Rankings for 2021-22

[Jet915]

The ALL POWERFUL NET Rankings are a twisted mess.

PC- 19-2, 10-2 in Q 1/2, rank 29.
TT- 17-5, 8-5 in Q 1/2, rank TEN! Lost to PC.
XU- 15-5, 9-5 in Q 1/2, rank 18. Lost to PC.
UW- 17-3, 10-3 in Q 1/2, rank 21, Lost to PC.
MU- 15-7, 8-6 in Q 1/2, rank 27, Lost to PC + Q 3 loss.

Here are the real f'd up numbers.
UH- 18-2, 4-2 in Q 1/2, rank TWO! ZERO Q 1 wins...0-2
SMC- 16-4, 2-7 in Q 1/2, rank 23
Murray- 17-2, 3-1 in Q 1/2, rank 26....Q 3 loss!

I just can't make sense of it. There must be a margin of victory component, otherwise it simply is not close to accurate. Can someone explain why it seems so flawed?

I think the margin of victory component is big. It is better to beat a Q3/Q4 team by 30 than beat a Q1/Q2 team by 5. It rewards teams that play a weak non-conference and blow out the cupcakes.

[stever20]

IIRC Mark Few was one of the folks who helped with the NET building. That should tell you something about it.

[billyjack]

Wisconsin over the last couple-few weeks has been underwhelming, for a team that gets a lot of love. Single digit wins over 4 relative dregs of the Big Ten.

Working backwards:
- win at home over Minnesota by 6.
- win at Nebraska by 8.
- loss at home to Izzo by 12.
- win at Northwestern by 6.
- win at home over #16 Ohio State by 10.
- win at Maryland by 1.

These games were all with Johnny Davis, lol.

[stever20]

Wisconsin over the last couple-few weeks has been underwhelming.

Working backwards:
- win at home over Minnesota by 6.
- win at Nebraska by 8.
- loss at home to Izzo by 12.
- win at Northwestern by 6.
- win at home over #16 Ohio State by 10.
- win at Maryland by 1.

These games were all with Johnny Davis, lol.

Providence and Wisconsin are going to be really interesting to see where they land.. 2 real peas in a pod on the metrics.... Their SOR/RPI that type of thing is thru the roof. But the NET/KP/Sagarin/etc. are all pretty underwhelming. Don't know we've seen even 1 team like this, let alone 2.

[XUFan09]

The ALL POWERFUL NET Rankings are a twisted mess.

PC- 19-2, 10-2 in Q 1/2, rank 29.
TT- 17-5, 8-5 in Q 1/2, rank TEN! Lost to PC.
XU- 15-5, 9-5 in Q 1/2, rank 18. Lost to PC.
UW- 17-3, 10-3 in Q 1/2, rank 21, Lost to PC.
MU- 15-7, 8-6 in Q 1/2, rank 27, Lost to PC + Q 3 loss.

Here are the real f'd up numbers.
UH- 18-2, 4-2 in Q 1/2, rank TWO! ZERO Q 1 wins...0-2
SMC- 16-4, 2-7 in Q 1/2, rank 23
Murray- 17-2, 3-1 in Q 1/2, rank 26....Q 3 loss!

I just can't make sense of it. There must be a margin of victory component, otherwise it simply is not close to accurate. Can someone explain why it seems so flawed?

I think the margin of victory component is big. It is better to beat a Q3/Q4 team by 30 than beat a Q1/Q2 team by 5. It rewards teams that play a weak non-conference and blow out the cupcakes.

It rewards the opponents of teams far more than it helps teams themselves. NET (and RPI before it) is used to judge the difficulty of one's opponents. I can't even recall what Xavier's NET rating is, because it really doesn't matter much for Xavier. But, it does matter for the other 10 teams in the conference that face Xavier twice. I assume Xavier is top 30, though, so they are a Q1 home win for opponents.

Meanwhile, I know that Creighton's win kept them solidly within the top 75, so they're still a Q1 road win, and Marquette's close loss to Providence didn't drop them out of the top 30, so they're still a Q1 home win.

[kayako]

The Big East should schedule less tough opponents and beat down on top 100-150 teams early on to boost the NET.

This method was actually used to game the RPI. When an entire conference bought in to gaming the system, the result was A10 > ACC, SEC, BE, etc. NET was created to prevent this, but it isn't perfect and is still a WIP. I think the B12 and maybe B10 are more adept at scheduling atm. The BE? It feels like there is no coordination between conference members.

[adoraz]

Yes margin of victory, aka efficiency numbers on offense and defense, are huge in the NET formula. Providence isn't ranked higher because they've squeaked by a LOT of opponents (see last night). To the contrary, a team like Nova is ranked much higher because they've had some close losses and have won many games by large margins.

[billyjack]

Really curious to see where PC is placed tomorrow. Michigan State lost to Rutgers so those a-holes will drop. Will the voters have the stones to jump Illinois above the Friars?

By the way, Wisconsin has had one double-digit win since December 4th, and it was by 10.

[adoraz]

Not a great week for AP rankings, could be only 3 teams tomorrow. I think UConn will barely stay in, and hope they do so St. John's can face them in a ranked game on Sunday.

[stever20]

Not a great week for AP rankings, could be only 3 teams tomorrow. I think UConn will barely stay in, and hope they do so St. John's can face them in a ranked game on Sunday.

just based on the results I don't see who would be in over them. lots of teams in that 26-30 range lost.