For today’s Hoops HD Daily Rundown and a link to our latest Under the Radar Video Podcast – CLICK HERE
So I want to start by making sure everyone knows what they are looking at. This IS NOT a ranking of how good I think the teams actually are. My pick to win it all this year is Texas Tech. They are not even in these rankings. This certainly is not a guess of what I think the bracket will look like in March.
This is merely a CHECKPOINT of CURRENT MERIT. It is also more about the exercise of assessing all the teams than it is ranking them accurately. Quite frankly, at this point there is so much hair-splitting that ranking them isn’t even the whole idea. But, the exercise forces me to evaluate teams objectively. The sooner I begin doing this, the more familiar I am with the teams as the season goes on.
And if I’m going to do it, I might as well post it.
And if I’m going to post it, then I might as well bracket it.
Now, for those who complain about how it’s too early for Bracketology, I have two comments…
1) Feel free to ignore it
2) Is it too early for the score bug to show the score and the time? Is this stupid because it’s indicating that Evansville is better? Of course not! It’s just where the game at that stage. And…that’s all this is. If the season were a 40 minute game, we have played about two minutes and this is the score.
Since this is a MERIT ranking, no teams were given any credit for home buy wins if they came against teams that aren’t even notable by Under the Radar Standards. That is why Texas Tech does not even appear. Neither does the current #1 ranked team in the polls. I’m really only asking myself one question. How hard was it for a team to win the games that they’ve won?
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- ALABAMA – 2-0, win @ Saint John’s
- ARIZONA – 3-0, neutral win vs Florida
- DUKE – 3-0, wins vs Texas and @ Army
- GEORGETOWN – 2-0, win @ Maryland
- ILLINOIS – 3-0, home win vs Texas Tech
- Louisville – 2-0, home win vs Kentucky
- Michigan State – 2-0, home win vs Arkansas
- North Carolina – home win vs Kansas
- Indiana – 2-0, neutral win vs Marquette
- Oklahoma State – 2-0, home win vs Texas A&M
- Iowa State – 3-0, neutral win vs Mississippi State
- GONZAGA – 3-0, home wins vs Oklahoma and Creighton
- Michigan – 2-0, neutralish win vs Wake Forest
- MEMPHIS – 1-1, home win vs San Francisco, loss @ Ole Miss
- YOUNGSTOWN STATE – 1-1, win @ Grand Canyon, loss @ Pitt
- UTAH STATE – 2-0, neutral win vs VCU
- UT MARTIN – 2-0, wins @ UNLV and @ Bradley
- Ole Miss – 3-0, home win vs Memphis
- Vanderbilt – 3-0, win @ UCF
- TROY – 2-0, wins @ Kent State and @ Furman
- Marshall – 3-0, wins @ UMass and @ Toledo
- CALIFORNIA BAPTIST – 2-0, win @ UC Irvine
- GEORGE WASHINGTON – 2-0, neutral win vs South Florida
- Byu – 3-0, neutral win vs Villanova
- Virginia Tech – 2-0, neutral win vs Providence
- Davidson – 2-0, home win vs Washington State, road win @ Charlotte
- South Alabama – 2-0, win @ Toledo
- YALE – 2-0, wins @ Navy and @ Quinnipiac
- Santa Clara– 2-0, win @ Xavier, home win vs McNeese
- ALABAMA STATE – 1-1, loss @ Florida State, win @ UAB
- Missouri – 4-0, win @ Howard, home win vs Minnesota
- Robert Morris – 1-1, win @ Drake, loss @ Iowa
- Saint Bonaventure – 2-0, neutral win vs Bradley
- Baylor – 2-0, home win vs Washington
- Florida – 2-1, home win vs Florida State
- Cincinnati – 3-0, home win vs Dayton
- Smu – 3-0, home win vs Murray State
- WESTERN KENTUCKY – 2-0, win @ Eastern Kentucky
- Montana – 1-1, win @ UNLV, loss @ Stanford
- IDAHO – 1-1, win @ Washington State, loss @ San Diego
- NEW ORLEANS – 1-1, win @ TCU, loss @ LSU
- HIGH POINT – 2-0, neutral win vs Furman
- Florida Atlantic – 2-1, neutral win vs Charleston, loss @ Liberty
- Lmu – 4-0, win @ UTEP
- ELON – 1-1, win @ UNC Greensboro, loss @ Marshall
- BUFFALO – 3-0, win @ DePaul
- North Texas – 2-0, home win vs Loyola Chicago
- Idaho State – win @ San Diego, loss @ San Diego State
- Stanford – 2-0, home win vs Montana
- Pittsburgh – 3-0, home win vs Youngstown State
- Stephen F Austin – 2-0, home win vs Arkansas State, win @ Rice
- Arkansas State – 2-1, wins @ Ohio U and @ Missouri State, loss @ SFA
- DENVER – 1-2, win @ Montana State, losses @ Seattle and @ Washington
- Tulsa – 1-0, neutral win vs Rhode Island
- UC SANTA BARBARA – 2-0, road win @ Sacramento State
- Oregon State– 3-0 home win vs North Texas
- NC State – 2-0, home win vs UAB
- BOSTON U – 2-1, win @ Northeastern, loss @ Northwestern
- Northeastern – 2-1, wins @ Colgate and @ Harvard, home loss to Boston U
- Cal Poly – 1-1, win @ Seattle, loss @ USC
- VMI – 1-1, win @ Southern Indiana, loss @ Missouri
- NORTHERN IOWA – 2-0, home win vs South Dakota State
- NJIT – 2-1, 2 road wins @ Fordham, @ Loyola MD
- CENTRAL CONNECTICUT – 1-1, win @ Boston College, loss @ Quinnipiac
- SIENA – 2-1, win @ Brown, loss @ Saint Bonaventure
- Vermont – 1-0, won @ Brown
- Akron – 3-0, home win vs James Madison
- George Mason -2-0, home win vs Winthrop
- Samford – 2-1, win @ Texas Southern
- Ohio U – 1-2, home win vs Illinois State, losses @ Arkansas State and @ Saint Mary’s
- William & Mary – 1-1, win @ Norfolk State, loss @ Richmond
- Usc Upstate – 1-1, win @ Fresno State, loss @ California Baptist
- Utah Tech – 1-2, win @ South Dakota, losses @ Arizona and Arizona State
- UC Riverside – 1-1, win @ North Dakota, loss @ New Mexico
- Long Island – 2-1, wins @ IU Indy and @ AFA, loss @ Notre Dame
- Bucknell – 2-1, win @ Mount Saint Mary’s, loss @ Princeton
- AUSTIN PEAY – 1-1, win @ Air Force, loss @ Wyoming
- Utrgv – 1-2, win @ Southern Utah, road losses to Baylor and Boise State
- Siue – 1-1, win @ UTSA, home loss to Indiana State
- Georgia Southern – 2-1, won @ FGCU
- Niagara – 2-1, win @ Binghamton, loss @ Duquesne
- Iona – 2-0, win @ Kansas City
- Umbc – 1-1, won @ Morgan State, lost road buy game @ Dayton
- Grambling – 1-1, win @ Howard, loss @ Iowa State
- Kennesaw State – 1-0, win @ Florida A&M
- Fairfield – 1-2, win @ NJIT, losses @ Penn State and @ Seton Hall
- Nevada – 2-0, home win vs Pacific
- Penn State – 3-0, win @ New Haven, home win vs Navy
- Columbia – 1-1, win @ New Haven, loss @ UConn
- Cal State Northridge – 1-2, win @ North Dakota, losses @ Northern Iowa and North Dakota State
- Toledo – 1-2, win @ Wright State, home losses to South Alabama and Marshall
- Drake – 1-1, neutral win vs Northern Arizona
- Towson – 1-1, neutral win vs Loyola MD, loss @ Houston
- Mount Saint Mary’s – 1-2, win @ Saint Francis, home loss to Bucknell
- NORFOLK STATE – no MEAC teams have any D1 wins
And, here is what it looks like in a bracket…
