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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.
- UC IRVINE – 1-0, win @ Oregon
- TEMPLE – 1-1, home loss vs Wagner, win @ Villanova
- GONZAGA – 2-0, neutral win vs Michigan State
- SAM HOUSTON STATE – 1-0, win @ Oklahoma
- FGCU – 1-1, win @ USC, loss @ San Diego
- GRAMBLING – 1-0 vs D1, home win vs Colorado
- COLORADO – 2-1, loss @ Grambling, win vs Tennessee
- UNC ASHEVILLE – 1-0, win @ UCF
- WEST VIRGINIA – 2-0, win @ Pitt
- SELA – 1-1, win @ Wyoming, loss @ Colorado State
- SOUTH DAKOTA STATE – 1-1, win @ Boise State, loss @ Akron
- Stetson – 1-1, win @ Florida State
- DAVIDSON – 2-0 vs D1, win @ Wright State
- TOLEDO – 2-0, neutral win vs UAB
- TOWSON – 3-0, win @ UMass and @ Penn
- QUINNIPIAC – 3-0, all road wins, won @ Rhode Island
- Hofstra – 2-0, wins @ Princeton, home vs Iona
- UC Santa Barbara – 2-0, neutral win vs Fresno State
- Kent State – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Northern Kentucky
- SOUTHERN MISS – 1-0, won @ Vanderbilt
- James Madison – 2-0, win @ Buffalo
- Texas State – 1-1 vs D1, lost at Wazzu, won @ Rhode Island
- Wisconsin – 2-0, neutral-ish win vs Stanford
- Western Illinois – 1-1 vs D1, win @ Illinois State, loss @ DePaul
- Louisiana – 2-0, neutral wins vs Harvard and East Tennessee State
- Kansas State – 2-0, win @ California
- GEORGIA TECH – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Georgia State
- MONTANA STATE – 1-1 – loss @ Grand Canyon, win @ Long Beach State
- Mississippi State – 3-0, neutral win vs Akron
- WESTERN KENTUCKY – 1-0, win @ Eastern Kentucky
- SEMO – 2-0, win @ South Florida
- WRIGHT STATE – 1-1, home loss vs Davidson, win @ Louisville
- ILLINOIS STATE – 2-1, wins @ Eastern Illinois and @ Illinois State
- Seattle – 2-0, win @ UC San Diego
- Sacramento State – 1-1, loss @ UCLA, win @ UC San Diego
- Southern Illinois – 2-1, win @ Oklahoma State, loss @ Southern Indiana
- NAVY – 2-0, win @ William & Mary
- Oklahoma State – 2-1, win @ Oakland, home loss vs Southern Illinois
- Youngstown State – 2-1, win @ Canisius, loss @ Notre Dame
- UC Davis – 1-1, win @ Cal, loss @ LMU
- Evansville – 1-1, won @ Miami OH, loss @ Saint Louis
- Alcoron State – 1-1, loss @ Ole Miss, win @ Wichita State
- YALE – 2-0, neutral wins vs Eastern Washington and Mississippi Valley
- Loyola Chicago – 2-0, win @ UIC
- Dayton – 2-0, home win vs SMU
- Siena – 2-0, win @ Holy Cross
- South Carolina – 2-0, home win vs Clemson
- Houston – 2-0, home buy win, neutral vs Saint Joe’s
- Wake Forest – 2-0, win vs Georgia
- Bowling Green – 2-0, win @ Oakland
- ALABAMA – 2-0, home win vs Liberty
- Kentucky – 2-0, home win vs Duquesne
- San Diego – 2-0 vs D1, home win vs FGCU
- UC Riverside – 1-1, loss @ Colorado, win @ LMU
- Long Beach State – 1-2, win @ CA Baptist, loss @ UCLA
- VILLANOVA – 1-1, loss @ Temple, win vs LaSalle
- WAGNER – 1-1, won @ Temple, home loss vs La Salle
- La Salle – 1-1, loss @ Villanova, home win vs Wagner
- BINGHAMTON – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Marist
- Bryant – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Dartmouth
- Colgate – 1-1, loss @ Buffalo, win @ Brown
- UMass Lowell – 1-1, win @ Columbia, loss @ Rutgers
- EAST TENNESSEE STATE – 1-1 in neutral games. Beat Elon, lost to Louisiana
- Texas Southern – 1-2, losses @ San Francisco and @ Tx Tech, win vs Arizona St.
- North Dakota – 1-1, win @ Incarnate Word, loss @ Creighton
- Sacred Heart – 2-1, win @ Hartford (while a road win, it’s not a good one)
- North Carolina – 2-0 in home buy games
- Duke – 2-0 in home buy games
- Baylor – 2-0 in home buy games
- Kansas – 2-0 in home buy games
- Texas – 2-0 in home buy games
- Ucla – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat Long Beach State
- INDIANA – 2-0 in home buy games
- Arizona – 2-0 in home buy games
- Creighton – 2-0 in home buy games
- Auburn – 2-0 in home buy games
- Michigan – 2-0 in buy games
- Michigan State – 1-1, won a home buy game, lost vs Gonzaga
- BOISE STATE – 1-1 lost at home to South Dakota State, beat Wazzu
- Texas Tech – 2-0 in home buy games
- Miami FL – 2-0 in home buy games
- Tcu – 2-0 in home buy games
- Arkansas – 2-0 in home buy games
- San Diego State – 2-0 in home buy games
- Illinois – 2-0 in home buy games
- Ohio State – 2-0 in home buy games
- Virginia – 2-0 in home buy games
- Iowa – 2-0 in home buy games
- Purdue – 2-0 in home buy games
- Seton Hall – 2-0 in home buy games
- Notre Dame – 2-0 in home buy games
- Saint Louis – 2-0 in home buy games
- Xavier – 2-0 in home buy games
- Saint Mary’s – 3-0 in home buy games
- Connecticut – 2-0 in home buy games
- Texas A&M – 2-0 in home buy games
- Syracuse – 1-0 in home buy games
- Colorado State – 2-0 in home buy games
- Byu – 1-1, won home buy game, lost @ San Diego State
- Cincinnati – 3-0 vs D1 in home buy games
- Virginia Tech – 2-0 in home buy games
- Vcu – 2-0 in home buy games
- Tulane – 2-0 in home buy games
- Richmond – 2-0 in home buy games
- NC State – 2-0 in home buy games
- Iowa State – 3-0 in home buy games
- Uab – 1-1, home buy game win, neutral loss vs Toledo
- Rutgers – 3-0 in home buy games
- Providence – 2-0 in home buy games
- Florida – 2-0 in home buy games
- Marquette – 2-0 in home buy games
- Maryland – 2-0 in home buy games
- Tennessee – 1-1, home buy win, loss vs Colorado in Nashville
- Boston College – 2-0 in home buy games
- Saint John’s – 2-0 in home buy games
- East Carolina – 2-0 in home buy games
- DePaul – 2-0 in home buy games
- Butler – 1-0 in home buy games
- Penn State – 2-0 in home buy games
- Washington – 2-0 in home buy games
- Minnesota – 2-0 in home buy games
- Utah State – 2-0 in home buy games
- Lsu – 2-0 in home buy games
- Georgetown – 2-0 in home buy games
- Northwestern – 2-0 in home buy games
- Missouri – 3-0 in home buy games
- Nevada – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat Grand Canyon
- Utah – 2-0 in home buy games
- Nebraska – 2-0 in home buy games
- Ole Miss – 2-0 in home buy games
- Oregon State – 2-0 in home buy games
- COPPIN STATE – only MEAC team with a D1 win
- 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