Hoops HD Merit Rankings (and Bracket Projections) – Nov 13th

So, I want to make sure everyone knows what they’re looking at. This IS NOT a ranking of how good I think the teams actually are. Not even close. It is also not a ranking of how good I think the teams will be in March. I can’t see that far into the future anyway, but even if I could, that’s not what this is. This is strictly ranking teams based on their CURRENT MERIT. In other words, I’m asking myself “How hard was it for these teams to play and win the games that they did?” That’s it!

The first think I’ll say is that home buy games count for nothing. The committee doesn’t value them, so why should I? Any team that won away any sort of game away from home is higher in these rankings than any team that’s only won home buy games. Again, it’s a MERIT ranking, and a team that goes out and wins on the road deserves more credit than someone who simply stays home and plays buy games.

A lot of really good teams like Purdue, and Marquette, and Kentucky, and several others, have only played home buy games. Yes, they are almost assuredly MUCH better than where they show up in these rankings, but when you look at their CURRENT MERIT, 100+ other teams could have played and won those same games without any problem. So, spare me the emails and criticism!!

Another common criticism…”It’s too early to do this!” Well, if you feel that way, then stop reading. I, however, will respond to this. See the picture below…

No one floods ESPN with comments like “It’s too early!! Why is the score on the screen so early in the game!?” or “Are you guys stupid?? Are you trying to say that Dartmouth is just as good as Duke??”

It’s simply the score and time at that point in the game! Everyone knows that! That’s all these rankings are! There are 19 weeks to the season this year. After one week, we’ve played about two minutes of a game. This is the current score. YOU ARE WELCOME!!!

Another reason to do it is because, as an analyst, it gets me into the habit of…well…analyzing all the teams.

  1. JAMES MADISON – 3-0, wins @ Michigan State and @ Kent State, home buy win
  2. ARIZONA – 2-0, win @ Duke, home buy win
  3. WEBER STATE – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Saint Mary’s
  4. MEMPHIS – 2-0, win @ Missouri
  5. TENNESSEE – 2-0, win @ Wisconsin
  6. Texas A&M – 2-0, win @ Ohio State
  7. Usc – 2-0, neutral win vs Kansas State
  8. AKRON – 2-0, win @ South Dakota State, home win vs Southern Miss
  9. BAYLOR – 1-0, neutral win vs Auburn
  10. PRINCETON – 2-0, neutral win vs Rutgers, win @ Hofstra
  11. PORTLAND STATE – 2-0, 2 road wins @ Air Force and @ UC Santa Barbara
  12. BRADLEY – 2-0, win @ UAB, home win vs Utah State
  13. CLEMSON – 3-0, neutral wins vs UAB and Davidson
  14. ABILENE CHRISTIAN – 1-1, win @ Oklahoma State, loss @ NC State
  15. PRESBYTERIAN – 1-0, road win @ Vanderbilt
  16. Virginia – 2-0, neutral win vs Florida
  17. Byu – 2-0, home win vs San Diego State
  18. DAVIDSON – 1-1 vs D1, neutral win vs Maryland, neutral loss to Clemson
  19. Duquesne – 2-0, neutral win vs Charleston
  20. Cornell – 2-0 vs D1, wins @ Lehigh and @ Fordham
  21. Canisius – 1-1, loss @ Syracuse, win @ Saint Bonaventure
  22. Radford – 1-1, loss @ North Carolina, neutral win vs Marshall
  23. SOUTHERN – 1-1, loss @ TCU, win @ UNLV
  24. MCNEESE – 1-0 vs D1, win @ VCU
  25. UNC WILMINGTON – 1-0 vs D1, win @ UNC Asheville
  26. Yale – 1-1 vs D1, loss @ Gonzaga, win @ LMU
  27. Oregon – 2-0, neutral win vs Georgia
  28. SAINT MARY’S – 1-0 vs D1, home win vs New Mexico
  29. Utah Valley – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Sam Houston
  30. North Texas – 2-0, home win vs Northern Iowa
  31. Florida Atlantic – 1-0, neutral win vs Loyola Chicago
  32. Uab – 1-2, home loss to Bradley, Neutral loss to Clemson, neutral win vs Maryland
  33. Nicholls – 1-1, loss @ Tulane, win @ LSU
  34. NORTHWESTERN – 2-0, home win vs Dayton
  35. CREIGHTON – 2-0, home win vs North Dakota State
  36. Georgia – 2-1, home win vs Wake Forest, neutral loss vs Oregon
  37. Gonzaga – 1-0, home win vs Yale
  38. Delaware – 2-0, home win vs Air Force, win @ Bucknell
  39. Miami FL – 2-0, home win vs UCF
  40. Mississippi State – 2-0, neutral win vs Arizona State
  41. FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON– 1-1 vs D1, win @ Buffalo, loss @ Seton Hall
  42. Monmouth – 1-1, loss @ George Mason, win @ West Virginia
  43. HOLY CROSS – 1-1, loss @ Siena, win @ Georgetown
  44. PURDUE FORT WAYNE – 2-0, win @ DePaul
  45. LONG BEACH STATE – 1-1, road loss @ Portland, road win @ DePaul
  46. CHATTANOOGA – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Louisville
  47. Harvard – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Rice
  48. Western Carolina – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Notre Dame
  49. SAM HOUSTON STATE – 1-2, win @ Pacifc, home loss vs Utah Valley, buy game loss @ Oklahoma St
  50. Temple – 2-0, win @ Navy
  51. MARIST – 2-0, wins @ Army and @ UMBC
  52. UMASS LOWELL – 1-0, vs D1, win @ Dartmouth
  53. Boston College – 2-0, won @ The Citadel
  54. Drexel – 1-1, loss @ La Salle, win @ Winthrop
  55. Cal State Northridge – 1-1, loss @ Stanford, win @ Idaho
  56. Towson – 1-1, loss @ Colorado, win @ Coppin State
  57. NORTH FLORIDA – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Charleston Southern
  58. Saint Peter’s – 1-1, loss @ Seton Hall, win @ NJIT
  59. Manhattan – 1-1, win @ Bryant, loss @ Kansas
  60. Merrimack – 1-1 vs D1, loss @ Vermont, win @ Maine
  61. Georgia State – 1-1, loss @ Belmont, win @ Western Michigan
  62. UL Monroe – 1-1, loss @ Houston, win @ Central Michigan
  63. NORTH DAKOTA STATE – 1-1 vs D1, win @ Western Michigan, loss @ Creighton
  64. Loyola MD – 1-1, loss @ Florida, win @ Brown
  65. NC State – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat Abilene Christian
  66. North Carolina North Carolina – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat Radford
  67. La Salle – 2-0, home win vs Drexel
  68. Texas Tech – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat San Jose State
  69. BOISE STATE – 1-0 vs D1, home win vs San Francisco
  70. Syracuse – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat Canisius
  71. Michigan – 2-0 in buy games, did beat UNC Asheville
  72. Cleveland State – 1-1, loss @ Duquesne, home win vs Ohio U
  73. UT Arlington 1-0 vs D1, home win vs Oral Roberts
  74. Kent State – 1-1, home loss vs James Madison, home win vs Fresno State
  75. South Dakota – 1-0 vs D1, neutral win vs UTRGV
  76. Purdue – 2-0 in buy games
  77. Duke – 1-1, only win was a home buy game
  78. Marquette – 2-0 in home buy games
  79. Texas – 2-0 in home buy games
  80. Connecticut – 2-0 in home buy games
  81. Kentucky – 2-0 in home buy games
  82. Arkansas – 2-0 in home buy games
  83. Alabama – 2-0 in home buy games
  84. Michigan State – 1-1, home buy win, home loss vs James Madison
  85. Houston – 2-0 in home buy games
  86. San Diego State – 1-1, home buy win, loss @ BYU
  87. Missouri – 1-1, home buy win, home loss vs Memphis
  88. Illinois – 2-0 in buy games
  89. Villanova – 2-0 in home buy games
  90. Ucla – 2-0 in home buy games
  91. Texas State – 1-1, loss @ Little Rock, win @ Miami OH
  92. Tcu – 2-0 in home buy games
  93. Iowa State – 3-0 in home buy games
  94. Colorado – 2-0 in home buy games
  95. Xavier – 2-0 in home buy games
  96. Tulane – 2-0 in home buy games
  97. Oklahoma – 2-0 in home buy games
  98. Cincinnati – 3-0 in home buy games
  99. Saint John’s – 1-0 in home buy games
  100. Indiana – 1-0 in home buy games
  101. New Mexico – 1-1, home buy win, loss @ Saint Mary’s
  102. Iowa – 2-0 in home buy games
  103. Wisconsin – 1-1, home buy win, home loss vs Tennessee
  104. Drake – 1-0 in buy games
  105. Utah – 2-0 in home buy games
  106. Colorado State – 2-0 in buy games
  107. Nevada – 1-0 in buy games
  108. Washington – 2-0 in home buy games
  109. Florida – 1-1, home buy win, neutral loss vs Virginia
  110. Wyoming – 1-0 in buy games
  111. Santal Clara – 2-0 in home buy games
  112. South Alabama – 1-1, lost to a nonD1 opponent, road win @ Buffalo
  113. Portland – 2-0 in D1 home buy games
  114. Air Force – 1-2, home loss vs Portland State, loss @ Delware, win @ Long Island
  115. Pacific – 1-1, home loss vs Sam Houston State, win @ California
  116. Bucknell – 1-2, home loss vs Delaware, loss @ Penn, win @ Niagara
  117. HOWARD – 1-2, home win vs Hampton (only MEAC team with a D1 win)
  118. LITTLE ROCK – 1-1, home win vs Texas State (only OVC team with a D1 win)

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And after seeing this list, you may be asking yourself….’Holy Crap!! That’s crazy!! If someone were to bracket that, what would it look like??” Well…it would look like this…

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