Men’s Basketball’s Top 365 or How Does Conference Play Impact Rankings?

Welcome back, college sports fans, as we continue with our week 9 basketball analysis, albeit a day late, this time for the men. We had a longish discussion Tuesday on the women’s (also a day late) top 363 about the impact, and sometimes silliness, of playing non-division I teams and beating them 80,000 to 12 (slightly exaggerated). The men have a lot of those type games as well for the same reasons with the same issues. Of course, playing a team outside of the league only hurts a team’s Strength of Schedule and thus their overall ranking, including RPI (Ratings Percentage Index).

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We use a slightly modified version of the RPI used by the NCAA within the GCR, but the values are pretty consistent with the official version. Let’s assume all games are within the 365 teams (or 363 for the women) in Men’s Division I. The formula is essentially the winning percentage of the team (let’s say they are 14-6 so .700) plus twice their opponents combined winning percentage (let’s say .600*2 is 1.200) plus their opponent’s opponents combined winning percentage (let’s say .500) – and that total divided by 4. In that example, .7+1.2+.5 is 2.4/4=.610. That team would be ranked 38th in RPI this week. The complexity comes with those non-D1 games. The GCR assigns a consistent factor for all of them that assumes non-D1 teams are at x% of the average D1 team (used in GCR Ranking), and it assumes the winning percentage by those teams to .000 (used in GCR RPI). To show the impact, the same example as above, but the opponents pct is now .500 and the opp’s opps pct is .400. The RPI is now 2.1/4 or .525, which would be 114th. So, why do we care. For most of the season, teams have only played non-conference games. The GCR Ranking and the GCR RPI can vary quite a bit. Based on last year, our inaugural basketball season, the RPI is a pretty good indicator on whether a team will move up or down in the rankings now that conference play has started. Eventually, while there will be some variance between the two metrics, they will begin to normalize towards each other.

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Why do we use both ratings? The primary reason is the GCR Ranking is calculated at the individual game level. lt is a measure of how teams are performing right now. The RPI is a snapshot of the season as a whole, without regard to a single game. It is a measure of how teams have performed in the whole. Both metrics assume every game played was played at the same time. What that means is that if Team A played Team B early in the season that was 0-2 at the time, but are 114-2 now, Team A gets “credit” for playing a 14-2 team. All games that have been played happen simultaneously while games scheduled but not yet played are ignored. We hope that clarifies a few things for our readers.

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As a reminder, the Score column can be used to predict upcoming games. Add 4.5 to the home team and the higher number should win. A theoretical point spread can be calculated by subtracting the two Score numbers (after the home court adjustment).

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Tune in later today of a preview of tonight’s FBS semifinal between Miami FL and Mississippi in the Fiesta Bowl. For now, JoJo and G thank you for reading, and we are greatly appreciative of your sharing our content with others. We are proud to present the Week 9 Men’s Basketball Top 365 from Michigan to MS Valley.

RANK	Team	Record	SOS	Score	RPI	Rank
1	Michigan	14-0	10	100.00	0.722	1
2	Nebraska	15-0	36	94.09	0.690	6
3	UCONN	15-1	17	90.93	0.685	8
4	Arizona	15-0	55	90.35	0.670	12
5	BYU	14-1	20	90.09	0.683	9
6	Vanderbilt	15-0	58	90.05	0.668	13
7	Duke	14-1	30	88.67	0.675	10
8	Purdue	14-1	32	88.42	0.674	11
9	Michigan St	13-2	9	88.31	0.691	5
10	Iowa St	15-0	105	84.67	0.640	18
11	SMU	12-3	4	84.32	0.689	7
12	UCF	12-2	24	82.39	0.661	14
13	North Carolina	13-2	35	82.33	0.656	15
14	Texas Tech	11-4	1	82.25	0.704	2
15	Alabama	11-4	2	81.26	0.697	3
16	Kansas	11-4	3	80.85	0.693	4
17	Illinois	11-3	15	78.06	0.655	16
18	Seton Hall	13-2	66	77.91	0.630	27
19	Houston	14-1	124	77.40	0.612	35
20	Stanford	13-3	40	77.13	0.639	20
21	St Marys	15-2	53	76.90	0.631	26
22	Arkansas	12-3	34	76.45	0.639	19
23	Gonzaga	16-1	109	76.29	0.613	34
24	Clemson	13-3	46	76.18	0.633	24
25	Villanova	12-3	38	76.09	0.637	23
26	Virginia	13-2	87	75.47	0.615	31
27	Oklahoma St	13-2	95	74.64	0.611	36
28	Virginia Tech	12-4	18	73.78	0.637	22
29	Southern Cal	12-3	75	71.45	0.609	39
30	Florida	10-5	6	70.03	0.646	17
31	Georgia	13-2	149	69.99	0.583	56
32	Louisville	11-4	44	69.44	0.615	32
33	Iowa	12-3	98	69.06	0.592	46
34	Colorado	12-3	101	68.93	0.592	48
35	LSU	12-3	106	68.75	0.590	51
36	St Louis	14-1	189	68.66	0.574	64
37	Baylor	11-3	92	68.17	0.592	49
38	Indiana	12-3	113	67.92	0.585	54
39	St Johns	10-5	13	67.87	0.630	28
40	Utah St	13-1	194	67.71	0.571	66
41	Tennessee	11-4	59	67.46	0.602	42
42	Ohio St	10-4	45	67.38	0.609	40
43	Miami FL	13-2	190	67.25	0.567	69
44	California	13-3	141	66.69	0.574	65
45	Nevada	11-4	41	66.49	0.610	38
46	New Mexico	12-3	93	65.91	0.586	52
47	Creighton	10-6	8	65.69	0.632	25
48	Notre Dame	10-5	26	65.40	0.611	37
49	Texas A&M	12-3	155	64.70	0.565	72
50	Auburn	9-6	5	64.68	0.638	21
51	Wake Forest	10-6	11	64.64	0.624	30
52	Wisconsin	10-5	37	64.59	0.605	41
53	Missouri	12-3	158	64.58	0.564	73
54	NC St	11-5	50	64.56	0.596	44
55	George Mason	15-1	273	64.20	0.547	93
56	Kansas St	9-6	7	63.46	0.628	29
57	VCU	11-5	39	62.97	0.601	43
58	Mississippi St	10-5	48	62.80	0.592	47
59	St Bonaventure	11-4	77	62.60	0.583	58
60	Murray St	14-3	172	62.20	0.553	83
61	Syracuse	10-5	57	61.92	0.585	53
62	Arizona St	9-6	14	61.64	0.613	33
63	Yale	12-2	218	61.62	0.547	91
64	UCLA	10-5	61	61.62	0.583	57
65	Dayton	12-4	110	61.52	0.568	68
66	San Diego St	10-4	71	61.26	0.580	59
67	Santa Clara	13-4	135	60.61	0.557	79
68	Belmont	14-3	209	60.11	0.540	101
69	Tulsa	13-2	267	59.99	0.534	107
70	McNeese	12-3	181	59.89	0.546	96
71	Kentucky	9-6	28	59.29	0.593	45
72	South Carolina	10-5	88	59.10	0.564	74
73	Washington	9-6	31	59.00	0.591	50
74	Butler	10-6	54	58.67	0.576	61
75	N Iowa	12-4	145	58.57	0.548	89
76	Oklahoma	11-4	188	57.91	0.535	106
77	UC San Diego	12-3	224	57.77	0.532	108
78	Minnesota	10-5	112	57.61	0.552	84
79	Tulane	11-4	151	56.93	0.542	98
80	Colorado St	10-5	83	56.74	0.562	75
81	Kent St	12-3	245	56.71	0.525	114
82	Marshall	11-5	117	56.09	0.549	86
83	TCU	10-5	137	55.85	0.540	102
84	Arkansas St	11-5	120	55.84	0.547	92
85	Akron	11-4	180	55.32	0.531	110
86	Penn St	9-6	73	55.08	0.559	78
87	Georgia Tech	10-6	103	55.00	0.547	90
88	Grand Canyon	9-5	80	54.98	0.557	81
89	Wilmington	14-2	338	54.95	0.501	143
90	Xavier	9-7	42	54.92	0.574	62
91	Depaul	10-6	108	54.90	0.546	95
92	Hofstra	11-4	193	54.64	0.525	112
93	Utah Valley	12-4	222	54.64	0.521	117
94	Geo Wash	11-5	138	54.54	0.537	104
95	Richmond	12-4	225	54.54	0.520	119
96	Georgetown	9-6	84	54.30	0.552	85
97	Northwestern	8-6	51	54.24	0.565	71
98	Liberty	11-3	281	53.70	0.509	133
99	Mid Tenn	9-5	97	53.69	0.548	87
100	Providence	8-7	27	53.47	0.577	60
101	Davidson	10-5	131	53.46	0.536	105
102	Boise St	9-6	60	53.25	0.561	76
103	Illinois St	12-4	247	53.25	0.510	130
104	Columbia	12-3	306	53.20	0.501	142
105	Wyoming	11-4	228	53.06	0.514	123
106	Buffalo	13-2	344	52.93	0.490	163
107	FAU	10-6	89	52.88	0.546	94
108	South Florida	9-6	67	52.85	0.557	80
109	William & Mary	11-4	241	52.69	0.511	127
110	West Virginia	10-5	202	52.32	0.513	124
111	Seattle	12-5	206	52.27	0.513	125
112	Troy	10-6	104	52.24	0.541	100
113	Oregon	8-7	43	52.12	0.566	70
114	Cincinnati	8-7	47	51.51	0.560	77
115	San Francisco	11-6	147	51.16	0.523	115
116	Bradley	11-6	148	51.06	0.522	116
117	CA Baptist	10-6	130	50.51	0.525	113
118	UC Irvine	11-5	226	50.34	0.505	138
119	Utah	8-7	63	50.25	0.548	88
120	Rutgers	8-7	68	49.86	0.545	97
121	Furman	11-5	239	49.83	0.501	141
122	Quinnipiac	11-5	242	49.74	0.500	145
123	Pittsburgh	7-8	12	49.68	0.584	55
124	Mississippi	8-7	72	49.60	0.542	99
125	Steph F Austin	12-3	342	49.59	0.477	184
126	Miami OH	16-0	364	49.38	0.461	217
127	Texas	9-6	165	49.10	0.509	132
128	Charleston	10-6	157	49.04	0.514	122
129	Arlington	10-5	221	49.00	0.501	140
130	Oakland	8-8	16	48.92	0.574	63
131	Bowling Green	11-5	257	48.88	0.494	153
132	W Kentucky	9-5	183	48.87	0.508	135
133	St Thomas	13-4	335	48.81	0.476	185
134	Iona	10-6	163	48.73	0.511	129
135	Memphis	7-7	21	48.48	0.568	67
136	E Tenn St	11-5	272	48.23	0.489	164
137	LMU	10-7	129	47.86	0.517	120
138	Temple	11-5	282	47.73	0.484	170
139	Hawaii	11-3	350	47.65	0.467	206
140	Florida St	7-8	33	47.11	0.557	82
141	High Point	15-3	363	46.86	0.453	232
142	Siena	10-5	283	46.28	0.478	181
143	Tarleton	11-5	308	46.16	0.473	191
144	Rhode Island	9-7	126	46.06	0.512	126
145	Marist	9-5	252	46.00	0.484	171
146	UAB	10-6	229	45.92	0.487	168
147	Ohio	9-7	134	45.76	0.510	131
148	New Mexico St	8-5	216	45.53	0.491	159
149	Lipscomb	9-6	196	45.46	0.493	155
150	Elon	9-6	197	45.45	0.493	154
151	Toledo	9-6	201	45.20	0.491	161
152	FIU	9-6	208	44.79	0.488	166
153	North Texas	10-6	258	44.74	0.478	183
154	Wichita St	9-7	154	44.66	0.499	146
155	North Dakota St	12-5	340	44.63	0.457	219
156	Maryland	7-8	64	44.61	0.531	109
157	Abilene Chr	9-6	227	44.33	0.484	172
158	Pacific	11-6	301	44.27	0.467	205
159	Wright St	9-7	164	44.08	0.495	152
160	Robert Morris	11-6	316	43.63	0.462	213
161	Portland St	8-5	271	43.49	0.473	193
162	Northridge	9-7	186	43.39	0.488	165
163	N Kentucky	12-5	351	43.38	0.448	244
164	TN St	9-5	317	43.05	0.461	215
165	UMASS	9-7	198	42.87	0.483	174
166	St Peters	7-5	235	42.80	0.476	186
167	UC Davis	8-6	214	42.71	0.479	177
168	West Georgia	8-6	217	42.67	0.479	179
169	Long Island	8-7	153	42.56	0.492	156
170	UT Martin	11-4	359	42.49	0.438	270
171	Boston College	7-8	99	42.44	0.509	134
172	Fairfield	9-7	207	42.38	0.479	180
173	Sam Houston	8-6	231	42.25	0.476	188
174	Green Bay	8-8	114	42.18	0.506	137
175	N Colorado	10-5	341	42.12	0.447	245
176	S Illinois	8-9	76	42.04	0.520	118
177	Navy	11-5	352	42.00	0.441	259
178	Charlotte	8-8	119	41.90	0.502	139
179	Colgate	9-7	232	41.62	0.472	196
180	Southern Miss	9-7	234	41.62	0.472	197
181	Washington St	8-9	82	41.58	0.515	121
182	Duquesne	9-7	237	41.56	0.472	198
183	UNLV	7-7	128	41.40	0.497	147
184	Towson	8-8	132	41.26	0.496	148
185	Lindenwood	10-6	330	41.16	0.448	241
186	Ga Southern	12-5	361	41.00	0.430	291
187	Mercer	9-7	250	40.90	0.466	208
188	Oregon St	8-9	96	40.78	0.506	136
189	Drake	8-8	140	40.77	0.491	160
190	Missouri St	9-6	311	40.71	0.452	236
191	Wofford	10-6	334	40.70	0.444	251
192	South Alabama	11-5	358	40.70	0.431	286
193	Vermont	9-7	261	40.53	0.463	211
194	Grambling	8-7	205	40.45	0.473	194
195	Campbell	8-8	159	40.11	0.484	173
196	Austin Peay	8-5	333	40.10	0.443	253
197	St Josephs	9-7	278	39.93	0.457	220
198	Santa Barbara	9-6	329	39.72	0.443	255
199	Utah Tech	9-7	285	39.69	0.455	228
200	American	9-7	286	39.69	0.454	230
201	Fresno St	7-8	116	39.59	0.496	149
202	Stony Brook	9-7	290	39.50	0.453	234
203	James Madison	8-8	170	39.49	0.478	182
204	Merrimack	9-7	293	39.41	0.450	237
205	Marquette	6-10	25	39.34	0.538	103
206	Winthrop	10-8	287	39.26	0.453	235
207	Cornell	7-7	178	39.22	0.476	189
208	Penn	7-7	187	39.00	0.472	195
209	Montana St	8-7	249	38.98	0.459	218
210	Fort Wayne	10-8	298	38.75	0.448	242
211	Idaho	9-5	355	38.66	0.425	298
212	Incarnate Word	8-7	264	38.59	0.455	226
213	Indiana St	8-8	211	38.03	0.462	212
214	Valparaiso	8-8	215	37.94	0.461	216
215	App St	9-7	325	37.77	0.437	272
216	SEMO	8-7	289	37.66	0.446	248
217	Samford	9-7	327	37.57	0.435	276
218	Nicholls	7-8	162	37.57	0.473	190
219	Texas St	9-7	328	37.55	0.434	278
220	E Michigan	8-8	236	37.44	0.456	221
221	Fordham	9-7	331	37.33	0.433	283
222	Milwaukee	7-9	118	37.29	0.488	167
223	Chrls So	11-7	354	37.29	0.419	310
224	Coastal	8-8	243	37.26	0.455	227
225	Fla Gulf Coast	7-8	168	37.22	0.471	200
226	Idaho St	8-7	300	37.18	0.442	258
227	Jax St	8-7	302	37.10	0.441	260
228	Corpus Christi	8-7	303	37.03	0.440	262
229	C Connecticut	7-6	315	36.86	0.436	273
230	Canisius	7-8	182	36.83	0.466	207
231	C Arkansas	7-8	184	36.77	0.465	209
232	Radford	9-8	304	36.69	0.438	267
233	Montana	8-7	310	36.64	0.437	271
234	Alabama A&M	8-7	323	36.04	0.430	289
235	Kennesaw St	9-6	357	36.03	0.411	320
236	Portland	7-10	102	36.01	0.490	162
237	Denver	8-9	219	35.91	0.455	225
238	Manhattan	7-9	150	35.86	0.471	199
239	Queens	7-8	210	35.81	0.455	229
240	Howard	9-7	345	35.56	0.416	316
241	Balt County	7-6	336	35.27	0.422	302
242	South Dakota St	8-9	244	35.20	0.448	243
243	Weber St	7-8	238	35.19	0.449	239
244	Rice	7-9	176	34.94	0.461	214
245	Monmouth	7-8	246	34.87	0.444	250
246	Harvard	7-8	256	34.54	0.441	261
247	UC Riverside	6-9	121	34.49	0.479	178
248	Youngstown St	8-9	270	34.38	0.438	266
249	Dartmouth	7-7	318	34.38	0.426	294
250	Asheville	7-10	142	34.27	0.469	203
251	East Carolina	5-10	22	34.16	0.529	111
252	Fullerton	6-10	85	34.02	0.492	157
253	SC Upstate	8-9	284	33.87	0.433	282
254	Hampton	8-8	326	33.83	0.420	307
255	LA Tech	8-6	360	33.73	0.398	338
256	San Diego	6-10	91	33.63	0.486	169
257	South Dakota	8-9	294	33.59	0.430	290
258	W Michigan	6-9	152	33.20	0.463	210
259	Morehead St	7-8	299	33.08	0.426	295
260	Bakersfield	7-9	260	32.47	0.433	285
261	Presbyterian	8-9	320	32.41	0.417	314
262	Rio Grande	6-9	175	32.38	0.453	233
263	North Dakota	8-10	279	32.32	0.429	292
264	W Carolina	5-9	94	32.30	0.480	175
265	NC A&T	7-7	349	31.79	0.399	335
266	San Jose St	5-10	65	31.77	0.495	151
267	Ark Pine Bluff	5-10	69	31.58	0.492	158
268	New Haven	6-9	204	31.52	0.442	257
269	Army	7-9	296	31.35	0.420	306
270	Longwood	9-9	353	31.27	0.394	342
271	East Texas	6-10	156	31.23	0.455	222
272	Detroit	6-8	292	31.06	0.420	305
273	SIUE	10-6	365	31.04	0.363	359
274	TN Tech	6-9	233	30.85	0.434	277
275	New Orleans	5-10	86	30.82	0.480	176
276	La Salle	5-11	49	30.72	0.500	144
277	Cal Poly	6-10	174	30.59	0.447	247
278	Northeastern	5-9	144	30.51	0.455	224
279	Lamar	7-8	348	30.06	0.393	343
280	Bethune	4-10	29	29.88	0.511	128
281	IL Chicago	6-10	203	29.80	0.436	274
282	Prairie View	6-9	276	29.65	0.419	309
283	Greensboro	6-10	223	29.39	0.431	287
284	Bellarmine	5-9	185	29.30	0.439	264
285	North Alabama	5-8	262	29.18	0.420	308
286	NJ Tech	6-10	240	29.05	0.425	297
287	Brown	6-8	337	28.91	0.395	341
288	Omaha	7-10	319	28.90	0.405	327
289	Wagner	6-7	356	28.73	0.380	350
290	Mercyhurst	6-9	312	28.50	0.404	330
291	N Arizona	6-9	313	28.46	0.404	329
292	VMI	6-10	259	28.41	0.418	311
293	Lowell	6-10	265	28.34	0.417	312
294	Boston Univ	6-10	269	28.31	0.416	317
295	Jacksonville	5-10	161	28.21	0.442	256
296	Delaware	5-9	230	28.17	0.424	299
297	Le Moyne	6-9	322	28.07	0.398	337
298	Drexel	6-10	275	28.01	0.412	318
299	N Illinois	5-10	166	27.96	0.440	263
300	Bryant	5-10	179	27.67	0.435	275
301	Holy Cross	6-10	291	27.62	0.407	323
302	SELA	5-10	191	27.38	0.431	288
303	Long Beach	5-10	199	27.16	0.428	293
304	Princeton	5-11	146	27.00	0.443	254
305	Stetson	5-10	220	26.75	0.422	303
306	Loyola Chicago	5-11	167	26.40	0.434	280
307	E Illinois	4-10	115	26.33	0.454	231
308	Georgia St	5-11	171	26.30	0.433	284
309	UTSA	4-11	74	26.15	0.473	192
310	New Hampshire	4-10	123	26.07	0.450	238
311	Oral Roberts	5-12	133	26.03	0.447	246
312	E Kentucky	4-11	79	25.95	0.470	202
313	Pepperdine	5-12	136	25.95	0.445	249
314	Houston Chr	5-10	263	25.74	0.408	322
315	Chattanooga	6-10	339	25.37	0.378	352
316	Norfolk St	6-11	324	25.07	0.388	347
317	UTEP	4-10	160	25.03	0.434	279
318	Old Dominion	4-12	70	24.80	0.470	201
319	Mt St Marys	5-11	248	24.54	0.405	326
320	Little Rock	5-10	307	24.53	0.390	344
321	NC Central	5-11	254	24.49	0.406	325
322	Sacred Heart	5-11	255	24.48	0.405	328
323	MD Eastern	5-13	139	24.47	0.438	269
324	Southern	5-10	314	24.39	0.388	346
325	Lehigh	5-11	266	24.28	0.402	333
326	Cleveland St	5-11	268	24.28	0.403	332
327	Sacramento St	4-10	200	24.03	0.417	313
328	Evansville	4-13	56	23.93	0.476	187
329	Alabama St	4-11	169	23.25	0.422	301
330	Nwestern St	4-11	173	23.15	0.421	304
331	Bucknell	4-12	125	23.13	0.439	265
332	Niagara	4-10	253	22.99	0.399	336
333	Air Force	3-12	23	22.72	0.496	150
334	Florida A&M	3-9	177	22.45	0.416	315
335	Loyola MD	5-11	343	21.59	0.361	360
336	C Michigan	4-12	192	21.54	0.411	321
337	Delaware St	5-11	347	21.33	0.357	361
338	W Illinois	4-11	274	21.21	0.388	345
339	Albany	4-12	213	21.10	0.404	331
340	Stonehill	4-11	297	20.74	0.379	351
341	S Utah	4-11	305	20.50	0.375	355
342	Ball St	4-11	321	20.07	0.368	357
343	Kansas City	4-12	280	19.91	0.381	349
344	Lafayette	4-12	295	19.66	0.376	354
345	Louisiana	3-13	111	18.89	0.433	281
346	Fair Dickins	4-11	346	18.82	0.346	364
347	IU Indy	4-13	288	18.73	0.375	356
348	St Francis	3-12	195	18.19	0.398	339
349	TX Southern	2-11	78	17.67	0.443	252
350	S Indiana	3-11	332	16.77	0.349	363
351	Binghamton	4-12	362	16.49	0.318	365
352	E Washington	2-12	81	16.46	0.438	268
353	Citadel	3-13	251	16.36	0.376	353
354	Morgan St	3-12	309	16.29	0.357	362
355	North Florida	2-13	52	16.16	0.455	223
356	Jackson St	2-12	100	16.06	0.425	296
357	ULM	3-13	277	15.99	0.368	358
358	Chicago St	2-13	62	15.96	0.449	240
359	Coppin St	3-15	212	15.20	0.383	348
360	SC St	2-14	122	13.93	0.411	319
361	Maine	2-14	143	13.57	0.401	334
362	Gardner Webb	2-16	90	12.97	0.423	300
363	Alcorn St	1-12	19	12.94	0.468	204
364	Rider	1-12	127	11.04	0.397	340
365	MS Valley	1-15	107	9.49	0.406	324