For today’s Hoops HD Daily Rundown – CLICK HERE
Before anyone goes any further, let me explain what it is that you’re looking at. This is NOT an attempt to rank the teams based on how good I think they actually are. Not at all. It is simply an attempt to rank them on their CURRENT MERIT. Simply put, how hard was it for them to win the games that they’ve actually won??
Winning home buy games is not hard to do, and I therefore award zero credit for doing it. Winning on the road against an Under the Radar team may not be that hard either, but it’s still harder than winning a home buy game. No power conference team whose only wins were home buy games made the field.
And, it is my absolute pleasure to bring this to you!! It’s ridiculous!! It’s absurd!! It gets people who whine about how useless Bracketology is before the month of February into an absolute tizzy!! AND I AM SO GLAD THAT IT DOES!!! Annoying those people makes me happy!!
Allow me to explain/defend why I do this. For starters, as an exercise, it forces me (and all of us at Hoops HD) to evaluate teams solely on what they have actually done. Getting into that state of mind this early actually helps us do a better job of evaluating the teams as the season goes on, and helps us identify teams that that are having good years sooner.
Secondly, if you look at a college basketball game, the score is on the scoreboard from the very beginning of the game. No one says “What’s the point in showing the score in the first half!!??” No one would look at the score pictured below at this point of the game and think of it as being any indication of what the final outcome would be. But, at that moment in time, this WAS the score! Howard was ahead!
So, as you look through the list below…
-I do not think Houston, who I picked to win it all before the season started and who is still my pick to win it all, will fail to make the field
-I do not think North Florida and Columbia will end up with #2 seeds
-I do not think the final rankings will look anything like this.
But, as of now, as we are metaphorically about 2 minutes into the 40 minute game, and this what I think the score is!! And it is AMAZING!!! The bracket is below. Enjoy!!!
- AUBURN – 2-0, win @ Houston
- NEW MEXICO – 2-0, win @ UCLA
- OHIO STATE – 1-0, neutral win vs Texas
- GONZAGA – 2-0, blowout home win vs Baylor, win vs Arizona State
- BAYLOR – 1-1, loss @ Gonzaga, neutral win vs Arkansas
- Tennessee – 2-0, win @ Lousville
- NORTH FLORIDA – 3-0, wins @ South Carolina and @ Georgia Tech
- UC IRVINE – 2-0, won @ LMU and @ Northern Iowa
- Kansas – 2-0, home win vs North Carolina
- WAKE FOREST – 3-0, neutral win vs Michigan
- MEMPHIS – 2-0, home win vs Missouri, win @ UNLV
- Ucf – 2-0, home win vs Texas A&M
- Austin Peay – 1-0, won @ Butler
- Wichita State – 2-0, win @ Western Kentucky
- COLUMBIA – 2-0, wins @ Loyola MD and @ Villanova
- Princeton – 3-0, neutral win vs Duquesne, win @ Northeastern
- CHARLESTON – 2-0, home win vs South Florida, neutral win vs Southern Illinois
- DAYTON – 2-0, home win vs Northwestern
- Davidson – 2-0, road win @ Bowling Green
- Eastern Kentucky – 1-0, won @ East Tennessee State
- MAINE – 1-1 – loss @ Duke, win @ Brown
- BUCKNELL – 2-1, wins @ Delaware and @ Southern Indiana, loss @ Kentucky
- LIBERTY – 2-0, neutral win vs Valparaiso, road win @ Seattle U
- Arizona State – 2-1, neutral win vs Santa Clara, loss @ Gonzaga
- Santa Clara – 1-1, neutral win vs Saint Louis, neutral loss vs Arizona State
- Florida Atlantic – 2-0, neutral win vs Indiana State
- Florida State – 2-0, win @ Rice
- Fordham – 1-1, loss @ Saint John’s, win @ Seton Hall
- CENTRAL CONNECTICUT – 1-1, loss @ Providence, win @ Saint Joseph’s
- SOUTH DAKOTA STATE – 2-0, neutral win vs McNeese
- San Francisco – 2-0, home buy win, home win vs Boise State
- North Alabama – 1-0, won @ Air Force
- MARIST – 1-1, lost @ Harvard, won @ Richmond
- TROY – 2-0, wins vs Toledo and @ New Orleans
- Louisiana Tech – 1-0, won @ UT Arlington
- KENT STATE – 1-0, won @ Louisiana
- FURMAN – 1-0, win @ Belmont
- UT MARTIN – 1-0, road win @ Illinois State
- Middle Tennessee – 1-0, won @ Abilene Christian
- Rider – 2-1, loss @ UCLA, won @ San Diego, won @ Coppin State
- Vcu – 2-0, neutral win vs Boston College
- Buffalo – 1-0, won @ Old Dominion
- Uc Santa Barbara – 1-0, road win @ Portland
- Saint Bonaventure – 2-0, road win @ Canisius
- UC Davis – 1-1, lost @ Washington, won @ Idaho
- Vermont – 1-2 – win @ UAB, loss @ Merrimack, loss @ Auburn
- Stony Brook – 1-1, loss @ Marquette, win @ Central Michigan
- New Mexico State 1-0, won @ Utah Tech
- Sam Houston State – 1-1, loss @ Nevada, won @ Tarlton State
- WRIGHT STATE – 1-1, lost @ Kentucky, won @ Miami OH
- Toledo – 1-1, lost @ Troy, won @ Marshall
- ILLINOIS STATE – home loss to UT Martin, road win @ North Dakota State
- Vmi – 1-0, win @ Bellarmine
- Penn – 2-0, won @ NJIT
- GARDNER WEBB – 1-1, loss @ Tennessee, win @ NC Central
- Northeastern – 1-1, win @ Boston U, home loss vs Princeton
- Siena – 2-0, won @ Bryant
- NORFOLK STATE – 1-0, home win vs James Madison
- MARQUETTE – 2-0, home win vs George Mason
- Miami OH – 1-1, won @ Appalachian State, home loss to Wright State
- Central Michigan – 1-1, won @ South Alabama, home loss to Stony Brook
- Youngstown State – 1-0, won @ Chicago State
- South Alabama – 1-1, home loss vs Central Michigan, win @ Nicholls
- Utah State – 2-0, home win vs Charlotte
- Western Illinois – 1-1, won @ San Jose State, loss @ Pepperdine
- Omaha – 1-1, won @ Stetson, loss @ Minnesota
- Saint Francis U – 1-2, 2 road buy losses, win @ Campbell
- Pacific – 1-0, neutral win vs San Jose State
- Alabama – 2-0 in home buy games
- Arizona – 2-0 in home buy games
- Connecticut – 2-0 in buy games
- North Carolina – 1-1, won home buy game, loss @ Kansas
- Temple – 2-0, won home buy game and neutral vs Monmouth
- Houston – 1-1, won a home buy game, lost vs Auburn
- Iowa State – 1-0 in home buy games
- Duke – 2-0 in buy games
- Creighton – 2-0 in buy games
- Kentucky – 2-0 in home buy games
- Purdue – 2-0 in home buy games
- Cincinnati – 2-0 in home buy games
- Illinois – 2-0 in home buy games
- Rutgers – 1-0 in home buy games
- Ucla – home buy win, home loss vs New Mexico
- Arkansas – 1-1, home buy win, neutral loss vs Baylor
- Texas – 1-1 – home buy win, neutral loss vs Ohio State
- Saint Mary’s – 2-0 in home buy games
- Byu – 2-0 in home buy games
- Ole Miss – 2-0 in home buy games
- Clemson – 2-0 in buy games
- Pittsburgh – 2-0 in buy games
- Michigan State – 2-0 in home buy games
- NC State – 2-0 in buy games
- Virginia – 1-0 in buy games
- Texas Tech – 2-0 in home buy games
- Saint John’s – 2-0 in buy games
- GRAND CANYON – 2-0 in home buy games
- Texas A&M – 1-1, home buy win, loss @ UCF
- Michigan – 1-1, won a home buy game, lost vs Wake Forest
- Virginia Tech – 2-0 in buy games
- Tcu – 2-0 in home buy games
- Florida – 2-0 in home buy games
- Mississippi State – 2-0 in home buy games
- Xavier – 2-0 in buy games
- Oregon – 2-0 in home buy games
- Wisconsin – 3-0 in home buy games
- Nevada – 2-0 in home buy games
- smu – 2-0 in buy games
- Loyola Chicago – 2-0 in home buy games
- Kansas State – 2-0 in home buy games
- San Diego State – 1-0 in home buy games
- Utah – 2-0 in home buy games
- Iowa – 2-0 in home buy games
- Oklahoma State – 2-0 in home buy games
- Winthrop – 1-0, home win vs Little Rock
- Northwestern – 1-1, home buy win, loss @ Dayton
- Oklahoma – 1-0 in home buy games
- Colorado State – 2-0 in home buy games
- Georgia – 2-0 in home buy games
- Syracuse – 1-0 in buy games
- Maryland – 2-0 in nome buy games
- Stanford – 2-0 in buy games
- Notre Dame – 1-0 in buy games
- Providence – 2-0 in buy games
- Lsu – 2-0 in home buy games
- California – 2-0 in buy games
- West Virginia – 2-0 in home buy games
- Colorado – 2-0 in home buy games
- Georgetown – 2-0 in buy games
- Vanderbilt – 2-0 in home buy games
- Nebraska – 2-0 in home buy games
- DePaul – 2-0 in buy games
- Boise State – 1-1, home buy win, road loss @ San Francisco
- EASTERN WASHINGTON – only Big Sky team with a D1 win
- GRAMBLING – 0-1, no SWAC teams have a D1 win, they almost beat Ole Miss
- MCNEESE STATE – 0-1, no Southland team has a D1 win
