded it below.

  1. UC IRVINE – 1-0, win @ Oregon
  2. TEMPLE – 1-1, home loss vs Wagner, win @ Villanova
  3. GONZAGA – 2-0, neutral win vs Michigan State
  4. SAM HOUSTON STATE – 1-0, win @ Oklahoma
  5. FGCU – 1-1, win @ USC, loss @ San Diego
  6. GRAMBLING – 1-0 vs D1, home win vs Colorado
  7. COLORADO – 2-1, loss @ Grambling, win vs Tennessee
  8. UNC ASHEVILLE – 1-0, win @ UCF
  9. WEST VIRGINIA – 2-0, win @ Pitt
  10. SELA – 1-1, win @ Wyoming, loss @ Colorado State
  11. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE – 1-1, win @ Boise State, loss @ Akron
  12. Stetson – 1-1, win @ Florida State
  13. DAVIDSON – 2-0 vs D1, win @ Wright State
  14. TOLEDO – 2-0, neutral win vs UAB
  15. TOWSON – 3-0, win @ UMass and @ Penn
  16. QUINNIPIAC – 3-0, all road wins, won @ Rhode Island
  17. Hofstra – 2-0, wins @ Princeton, home vs Iona
  18. UC Santa Barbara – 2-0, neutral win vs Fresno State
  19. Kent State – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Northern Kentucky
  20. SOUTHERN MISS – 1-0, won @ Vanderbilt
  21. James Madison – 2-0, win @ Buffalo
  22. Texas State – 1-1 vs D1, lost at Wazzu, won @ Rhode Island
  23. Wisconsin – 2-0, neutral-ish win vs Stanford
  24. Western Illinois – 1-1 vs D1, win @ Illinois State, loss @ DePaul
  25. Louisiana – 2-0, neutral wins vs Harvard and East Tennessee State
  26. Kansas State – 2-0, win @ California
  27. GEORGIA TECH – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Georgia State
  28. MONTANA STATE – 1-1 – loss @ Grand Canyon, win @ Long Beach State
  29. Mississippi State – 3-0, neutral win vs Akron
  30. WESTERN KENTUCKY – 1-0, win @ Eastern Kentucky
  31. SEMO – 2-0, win @ South Florida
  32. WRIGHT STATE – 1-1, home loss vs Davidson, win @ Louisville
  33. ILLINOIS STATE – 2-1, wins @ Eastern Illinois and @ Illinois State
  34. Seattle – 2-0, win @ UC San Diego
  35. Sacramento State – 1-1, loss @ UCLA, win @ UC San Diego
  36. Southern Illinois – 2-1, win @ Oklahoma State, loss @ Southern Indiana
  37. NAVY – 2-0, win @ William & Mary
  38. Oklahoma State – 2-1, win @ Oakland, home loss vs Southern Illinois
  39. Youngstown State – 2-1, win @ Canisius, loss @ Notre Dame
  40. UC Davis – 1-1, win @ Cal, loss @ LMU
  41. Evansville – 1-1, won @ Miami OH, loss @ Saint Louis
  42. Alcoron State – 1-1, loss @ Ole Miss, win @ Wichita State
  43. YALE – 2-0, neutral wins vs Eastern Washington and Mississippi Valley
  44. Loyola Chicago – 2-0, win @ UIC
  45. Dayton – 2-0, home win vs SMU
  46. Siena – 2-0, win @ Holy Cross
  47. South Carolina – 2-0, home win vs Clemson
  48. Houston – 2-0, home buy win, neutral vs Saint Joe’s
  49. Wake Forest – 2-0, win vs Georgia
  50. Bowling Green – 2-0, win @ Oakland
  51. ALABAMA – 2-0, home win vs Liberty
  52. Kentucky – 2-0, home win vs Duquesne
  53. San Diego – 2-0 vs D1, home win vs FGCU
  54. UC Riverside – 1-1, loss @ Colorado, win @ LMU
  55. Long Beach State – 1-2, win @ CA Baptist, loss @ UCLA
  56. VILLANOVA – 1-1, loss @ Temple, win vs LaSalle
  57. WAGNER – 1-1, won @ Temple, home loss vs La Salle
  58. La Salle – 1-1, loss @ Villanova, home win vs Wagner
  59. BINGHAMTON – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Marist
  60. Bryant – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Dartmouth
  61. Colgate – 1-1, loss @ Buffalo, win @ Brown
  62. UMass Lowell – 1-1, win @ Columbia, loss @ Rutgers
  63. EAST TENNESSEE STATE – 1-1 in neutral games. Beat Elon, lost to Louisiana
  64. Texas Southern – 1-2, losses @ San Francisco and @ Tx Tech, win vs Arizona St.
  65. North Dakota – 1-1, win @ Incarnate Word, loss @ Creighton
  66. Sacred Heart – 2-1, win @ Hartford (while a road win, it’s not a good one)
  67. North Carolina – 2-0 in home buy games
  68. Duke – 2-0 in home buy games
  69. Baylor – 2-0 in home buy games
  70. Kansas – 2-0 in home buy games
  71. Texas – 2-0 in home buy games
  72. Ucla – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat Long Beach State
  73. INDIANA – 2-0 in home buy games
  74. Arizona – 2-0 in home buy games
  75. Creighton – 2-0 in home buy games
  76. Auburn – 2-0 in home buy games
  77. Michigan – 2-0 in buy games
  78. Michigan State – 1-1, won a home buy game, lost vs Gonzaga
  79. BOISE STATE – 1-1 lost at home to South Dakota State, beat Wazzu
  80. Texas Tech – 2-0 in home buy games
  81. Miami FL – 2-0 in home buy games
  82. Tcu – 2-0 in home buy games
  83. Arkansas – 2-0 in home buy games
  84. San Diego State – 2-0 in home buy games
  85. Illinois – 2-0 in home buy games
  86. Ohio State – 2-0 in home buy games
  87. Virginia – 2-0 in home buy games
  88. Iowa – 2-0 in home buy games
  89. Purdue – 2-0 in home buy games
  90. Seton Hall – 2-0 in home buy games
  91. Notre Dame – 2-0 in home buy games
  92. Saint Louis – 2-0 in home buy games
  93. Xavier – 2-0 in home buy games
  94. Saint Mary’s – 3-0 in home buy games
  95. Connecticut – 2-0 in home buy games
  96. Texas A&M – 2-0 in home buy games
  97. Syracuse – 1-0 in home buy games
  98. Colorado State – 2-0 in home buy games
  99. Byu – 1-1, won home buy game, lost @ San Diego State
  100. Cincinnati – 3-0 vs D1 in home buy games
  101. Virginia Tech – 2-0 in home buy games
  102. Vcu – 2-0 in home buy games
  103. Tulane – 2-0 in home buy games
  104. Richmond – 2-0 in home buy games
  105. NC State – 2-0 in home buy games
  106. Iowa State – 3-0 in home buy games
  107. Uab – 1-1, home buy game win, neutral loss vs Toledo
  108. Rutgers – 3-0 in home buy games
  109. Providence – 2-0 in home buy games
  110. Florida – 2-0 in home buy games
  111. Marquette – 2-0 in home buy games
  112. Maryland – 2-0 in home buy games
  113. Tennessee – 1-1, home buy win, loss vs Colorado in Nashville
  114. Boston College – 2-0 in home buy games
  115. Saint John’s – 2-0 in home buy games
  116. East Carolina – 2-0 in home buy games
  117. DePaul – 2-0 in home buy games
  118. Butler – 1-0 in home buy games
  119. Penn State – 2-0 in home buy games
  120. Washington – 2-0 in home buy games
  121. Minnesota – 2-0 in home buy games
  122. Utah State – 2-0 in home buy games
  123. Lsu – 2-0 in home buy games
  124. Georgetown – 2-0 in home buy games
  125. Northwestern – 2-0 in home buy games
  126. Missouri – 3-0 in home buy games
  127. Nevada – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat Grand Canyon
  128. Utah – 2-0 in home buy games
  129. Nebraska – 2-0 in home buy games
  130. Ole Miss – 2-0 in home buy games
  131. Oregon State – 2-0 in home buy games
  132. COPPIN STATE – only MEAC team with a D1 win
  133. Stanford – 1-1, home buy win, loss @ Wisconsin

NOTES ON THE BRACKET:

-I get that this is the most drunk looking bracket you’ll ever see, but I still can’t help to think it’s fun to look at.  Chances are, on Selection Sunday, you will see absolutely NONE of the following:

-UTR teams on the #1 line
-UTR teams as protected seeds at all
-Three First Four games on the #16 line
-The Big Ten Champion in the First Four…on the #16 line

FACT CHECK:

Temple won at home against Villanova, not on the road. #SillyPuppet

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