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.
- JAMES MADISON – 3-0, wins @ Michigan State and @ Kent State, home buy win
- ARIZONA – 2-0, win @ Duke, home buy win
- WEBER STATE – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Saint Mary’s
- MEMPHIS – 2-0, win @ Missouri
- TENNESSEE – 2-0, win @ Wisconsin
- Texas A&M – 2-0, win @ Ohio State
- Usc – 2-0, neutral win vs Kansas State
- AKRON – 2-0, win @ South Dakota State, home win vs Southern Miss
- BAYLOR – 1-0, neutral win vs Auburn
- PRINCETON – 2-0, neutral win vs Rutgers, win @ Hofstra
- PORTLAND STATE – 2-0, 2 road wins @ Air Force and @ UC Santa Barbara
- BRADLEY – 2-0, win @ UAB, home win vs Utah State
- CLEMSON – 3-0, neutral wins vs UAB and Davidson
- ABILENE CHRISTIAN – 1-1, win @ Oklahoma State, loss @ NC State
- PRESBYTERIAN – 1-0, road win @ Vanderbilt
- Virginia – 2-0, neutral win vs Florida
- Byu – 2-0, home win vs San Diego State
- DAVIDSON – 1-1 vs D1, neutral win vs Maryland, neutral loss to Clemson
- Duquesne – 2-0, neutral win vs Charleston
- Cornell – 2-0 vs D1, wins @ Lehigh and @ Fordham
- Canisius – 1-1, loss @ Syracuse, win @ Saint Bonaventure
- Radford – 1-1, loss @ North Carolina, neutral win vs Marshall
- SOUTHERN – 1-1, loss @ TCU, win @ UNLV
- MCNEESE – 1-0 vs D1, win @ VCU
- UNC WILMINGTON – 1-0 vs D1, win @ UNC Asheville
- Yale – 1-1 vs D1, loss @ Gonzaga, win @ LMU
- Oregon – 2-0, neutral win vs Georgia
- SAINT MARY’S – 1-0 vs D1, home win vs New Mexico
- Utah Valley – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Sam Houston
- North Texas – 2-0, home win vs Northern Iowa
- Florida Atlantic – 1-0, neutral win vs Loyola Chicago
- Uab – 1-2, home loss to Bradley, Neutral loss to Clemson, neutral win vs Maryland
- Nicholls – 1-1, loss @ Tulane, win @ LSU
- NORTHWESTERN – 2-0, home win vs Dayton
- CREIGHTON – 2-0, home win vs North Dakota State
- Georgia – 2-1, home win vs Wake Forest, neutral loss vs Oregon
- Gonzaga – 1-0, home win vs Yale
- Delaware – 2-0, home win vs Air Force, win @ Bucknell
- Miami FL – 2-0, home win vs UCF
- Mississippi State – 2-0, neutral win vs Arizona State
- FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON– 1-1 vs D1, win @ Buffalo, loss @ Seton Hall
- Monmouth – 1-1, loss @ George Mason, win @ West Virginia
- HOLY CROSS – 1-1, loss @ Siena, win @ Georgetown
- PURDUE FORT WAYNE – 2-0, win @ DePaul
- LONG BEACH STATE – 1-1, road loss @ Portland, road win @ DePaul
- CHATTANOOGA – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Louisville
- Harvard – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Rice
- Western Carolina – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Notre Dame
- SAM HOUSTON STATE – 1-2, win @ Pacifc, home loss vs Utah Valley, buy game loss @ Oklahoma St
- Temple – 2-0, win @ Navy
- MARIST – 2-0, wins @ Army and @ UMBC
- UMASS LOWELL – 1-0, vs D1, win @ Dartmouth
- Boston College – 2-0, won @ The Citadel
- Drexel – 1-1, loss @ La Salle, win @ Winthrop
- Cal State Northridge – 1-1, loss @ Stanford, win @ Idaho
- Towson – 1-1, loss @ Colorado, win @ Coppin State
- NORTH FLORIDA – 1-0 vs D1, win @ Charleston Southern
- Saint Peter’s – 1-1, loss @ Seton Hall, win @ NJIT
- Manhattan – 1-1, win @ Bryant, loss @ Kansas
- Merrimack – 1-1 vs D1, loss @ Vermont, win @ Maine
- Georgia State – 1-1, loss @ Belmont, win @ Western Michigan
- UL Monroe – 1-1, loss @ Houston, win @ Central Michigan
- NORTH DAKOTA STATE – 1-1 vs D1, win @ Western Michigan, loss @ Creighton
- Loyola MD – 1-1, loss @ Florida, win @ Brown
- NC State – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat Abilene Christian
- North Carolina North Carolina – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat Radford
- La Salle – 2-0, home win vs Drexel
- Texas Tech – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat San Jose State
- BOISE STATE – 1-0 vs D1, home win vs San Francisco
- Syracuse – 2-0 in home buy games, but did beat Canisius
- Michigan – 2-0 in buy games, did beat UNC Asheville
- Cleveland State – 1-1, loss @ Duquesne, home win vs Ohio U
- UT Arlington 1-0 vs D1, home win vs Oral Roberts
- Kent State – 1-1, home loss vs James Madison, home win vs Fresno State
- South Dakota – 1-0 vs D1, neutral win vs UTRGV
- Purdue – 2-0 in buy games
- Duke – 1-1, only win was a home buy game
- Marquette – 2-0 in home buy games
- Texas – 2-0 in home buy games
- Connecticut – 2-0 in home buy games
- Kentucky – 2-0 in home buy games
- Arkansas – 2-0 in home buy games
- Alabama – 2-0 in home buy games
- Michigan State – 1-1, home buy win, home loss vs James Madison
- Houston – 2-0 in home buy games
- San Diego State – 1-1, home buy win, loss @ BYU
- Missouri – 1-1, home buy win, home loss vs Memphis
- Illinois – 2-0 in buy games
- Villanova – 2-0 in home buy games
- Ucla – 2-0 in home buy games
- Texas State – 1-1, loss @ Little Rock, win @ Miami OH
- Tcu – 2-0 in home buy games
- Iowa State – 3-0 in home buy games
- Colorado – 2-0 in home buy games
- Xavier – 2-0 in home buy games
- Tulane – 2-0 in home buy games
- Oklahoma – 2-0 in home buy games
- Cincinnati – 3-0 in home buy games
- Saint John’s – 1-0 in home buy games
- Indiana – 1-0 in home buy games
- New Mexico – 1-1, home buy win, loss @ Saint Mary’s
- Iowa – 2-0 in home buy games
- Wisconsin – 1-1, home buy win, home loss vs Tennessee
- Drake – 1-0 in buy games
- Utah – 2-0 in home buy games
- Colorado State – 2-0 in buy games
- Nevada – 1-0 in buy games
- Washington – 2-0 in home buy games
- Florida – 1-1, home buy win, neutral loss vs Virginia
- Wyoming – 1-0 in buy games
- Santal Clara – 2-0 in home buy games
- South Alabama – 1-1, lost to a nonD1 opponent, road win @ Buffalo
- Portland – 2-0 in D1 home buy games
- Air Force – 1-2, home loss vs Portland State, loss @ Delware, win @ Long Island
- Pacific – 1-1, home loss vs Sam Houston State, win @ California
- Bucknell – 1-2, home loss vs Delaware, loss @ Penn, win @ Niagara
- HOWARD – 1-2, home win vs Hampton (only MEAC team with a D1 win)
- LITTLE ROCK – 1-1, home win vs Texas State (only OVC team with a D1 win)
.
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…
Pingback: News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Monday, Nov 13th | Hoops HD