Women’s Basketball or The Top 363 Through Week 9

Welcome back, sports fans. Apologies for the one-day delay in this post. If you have been following the GCR over the last couple of weeks, the entire staff and family (all 3 of us) were on vacation in the Caribbean. We had already planned to skip week 8 for both men and women because every team took at least a 5-day break during that time. Then, our flight out of San Juan, Puerto Rico was delayed, and we finally pulled into our garage around 4:30 Monday morning. That limited the time we had to prepare the women’s ranking (especially since the vacation limited our time to keep up with the normal daily activities required). So, we are posting today. Normally, the Women’s Top 363 is posted on Monday inclusive of games through Sunday, but this week they include the few games played yesterday as well.

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We have to admit that January for basketball is a beautiful thing. For most of November and December, we had to do extra work because of the many many games against non-Division I teams. December ended with a ton of them. Thankfully, from here to the end of the season is mostly conference games with a few others thrown in. Here’s how all that works. The major conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, SEC) play mid-majors (the name for all of the other conferences), but not all mid-majors are created equal. The Atlantic 10 is generally stronger than the SWAC, for example. The GCR, of course, treats all of them the same, but if you look at the records (A10 is 122-84/.592 while the SWAC is 41-117/.259), you see the disparity. Major conferences (and higher-level mid-majors) often pad their records by playing the lower-level teams. The mid-majors (as well as a few majors) play Division II, III, or NAIA teams (including one called St Louis Pharmacy, as an example), to “offset” those early losses. Because of that we see scored like 97-20 when Youngstown St of the Horizon League beat Salem U. For a major team, let’s use LSU who beat SELA of the Southland Conference 115-26 in November. LSU started 14-0 and only played one major team, Duke, in the ACC/SEC Challenge. They won that game 93-77. Then conference play began and they are now 14-2 – losing to Kentucky and Vanderbilt by a combined 6 points. They averaged over 105 points a game before January and below 70 per game in January. There are other teams (see Iowa St or Wake Forest) who have similar seasons so far. Our point is, mismatches tell us very little about what a team might actually be capable of. Imagine if the Indiana Pacers (the worst team in the NBA right now at 6-30) played their first 15 games of a season against college teams. That 15-0 start would not be representative of who they are as a team. Fans might get their hopes up artificially before watching them crash and burn in “real” play.

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We have never been a coach or a scheduler, but it seems to us that playing weaker teams and winning, on average, 103-55 is probably not the best way to set up the team for success when a 40-minute game is required. In LSU’s case, they were winning both games late in the 4th before losing. But what do we know? We aren’t coaches.

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All of that to say, we are ready for conference games to settle some of these issues. For LSU, who is ranked 67th due to a 345th ranked Strength of Schedule, they will likely start winning in the SEC and move up into the upper echelons, based on history and watching them play a few games, once their SOS gets better by playing better teams. Over the next two weeks, we will be able to see which teams are for real and which are just pretenders. Likewise, we will see which teams were overburdened with a challenging first two months as they normalize in conference play.

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With that, we thank you for reading and sharing with others as well as your patience for the last couple of weeks. As a reminder, you can predict the winner of games this week by using the Score column in the table below. Add 4.5 points to the home team and the higher number should win. Subtract the lower number from the higher number and you get a theoretical point spread. We now proudly present the week 9 women’s basketball Top 363 from UCONN to Valparaiso, Jojo and G.

RANK	Team	Record	SOS	Score	RPI	Rank
1	UCONN	15-0	39	100.00	0.697	1
2	UCLA	14-1	15	99.23	0.694	2
3	Texas	17-0	81	96.70	0.673	3
4	Vanderbilt	15-0	129	92.47	0.652	8
5	South Carolina	15-1	69	91.74	0.665	4
6	Texas Tech	16-0	150	91.35	0.649	10
7	Iowa	13-2	28	89.55	0.661	5
8	Arizona St	15-1	123	87.59	0.644	12
9	Alabama	15-1	147	86.30	0.647	11
10	Princeton	13-1	76	85.27	0.652	7
11	Kentucky	15-1	174	84.55	0.630	18
12	TCU	14-1	182	83.45	0.627	20
13	Michigan	12-2	84	82.79	0.635	15
14	Louisville	14-3	56	82.62	0.636	13
15	Maryland	15-1	216	82.02	0.620	24
16	NC St	11-4	7	81.99	0.657	6
17	Baylor	13-3	49	81.74	0.631	16
18	Stanford	13-3	52	81.67	0.635	14
19	Southern Cal	10-4	1	81.66	0.650	9
20	Nebraska	13-2	127	80.97	0.625	21
21	Villanova	12-3	53	80.24	0.629	19
22	Utah	11-4	13	79.69	0.604	31
23	Tennessee	10-3	34	78.41	0.631	17
24	West Virginia	13-2	177	78.26	0.623	23
25	Oklahoma	14-1	282	77.72	0.612	26
26	Oregon	13-3	107	77.62	0.619	25
27	Michigan St	14-1	291	76.55	0.607	28
28	Washington	12-2	193	76.29	0.611	27
29	Mississippi St	14-2	232	76.14	0.604	30
30	Mississippi	14-3	155	75.98	0.602	34
31	BYU	13-2	221	75.79	0.603	32
32	Kansas	11-4	35	75.47	0.580	46
33	Syracuse	13-2	228	75.44	0.607	29
34	Rhode Island	12-2	138	75.41	0.579	48
35	Illinois	13-2	243	74.67	0.603	33
36	Iowa St	14-1	319	73.33	0.596	36
37	Murray St	12-2	187	72.76	0.561	62
38	North Carolina	13-4	126	72.48	0.601	35
39	Colorado	11-4	89	71.66	0.592	39
40	Oregon St	11-5	12	71.51	0.552	70
41	North Dakota St	13-2	247	70.76	0.520	105
42	Austin Peay	10-2	200	69.71	0.502	126
43	Richmond	12-4	91	69.54	0.588	40
44	Duke	9-6	4	69.20	0.624	22
45	Colorado St	13-2	284	68.82	0.550	73
46	Marquette	10-5	41	68.40	0.563	61
47	Ohio St	13-2	320	68.40	0.584	43
48	Miami FL	10-5	46	68.24	0.594	38
49	Virginia	12-3	273	67.88	0.575	51
50	Oklahoma St	13-3	288	67.78	0.543	81
51	Indiana	11-5	88	67.77	0.588	41
52	Wisconsin	11-4	158	67.74	0.583	45
53	Missouri	12-5	118	67.72	0.583	44
54	Troy	11-3	179	67.60	0.546	78
55	Georgia	15-1	353	67.44	0.572	54
56	Arkansas St	13-3	239	67.11	0.545	79
57	South Dakota St	12-4	143	66.98	0.587	42
58	Montana St	9-4	43	66.90	0.516	110
59	St Josephs	11-3	195	66.89	0.511	117
60	Seton Hall	10-5	72	66.70	0.596	37
61	McNeese	10-4	86	66.50	0.514	116
62	Minnesota	10-4	165	65.71	0.579	49
63	Vermont	13-4	199	65.40	0.509	121
64	Santa Clara	13-4	202	65.27	0.514	115
65	Marshall	13-3	285	64.90	0.508	122
66	W Illinois	11-2	309	64.67	0.448	218
67	LSU	14-2	345	64.45	0.564	59
68	San Diego St	10-3	218	64.22	0.533	95
69	S Indiana	9-4	93	64.03	0.468	173
70	Albany	11-4	168	63.99	0.543	82
71	Sam Houston	8-4	54	63.98	0.464	182
72	Clemson	11-5	164	63.74	0.563	60
73	Gonzaga	11-6	40	63.74	0.580	47
74	Old Dominion	10-5	64	63.66	0.545	80
75	High Point	13-2	332	63.54	0.488	144
76	Auburn	11-5	181	63.22	0.573	53
77	Davidson	11-5	109	63.13	0.572	55
78	James Madison	11-5	112	62.92	0.570	56
79	Florida	12-5	230	62.54	0.554	68
80	Penn	10-4	161	62.48	0.499	127
81	Rice	12-3	306	62.02	0.558	65
82	Charleston	10-3	276	61.79	0.480	155
83	UMASS	10-2	324	61.76	0.550	72
84	UC Davis	10-4	185	61.72	0.485	149
85	Longwood	10-4	186	61.66	0.453	207
86	Green Bay	11-5	146	61.52	0.528	99
87	Notre Dame	10-4	262	61.30	0.566	57
88	St Johns	13-3	339	60.92	0.546	76
89	UC Irvine	13-2	341	60.84	0.538	89
90	E Kentucky	11-4	246	60.69	0.477	160
91	Jacksonville	9-4	172	60.32	0.483	150
92	Monmouth	9-4	175	60.23	0.444	228
93	San Francisco	10-5	139	60.03	0.525	100
94	Army	10-3	295	60.03	0.507	124
95	Virginia Tech	11-5	263	59.44	0.551	71
96	Ga Southern	10-4	237	59.41	0.511	119
97	Lindenwood	10-5	176	58.44	0.487	146
98	Arkansas	11-6	217	58.22	0.547	75
99	Santa Barbara	11-2	352	58.19	0.497	130
100	Binghamton	9-5	136	58.04	0.486	148
101	Texas A&M	7-4	188	57.98	0.555	67
102	Wake Forest	12-4	335	57.77	0.529	97
103	Ball St	11-4	299	57.64	0.508	123
104	TN Tech	10-3	327	57.41	0.460	188
105	Columbia	9-5	151	57.33	0.555	66
106	Rutgers	8-7	30	57.32	0.560	63
107	Southern Miss	10-5	206	57.21	0.479	158
108	Youngstown St	11-4	308	57.20	0.467	178
109	Fairfield	11-3	334	57.15	0.541	85
110	Abilene Chr	10-5	208	57.14	0.446	223
111	Pepperdine	10-5	212	56.97	0.480	157
112	Arizona	9-5	238	56.83	0.538	90
113	Idaho St	9-4	257	56.77	0.495	133
114	Boise St	10-5	215	56.74	0.510	120
115	S Utah	10-4	290	56.69	0.432	253
116	Kennesaw St	8-5	114	56.52	0.443	231
117	South Florida	8-7	18	56.09	0.574	52
118	Howard	11-6	203	55.94	0.534	93
119	La Salle	10-4	302	55.92	0.498	129
120	California	9-7	98	55.85	0.560	64
121	Bowling Green	8-6	58	55.75	0.423	267
122	South Dakota	11-4	321	55.59	0.430	254
123	LA Tech	7-5	80	55.54	0.470	170
124	N Colorado	10-5	249	55.50	0.440	239
125	Greensboro	10-5	252	55.28	0.411	295
126	Utah Valley	9-5	205	55.27	0.466	180
127	Nwestern St	7-6	27	55.22	0.489	142
128	Idaho	10-4	314	54.93	0.458	195
129	Georgetown	8-6	142	54.92	0.541	87
130	UTEP	8-5	154	54.87	0.461	186
131	Liberty	8-5	157	54.80	0.475	163
132	Kansas St	8-8	26	54.50	0.565	58
133	Ohio	8-4	260	54.49	0.490	141
134	Holy Cross	8-5	167	54.41	0.535	92
135	UNLV	9-5	233	54.20	0.542	83
136	Harvard	8-6	103	53.48	0.549	74
137	Dartmouth	9-5	255	53.26	0.423	265
138	E Michigan	7-5	131	53.20	0.490	139
139	Purdue	8-7	100	53.09	0.539	88
140	Belmont	8-7	44	53.06	0.553	69
141	Stetson	8-5	210	52.92	0.459	194
142	Fort Wayne	11-5	318	52.83	0.488	145
143	Penn St	7-8	16	52.82	0.577	50
144	Steph F Austin	9-5	269	52.77	0.451	214
145	Oral Roberts	8-7	55	52.64	0.449	216
146	Xavier	9-6	272	52.25	0.521	103
147	New Mexico	11-4	340	52.16	0.514	112
148	Furman	8-7	63	52.10	0.415	286
149	Fair Dickins	11-4	343	52.08	0.447	220
150	East Carolina	10-5	313	51.83	0.511	118
151	George Mason	8-6	152	51.49	0.535	91
152	Miami OH	10-4	338	51.29	0.451	211
153	App St	7-6	94	51.22	0.459	193
154	C Michigan	8-5	254	51.16	0.486	147
155	Missouri St	9-5	297	51.15	0.521	104
156	Chattanooga	8-5	256	51.12	0.445	225
157	Southern	6-7	8	51.10	0.504	125
158	C Arkansas	8-6	166	51.03	0.458	196
159	Bryant	12-3	361	50.88	0.442	235
160	Providence	9-7	231	50.77	0.524	102
161	NJ Tech	10-5	328	50.65	0.492	137
162	Charlotte	8-7	105	50.32	0.530	96
163	Drexel	7-5	213	50.29	0.480	156
164	UCF	8-6	258	50.26	0.514	114
165	Fla Gulf Coast	6-7	10	50.21	0.492	136
166	North Texas	7-7	42	50.17	0.473	165
167	UT Martin	7-6	120	50.14	0.415	287
168	Portland	9-7	184	49.87	0.469	171
169	Little Rock	7-7	61	49.34	0.470	169
170	N Iowa	8-6	224	49.07	0.515	111
171	Georgia Tech	7-9	23	48.97	0.546	77
172	Towson	8-5	301	48.86	0.473	166
173	Brown	9-4	350	48.60	0.463	184
174	William & Mary	8-5	311	48.40	0.471	168
175	Incarnate Word	6-6	85	48.38	0.449	217
176	Houston	6-8	20	48.37	0.541	86
177	Cleveland St	12-5	354	48.33	0.435	248
178	UTSA	7-6	178	48.11	0.493	135
179	Bradley	8-6	277	47.38	0.472	167
180	St Marys	10-7	298	47.31	0.453	206
181	St Louis	8-8	111	47.19	0.491	138
182	Mercer	10-5	351	47.11	0.426	261
183	CA Baptist	9-7	265	47.03	0.498	128
184	E Washington	7-7	124	46.76	0.448	219
185	Geo Wash	9-7	280	46.73	0.476	162
186	Robert Morris	10-4	358	46.67	0.419	276
187	Campbell	8-7	211	46.67	0.437	246
188	Mid Tenn	7-7	130	46.65	0.520	106
189	FIU	7-5	303	46.46	0.457	197
190	UC San Diego	8-5	331	46.46	0.455	203
191	Morehead St	7-8	62	46.40	0.493	134
192	ULM	6-7	59	46.24	0.524	101
193	Denver	7-8	77	45.86	0.422	268
194	Temple	6-7	70	45.71	0.534	94
195	St Bonaventure	10-5	355	45.70	0.452	210
196	Quinnipiac	10-4	363	45.42	0.482	151
197	Butler	7-8	156	45.26	0.514	113
198	Lehigh	6-7	83	45.18	0.516	108
199	NC A&T	5-8	2	45.13	0.410	300
200	Creighton	7-8	163	45.01	0.519	107
201	SIUE	8-6	315	44.94	0.390	329
202	Fullerton	7-7	191	44.69	0.429	257
203	LMU	8-7	278	44.56	0.465	181
204	Tulsa	9-4	360	44.53	0.481	154
205	UAB	7-7	198	44.47	0.467	179
206	West Georgia	8-5	342	44.32	0.410	297
207	Northwestern	6-9	36	43.93	0.528	98
208	Navy	7-6	293	43.87	0.455	201
209	Tarleton	7-7	227	43.53	0.433	252
210	Radford	9-8	289	43.45	0.427	258
211	SMU	7-9	140	43.40	0.516	109
212	St Thomas	7-8	148	43.39	0.416	283
213	Jax St	7-7	236	43.21	0.389	330
214	East Texas	6-6	240	43.12	0.412	294
215	Winthrop	8-8	248	42.93	0.407	303
216	Alabama St	5-8	11	42.92	0.457	198
217	Pacific	7-8	169	42.64	0.468	176
218	Rio Grande	6-8	78	42.54	0.439	241
219	Hampton	7-7	267	42.28	0.382	338
220	Dayton	8-6	337	42.28	0.478	159
221	Air Force	7-7	270	42.21	0.455	200
222	Hawaii	6-8	96	41.89	0.434	250
223	Coastal	7-9	116	41.85	0.445	224
224	MD Eastern	8-10	134	41.84	0.451	212
225	Duquesne	7-7	283	41.83	0.414	290
226	Weber St	6-9	38	41.60	0.424	264
227	Fresno St	7-8	207	41.56	0.459	190
228	South Alabama	8-6	344	41.45	0.469	172
229	Iona	8-7	329	41.43	0.429	256
230	Merrimack	6-7	209	41.21	0.444	230
231	FAU	6-8	115	41.20	0.467	177
232	Illinois St	7-8	225	41.04	0.496	132
233	Lamar	6-6	296	40.92	0.445	227
234	TX Southern	5-9	9	40.82	0.404	304
235	Queens	7-6	333	40.78	0.399	312
236	E Tenn St	7-8	234	40.77	0.426	260
237	Toledo	6-6	305	40.63	0.442	236
238	Wofford	6-8	149	40.26	0.398	315
239	Utah St	6-7	242	40.21	0.453	208
240	Kent St	5-9	14	40.09	0.455	202
241	Wagner	6-7	250	39.99	0.412	293
242	Samford	7-10	106	39.96	0.417	280
243	Sacramento St	7-8	274	39.68	0.417	282
244	Texas St	6-7	259	39.57	0.410	299
245	Colgate	5-8	60	39.56	0.463	183
246	Florida St	5-11	3	39.55	0.541	84
247	Alcorn St	4-8	6	39.45	0.450	215
248	Stony Brook	6-9	101	39.21	0.403	305
249	Pittsburgh	8-9	323	39.19	0.436	247
250	Tulane	6-8	197	38.91	0.482	153
251	Norfolk St	6-10	51	38.81	0.395	318
252	Fordham	8-6	357	38.74	0.420	274
253	Nicholls	7-5	359	38.72	0.417	279
254	North Florida	5-8	95	38.35	0.420	273
255	Elon	6-8	222	38.22	0.440	240
256	New Hampshire	6-9	145	38.09	0.425	263
257	Georgia St	6-10	74	37.93	0.442	234
258	Northridge	5-8	108	37.91	0.418	278
259	New Mexico St	5-9	45	37.58	0.402	309
260	Memphis	6-9	162	37.42	0.456	199
261	Delaware	6-8	264	37.06	0.437	245
262	Maine	6-9	183	37.00	0.476	161
263	IL Chicago	7-8	326	36.89	0.460	189
264	Cincinnati	5-10	73	36.27	0.468	174
265	N Kentucky	6-11	68	36.13	0.488	143
266	Utah Tech	5-7	275	36.12	0.423	266
267	Arlington	6-9	229	35.80	0.474	164
268	Alabama A&M	5-9	113	35.38	0.395	321
269	San Diego	6-11	97	35.27	0.459	192
270	Long Island	7-6	362	35.26	0.361	352
271	Nevada	5-9	122	35.14	0.444	229
272	Balt County	5-8	219	35.01	0.395	320
273	North Alabama	5-8	226	34.86	0.394	323
274	Marist	5-9	137	34.80	0.468	175
275	Mt St Marys	6-7	347	34.15	0.447	221
276	Siena	6-7	348	34.08	0.438	243
277	SEMO	5-8	261	33.89	0.389	331
278	N Arizona	5-10	99	33.71	0.421	269
279	SC Upstate	5-11	66	32.78	0.394	322
280	Bakersfield	5-9	223	32.74	0.425	262
281	Houston Chr	4-8	153	32.68	0.391	328
282	Cornell	5-8	310	32.32	0.446	222
283	UC Riverside	4-9	82	32.31	0.413	292
284	Lowell	6-9	325	32.29	0.350	359
285	Sacred Heart	6-8	349	31.94	0.402	307
286	Loyola MD	5-8	317	31.90	0.438	242
287	IU Indy	5-10	194	31.48	0.400	310
288	W Michigan	4-8	220	31.23	0.419	277
289	Wilmington	5-8	330	31.04	0.396	316
290	Wright St	6-10	316	31.03	0.386	334
291	Bucknell	4-9	132	31.02	0.435	249
292	Kansas City	4-11	22	30.81	0.402	308
293	Portland St	5-9	307	30.41	0.403	306
294	Boston Univ	4-9	180	30.04	0.410	298
295	Drake	4-9	189	29.84	0.459	191
296	W Kentucky	4-9	190	29.81	0.414	291
297	Oakland	4-11	37	29.80	0.451	213
298	Asheville	5-10	271	29.79	0.345	362
299	Wyoming	4-9	214	29.28	0.415	285
300	Lipscomb	4-9	235	28.84	0.379	343
301	Milwaukee	5-11	244	28.69	0.385	336
302	Chrls So	4-11	79	28.59	0.438	244
303	VCU	4-11	90	28.32	0.482	152
304	Northeastern	4-8	322	28.07	0.421	272
305	Hofstra	3-10	19	28.06	0.454	205
306	Lafayette	5-8	356	27.84	0.410	296
307	Loyola Chicago	4-10	201	27.71	0.461	187
308	Stonehill	4-9	292	27.45	0.392	326
309	Indiana St	5-9	346	27.44	0.415	288
310	New Haven	4-9	312	26.81	0.350	358
311	Ark Pine Bluff	3-9	125	26.72	0.415	289
312	Detroit	4-10	253	26.66	0.398	314
313	Montana	3-10	50	26.62	0.442	237
314	Yale	4-10	268	26.42	0.426	259
315	Boston College	4-13	102	26.34	0.463	185
316	Grambling	4-11	196	26.17	0.359	353
317	NC Central	3-11	24	26.08	0.442	233
318	Grand Canyon	3-11	25	26.07	0.490	140
319	Akron	3-11	31	25.69	0.442	238
320	Seattle	4-11	245	25.31	0.377	347
321	Bethune	3-11	65	24.59	0.365	350
322	Gardner Webb	4-11	294	24.18	0.407	301
323	W Carolina	3-11	92	24.03	0.354	355
324	S Illinois	3-10	192	23.83	0.369	348
325	Cal Poly	3-11	110	23.63	0.391	327
326	Washington St	3-14	5	23.39	0.497	131
327	Coppin St	3-13	21	23.34	0.454	204
328	Wichita St	3-12	117	22.14	0.415	284
329	SELA	2-10	29	22.06	0.429	255
330	North Dakota	3-12	141	21.83	0.379	342
331	Jackson St	2-11	17	21.30	0.443	232
332	Depaul	3-14	104	21.07	0.452	209
333	Evansville	3-11	279	21.03	0.417	281
334	St Peters	3-11	287	20.83	0.377	345
335	SC St	3-13	128	20.75	0.377	346
336	Delaware St	3-13	135	20.66	0.350	357
337	Le Moyne	3-12	251	20.12	0.387	332
338	American	3-10	336	20.07	0.386	333
339	Prairie View	2-11	47	20.02	0.381	339
340	MS Valley	2-11	57	19.83	0.445	226
341	Corpus Christi	2-10	173	19.36	0.380	340
342	Buffalo	2-11	121	18.77	0.421	270
343	TN St	2-11	159	18.21	0.420	275
344	Bellarmine	2-13	71	17.28	0.407	302
345	N Illinois	2-11	241	17.24	0.399	311
346	Canisius	2-11	286	16.67	0.398	313
347	San Jose St	2-13	144	16.35	0.395	319
348	Presbyterian	2-13	160	16.07	0.346	360
349	Omaha	2-15	67	15.49	0.385	335
350	Rider	2-12	300	15.28	0.379	344
351	Mercyhurst	1-12	33	13.60	0.434	251
352	Long Beach	1-12	75	13.00	0.392	325
353	Manhattan	1-12	87	12.89	0.421	271
354	Louisiana	1-13	48	12.48	0.362	351
355	Morgan St	1-16	32	10.80	0.384	337
356	Chicago St	1-14	170	10.66	0.393	324
357	E Illinois	1-14	204	10.41	0.395	317
358	C Connecticut	0-13	119	6.27	0.380	341
359	New Orleans	0-13	133	6.20	0.352	356
360	St Francis	0-13	171	6.03	0.338	363
361	Florida A&M	0-12	281	5.99	0.366	349
362	Niagara	0-13	266	5.64	0.357	354
363	Valparaiso	0-15	304	4.78	0.346	361