Women’s Basketball or It’s Been Six Weeks Already!

Welcome back, college sports fans! It’s been a crazy busy six weeks at the GCR with the full-time staff (i.e., G) working full time to keep up with the rankings. My friends would probably agree it is keeping me out of trouble. We also would like to wish our readers who celebrate a Happy Hanukkah! May the next 7 nights be filled with a sense of joy with your family.

…..

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that it seemed the men played more Division II, III, and NAIA teams than the women. Every single day, there are more of these games on the men’s side than the women’s. Now, in football we see the FBS teams play FCS “cupcakes” for an expected win. Many of those FCS teams play a non-D1 team to pad their record as well. It is not a new thing. For the most part the “premier” conferences in both men’s and women’s basketball play “lower” D1 teams for those early season wins (see Iowa St or LSU women’s schedules for example). Then those conferences who are taking it on the chin play non-D1 teams to get a few early wins. One would expect that the rate of these games would be similar when comparing college football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball.

…..

That is not the case at all. Football had just 73 such games this season or a rate of 2.2%. It sort of makes sense that this number is low. Literally zero Core 4 teams play outside of D1 and only 1 or 2 Group of 5 teams will every few years, so that limits the practice to just FCS teams. So, an effective rate of closer to 4.5% if we ignore the FBS. Some FCS teams play more than one and that is usually not helpful. Presbyterian, G’s alma mater was 10-2 this year, second in the Pioneer League; however, they were 8-2 against FCS competition (most of it in a weak conference) and did not make the playoffs. To put it simply, those non D1 games do not count when considering the FCS playoffs. Teams with the annual expectation of being in that tournament generally do not play out of D1 for that reason.

…..

Basketball follows the same pattern, for the most part, as football with the power conferences generally staying in D1 to play. So, we will use the 2.2% as comparison. Men’s BB so far has played 418 games outside of D1, or a 9.7% rate – substantially more than football. It is not that these games “count” any more than in football, but rather they are almost expected in the first two months of the season as “tune-ups.” But do the men play more of these games than the women? The women so far have played 307 games outside of D1 or a 7.7% rate.

…..

A great example of why these games are played in by the SWAC’s Southern University who have played the most difficult schedule so far this season. They opened against Iowa (Big Ten), then played Iowa St (Big 12), then Mississippi (SEC). They played non-D1 Tougaloo for the first win. Then UCLA and Washington (both Big Ten). Now 1-5 at the end of November. Then they beat Arizona and Houston (both Big 12) before taking down non-D1 Southern New Orleans to sit at 4-5 for the season. They have not played a mid-major opponent this year so far. They close the pre-conference season with Baylor (Big 12) and SMU (ACC). Who could possibly disparage them a couple of expected wins?

…..

All of this begs the question, why do the men play “cupcakes” more frequently? We wish we knew the answer. They play about a game more than the women on average, but about half of that game is non-D1. We are just going to say it is yet another reason to respect the women’s game – they challenge themselves, as a whole, more than the men. That’s what the data says.

…..

Tune in later today as we switch hats and talk about the Salute to Veterans Bowl tonight. Thank you for reading and sharing with others – we could not grow without your help, JoJo and G. A reminder that you can use the Score column in the table below (adding 4.5 to the home team) to determine the winner of upcoming games while taking the difference as a theoretical point spread for those games. Now we proudly present the Women’s Basketball Top 363 from UCLA (with one loss but the 7th most difficult schedule) to Valparaiso.

RANK	Team	Record	SOS	Score	RPI	Rank
1	UCLA	9-1	7	100.00	0.722	1
2	UCONN	10-0	59	94.69	0.697	2
3	Texas	12-0	140	87.83	0.661	3
4	Iowa	10-1	108	82.34	0.640	8
5	Vanderbilt	9-0	185	82.23	0.639	9
6	Princeton	10-1	73	81.92	0.659	4
7	Alabama	11-0	223	81.23	0.634	11
8	TCU	11-0	231	80.78	0.629	13
9	Texas Tech	12-0	239	80.70	0.626	15
10	Michigan	9-1	115	80.46	0.646	6
11	Nebraska	11-0	234	80.45	0.632	12
12	Maryland	12-0	263	78.89	0.622	17
13	South Carolina	10-1	162	78.46	0.636	10
14	Southern Cal	7-3	10	78.40	0.652	5
15	Villanova	8-2	46	78.17	0.643	7
16	Arizona St	12-0	285	77.35	0.618	19
17	Syracuse	9-1	165	76.96	0.624	16
18	Oregon	11-1	221	75.57	0.621	18
19	Kentucky	11-1	229	75.12	0.615	20
20	Utah	8-3	31	75.07	0.597	32
21	Indiana	10-2	147	73.75	0.611	22
22	Kansas	9-2	142	72.66	0.609	25
23	Missouri	10-3	97	72.29	0.610	24
24	Washington	9-1	252	71.59	0.605	28
25	Mississippi	10-1	273	71.39	0.599	30
26	West Virginia	10-2	183	71.34	0.612	21
27	Richmond	8-3	69	70.81	0.610	23
28	Illinois	10-1	287	70.35	0.602	29
29	Rhode Island	9-2	177	70.18	0.566	68
30	NC St	7-4	14	70.02	0.629	14
31	Mississippi St	10-1	301	69.19	0.596	33
32	Stanford	9-2	197	69.00	0.597	31
33	North Carolina	9-3	113	68.99	0.608	27
34	Florida	10-2	227	68.97	0.589	38
35	Louisville	10-3	163	67.97	0.596	34
36	Georgia	10-0	340	67.90	0.589	39
37	Notre Dame	8-2	190	67.61	0.609	26
38	Troy	9-1	259	67.49	0.548	80
39	Colorado	8-3	107	67.44	0.585	49
40	BYU	11-1	317	67.19	0.583	50
41	Murray St	7-2	118	66.60	0.593	36
42	Baylor	10-2	269	66.49	0.589	40
43	Oklahoma	11-1	327	65.96	0.585	48
44	McNeese	7-3	55	65.62	0.509	116
45	Wisconsin	8-3	139	65.56	0.581	51
46	St Josephs	6-3	64	65.43	0.553	78
47	Iowa St	12-0	351	65.09	0.577	55
48	Boise St	9-2	207	65.09	0.539	85
49	South Dakota St	10-2	241	64.69	0.589	41
50	Auburn	8-3	157	64.42	0.586	47
51	Santa Clara	9-3	144	64.05	0.504	123
52	Colorado St	9-2	238	63.54	0.538	88
53	Old Dominion	7-3	82	63.51	0.542	83
54	Tennessee	7-2	232	63.51	0.587	44
55	Davidson	7-4	61	63.44	0.589	42
56	UMASS	7-1	292	62.89	0.567	66
57	Minnesota	8-3	182	62.89	0.575	57
58	James Madison	8-4	66	62.70	0.592	37
59	Sam Houston	5-2	94	62.54	0.466	188
60	Montana St	6-3	57	62.49	0.492	141
61	Albany	9-2	258	62.36	0.520	100
62	Jacksonville	7-2	194	62.22	0.477	165
63	Oklahoma St	10-2	312	62.06	0.525	97
64	Steph F Austin	6-2	155	61.93	0.460	198
65	Penn St	6-4	42	61.67	0.596	35
66	High Point	10-1	330	61.61	0.477	166
67	Rice	8-3	211	61.32	0.568	64
68	Ohio St	9-1	341	61.31	0.576	56
69	Longwood	8-4	81	61.27	0.467	186
70	UC Davis	8-3	159	61.11	0.485	154
71	Virginia	8-3	220	61.05	0.562	70
72	Michigan St	9-1	343	61.03	0.559	72
73	Seton Hall	6-3	125	61.01	0.580	52
74	LSU	11-0	357	60.80	0.573	58
75	Northwestern	6-4	48	60.68	0.577	54
76	California	8-4	145	60.65	0.578	53
77	Marquette	7-3	189	60.11	0.561	71
78	North Texas	6-4	63	60.09	0.486	150
79	Georgetown	7-3	192	60.07	0.558	75
80	Fairfield	6-3	87	60.06	0.588	43
81	Texas A&M	6-2	266	59.33	0.568	63
82	Clemson	7-4	119	59.30	0.558	74
83	Gonzaga	6-4	37	59.28	0.587	46
84	North Dakota St	8-2	291	59.00	0.513	111
85	W Illinois	8-1	334	58.90	0.412	294
86	UTEP	7-2	260	58.87	0.499	135
87	Kennesaw St	6-3	110	58.74	0.470	178
88	Oregon St	6-5	13	58.67	0.515	108
89	Penn	7-3	164	58.52	0.469	180
90	Vermont	9-3	247	58.50	0.478	163
91	Stetson	6-2	226	58.42	0.452	215
92	Charleston	7-2	274	58.27	0.505	122
93	Bowling Green	6-4	44	58.21	0.407	302
94	Miami FL	6-4	88	57.93	0.572	59
95	Pepperdine	7-2	281	57.81	0.457	208
96	San Diego St	6-3	134	57.64	0.524	98
97	Austin Peay	5-2	180	57.58	0.500	132
98	S Utah	7-3	191	57.07	0.419	282
99	Arizona	7-2	318	56.93	0.535	91
100	Purdue	7-4	171	56.40	0.546	81
101	S Indiana	6-2	271	56.22	0.392	331
102	Arkansas St	8-3	256	56.18	0.509	117
103	Lindenwood	7-3	214	56.07	0.506	121
104	Southern	4-5	1	56.01	0.536	89
105	Columbia	7-4	128	55.96	0.567	65
106	N Colorado	8-2	319	55.78	0.406	305
107	UC Irvine	9-2	333	55.75	0.526	96
108	Santa Barbara	9-1	348	55.67	0.498	137
109	Marshall	9-3	298	55.63	0.472	175
110	TN Tech	7-2	306	55.59	0.447	229
111	Arkansas	9-3	322	55.44	0.539	86
112	Virginia Tech	9-3	325	55.37	0.538	87
113	South Florida	6-4	138	55.29	0.570	62
114	Ga Southern	7-3	233	55.24	0.497	138
115	Army	8-2	326	55.18	0.481	159
116	Kansas St	7-6	58	55.13	0.567	67
117	St Johns	10-2	350	55.09	0.533	92
118	Rutgers	7-4	204	54.93	0.544	82
119	E Michigan	6-4	92	54.80	0.507	120
120	Wake Forest	9-3	332	54.64	0.516	105
121	Fort Wayne	8-4	215	54.05	0.531	93
122	Ball St	8-4	216	54.03	0.504	124
123	Harvard	6-5	43	54.03	0.572	60
124	Liberty	6-3	202	54.00	0.459	205
125	Xavier	8-3	320	53.98	0.528	95
126	C Arkansas	7-3	262	53.91	0.450	220
127	Abilene Chr	6-4	109	53.88	0.477	164
128	LA Tech	5-4	49	53.80	0.510	115
129	E Kentucky	7-3	264	53.72	0.440	242
130	San Francisco	6-4	121	53.28	0.503	126
131	C Michigan	5-4	67	53.17	0.517	104
132	South Dakota	8-3	309	52.67	0.441	239
133	George Mason	6-5	103	52.66	0.550	79
134	SIUE	7-3	289	52.63	0.400	315
135	Binghamton	6-3	240	52.44	0.444	233
136	Iona	7-3	294	52.34	0.472	173
137	Oral Roberts	5-5	25	52.22	0.475	167
138	ULM	5-4	78	52.19	0.556	76
139	Green Bay	8-4	257	52.12	0.499	134
140	Howard	8-5	173	52.09	0.536	90
141	FAU	5-4	132	52.07	0.490	145
142	Temple	5-5	51	51.90	0.559	73
143	Southern Miss	7-4	225	51.36	0.450	221
144	Dartmouth	7-2	339	51.22	0.469	181
145	Charlotte	5-6	23	51.15	0.562	69
146	Tarleton	5-4	96	51.14	0.448	222
147	St Marys	8-4	280	51.13	0.460	202
148	App St	6-3	275	50.93	0.471	176
149	Houston	5-5	75	50.82	0.541	84
150	Navy	6-4	176	50.56	0.483	157
151	New Mexico	8-3	328	50.55	0.518	101
152	Fair Dickins	7-3	311	50.55	0.474	169
153	UCF	8-3	345	50.41	0.508	119
154	Bradley	6-4	184	50.31	0.482	158
155	Duke	4-6	6	50.02	0.587	45
156	Utah Valley	6-3	295	49.95	0.469	183
157	South Alabama	7-3	313	49.95	0.517	103
158	Ohio	5-3	242	49.36	0.520	99
159	Geo Wash	7-5	246	49.27	0.486	152
160	La Salle	7-3	342	49.03	0.472	174
161	Nwestern St	4-4	68	48.65	0.442	237
162	Missouri St	7-4	293	48.34	0.517	102
163	E Washington	6-4	235	48.29	0.473	171
164	NJ Tech	8-4	314	48.11	0.493	140
165	Winthrop	7-5	217	47.98	0.408	301
166	Hampton	6-4	245	47.83	0.382	344
167	Providence	7-5	283	47.70	0.501	130
168	Drexel	6-3	315	47.60	0.512	112
169	Idaho	8-4	323	47.36	0.466	187
170	Cleveland St	9-2	360	46.92	0.457	209
171	CA Baptist	6-4	270	46.88	0.501	129
172	Idaho St	6-4	276	46.55	0.460	201
173	TX Southern	3-5	3	46.46	0.419	281
174	St Bonaventure	9-3	359	46.25	0.453	214
175	Alcorn St	3-5	4	46.22	0.467	185
176	Duquesne	6-5	255	46.14	0.424	269
177	Coastal	6-5	193	46.08	0.466	189
178	Northridge	5-4	212	45.89	0.415	290
179	Hawaii	5-5	117	45.80	0.428	262
180	Delaware	5-3	310	45.52	0.447	228
181	Jax St	5-5	127	45.52	0.385	338
182	North Alabama	5-4	230	45.37	0.406	307
183	Miami OH	7-4	324	45.33	0.425	266
184	East Carolina	6-5	277	45.20	0.490	143
185	Fresno St	6-5	222	45.03	0.460	199
186	UAB	4-5	89	45.02	0.472	172
187	UT Martin	4-5	50	44.83	0.382	343
188	Belmont	4-6	16	44.73	0.554	77
189	Butler	6-6	201	44.70	0.509	118
190	Portland	5-5	150	44.55	0.431	259
191	Chattanooga	6-5	237	44.53	0.461	196
192	Air Force	6-4	307	44.42	0.439	245
193	Tulane	4-5	106	44.36	0.516	107
194	FIU	4-3	278	44.28	0.490	146
195	Robert Morris	7-2	361	43.95	0.438	247
196	Greensboro	6-5	253	43.91	0.424	270
197	Fla Gulf Coast	3-5	12	43.77	0.510	113
198	William & Mary	5-4	272	43.77	0.461	195
199	Houston Chr	4-4	168	43.72	0.398	320
200	Monmouth	4-4	174	43.38	0.455	211
201	St Thomas	6-6	175	43.37	0.399	319
202	Florida St	4-8	5	43.35	0.571	61
203	Queens	5-4	286	43.15	0.393	329
204	UNLV	5-5	186	42.96	0.515	109
205	Campbell	6-5	282	42.74	0.409	299
206	Furman	5-6	111	42.54	0.429	261
207	North Florida	4-5	102	42.41	0.459	203
208	Cincinnati	5-6	170	42.36	0.465	190
209	Creighton	4-5	156	42.32	0.510	114
210	UC San Diego	5-4	303	42.19	0.437	249
211	Towson	4-5	105	42.19	0.465	191
212	Kent St	4-6	39	42.08	0.483	155
213	Quinnipiac	5-4	304	42.06	0.480	161
214	Norfolk St	5-7	60	42.05	0.383	340
215	Lamar	3-4	90	41.81	0.456	210
216	Tulsa	6-3	358	41.77	0.480	162
217	NC A&T	3-5	30	41.22	0.429	260
218	Dayton	5-5	297	41.08	0.489	147
219	SMU	5-6	209	40.97	0.500	133
220	MD Eastern	6-7	166	40.85	0.469	182
221	IL Chicago	5-5	261	40.45	0.485	153
222	Rio Grande	3-5	41	40.26	0.421	278
223	Sacramento St	5-5	267	40.22	0.439	244
224	Radford	6-6	268	40.21	0.447	227
225	Pittsburgh	6-6	308	40.07	0.434	252
226	Youngstown St	6-3	356	40.00	0.419	283
227	Fullerton	5-5	279	39.78	0.424	273
228	Georgia Tech	4-8	22	39.62	0.530	94
229	Arlington	5-5	288	39.49	0.490	144
230	Bryant	8-3	363	39.24	0.452	217
231	UTSA	4-5	251	39.11	0.491	142
232	Lehigh	4-6	100	38.96	0.498	136
233	Alabama St	3-6	17	38.95	0.434	255
234	Holy Cross	4-5	195	38.87	0.495	139
235	Brown	7-4	355	38.80	0.459	206
236	Pacific	4-5	196	38.75	0.483	156
237	Fordham	7-4	362	38.74	0.421	279
238	San Diego	5-7	135	38.71	0.458	207
239	Illinois St	5-6	224	38.56	0.489	148
240	Utah St	4-5	205	38.49	0.444	234
241	Mid Tenn	4-6	114	38.23	0.502	128
242	Morehead St	4-6	116	38.19	0.500	131
243	Samford	5-8	80	38.13	0.439	246
244	N Iowa	4-6	124	37.96	0.503	125
245	Little Rock	3-6	26	37.94	0.475	168
246	Denver	4-7	53	37.88	0.424	274
247	Ark Pine Bluff	3-5	86	37.78	0.446	230
248	Memphis	4-6	187	37.68	0.486	151
249	Nicholls	4-3	346	37.65	0.403	311
250	Colgate	4-6	136	37.59	0.443	235
251	Incarnate Word	2-5	9	37.40	0.425	268
252	Seattle	4-6	151	37.10	0.396	324
253	Weber St	3-7	11	36.51	0.448	223
254	Nevada	4-6	167	36.44	0.433	257
255	LMU	4-4	329	36.41	0.450	219
256	East Texas	3-5	130	36.37	0.379	346
257	St Louis	4-7	143	36.31	0.487	149
258	W Kentucky	4-6	179	35.99	0.435	250
259	Indiana St	4-4	336	35.80	0.445	232
260	West Georgia	4-4	337	35.60	0.452	216
261	Wofford	4-6	203	35.34	0.426	264
262	Utah Tech	4-5	299	35.33	0.413	293
263	Oakland	3-6	70	35.32	0.448	225
264	Georgia St	4-7	133	34.86	0.448	224
265	Mercer	6-5	352	34.71	0.434	254
266	New Mexico St	3-6	79	34.70	0.399	318
267	Alabama A&M	3-7	35	34.07	0.412	295
268	Merrimack	3-6	98	34.03	0.425	267
269	SEMO	3-5	199	34.01	0.417	286
270	Detroit	3-5	208	33.80	0.473	170
271	Balt County	4-6	265	33.57	0.417	285
272	Stony Brook	4-8	99	33.40	0.416	288
273	VCU	3-7	83	33.26	0.503	127
274	W Michigan	3-5	244	32.85	0.401	314
275	Toledo	3-5	250	32.71	0.464	192
276	Wagner	3-6	141	32.67	0.423	275
277	SC Upstate	4-8	126	32.52	0.407	304
278	Montana	2-6	15	32.23	0.469	184
279	Lowell	5-6	344	32.06	0.353	358
280	Marist	3-7	84	31.59	0.469	179
281	Stonehill	3-5	300	31.08	0.383	341
282	Wyoming	3-6	198	30.94	0.411	296
283	Long Island	4-6	321	30.80	0.381	345
284	Wright St	5-7	335	30.77	0.365	353
285	Mt St Marys	3-5	305	30.75	0.451	218
286	Texas St	3-6	213	30.59	0.408	300
287	SELA	2-6	36	30.57	0.431	258
288	Loyola MD	3-7	122	30.41	0.463	194
289	Boston College	4-9	181	30.29	0.463	193
290	E Tenn St	4-8	206	30.23	0.414	292
291	Bucknell	3-7	154	29.56	0.459	204
292	New Hampshire	3-7	158	29.45	0.376	349
293	IU Indy	3-7	161	29.38	0.420	280
294	Maine	4-8	249	29.22	0.455	212
295	Boston Univ	3-7	172	29.02	0.442	238
296	Jackson St	2-7	24	28.64	0.447	226
297	Bethune	2-7	27	28.44	0.358	355
298	Prairie View	2-7	28	28.41	0.398	322
299	Elon	3-6	296	28.38	0.440	243
300	Delaware St	3-9	62	27.97	0.370	352
301	N Kentucky	3-9	72	27.69	0.471	177
302	S Illinois	2-6	120	27.44	0.406	306
303	Lipscomb	3-7	243	27.41	0.362	354
304	Bakersfield	3-7	248	27.28	0.434	256
305	Yale	4-7	338	27.27	0.411	297
306	Northeastern	3-6	316	27.10	0.416	287
307	Buffalo	2-7	47	26.99	0.460	200
308	Hofstra	2-7	54	26.84	0.426	265
309	Depaul	3-9	148	26.82	0.461	197
310	Wilmington	3-5	349	26.68	0.395	325
311	Kansas City	2-8	19	26.50	0.407	303
312	Lafayette	4-6	354	26.44	0.403	313
313	Portland St	3-7	284	26.41	0.383	339
314	UC Riverside	2-7	77	26.16	0.415	289
315	SC St	3-10	112	24.49	0.378	347
316	Cornell	4-7	353	24.46	0.393	330
317	Sacred Heart	2-7	149	24.31	0.397	323
318	Cal Poly	2-7	153	24.24	0.344	360
319	Canisius	2-7	169	23.81	0.437	248
320	Loyola Chicago	2-7	236	23.74	0.435	251
321	Chrls So	2-7	188	23.37	0.385	337
322	Milwaukee	3-9	290	22.51	0.383	342
323	Corpus Christi	1-6	40	22.41	0.404	309
324	New Haven	2-7	254	22.24	0.322	363
325	Gardner Webb	3-9	302	22.14	0.398	321
326	Wichita St	2-9	129	22.09	0.404	310
327	Coppin St	2-10	33	21.99	0.445	231
328	N Illinois	2-8	200	21.24	0.415	291
329	Evansville	2-8	219	20.98	0.418	284
330	Asheville	3-8	347	20.67	0.340	361
331	Bellarmine	2-9	146	20.61	0.394	328
332	Akron	1-8	8	20.47	0.516	106
333	Rider	2-7	331	19.82	0.378	348
334	Presbyterian	2-9	210	19.43	0.332	362
335	MS Valley	1-8	29	18.75	0.454	213
336	Siena	1-7	101	18.68	0.427	263
337	W Carolina	2-10	178	18.56	0.346	359
338	Washington St	1-10	2	18.28	0.514	110
339	Le Moyne	1-8	52	17.91	0.441	241
340	Grand Canyon	1-9	18	17.73	0.481	160
341	St Peters	1-8	71	17.65	0.390	335
342	San Jose St	1-9	20	17.65	0.424	272
343	Drake	1-8	76	17.48	0.441	240
344	TN St	1-8	123	16.57	0.422	277
345	NC Central	1-9	56	16.40	0.442	236
346	N Arizona	1-9	65	16.26	0.399	317
347	Chicago St	1-9	91	15.67	0.422	276
348	Omaha	1-10	38	15.63	0.410	298
349	Grambling	1-9	104	15.47	0.390	333
350	American	1-8	218	15.26	0.391	332
351	Morgan St	1-11	45	14.23	0.375	351
352	North Dakota	1-10	160	13.57	0.405	308
353	E Illinois	1-10	228	12.82	0.400	316
354	Mercyhurst	0-8	34	10.24	0.424	271
355	New Orleans	0-9	21	9.62	0.389	336
356	C Connecticut	0-8	85	9.45	0.390	334
357	Manhattan	0-9	32	9.36	0.434	253
358	Florida A&M	0-8	137	9.02	0.403	312
359	St Francis	0-9	74	8.79	0.354	357
360	Louisiana	0-9	93	8.53	0.354	356
361	Niagara	0-9	95	8.53	0.394	327
362	Long Beach	0-9	131	8.26	0.395	326
363	Valparaiso	0-11	152	6.84	0.375	350