Ok, I'm amazed at the criticism I am hearing about the Memphis schedule, so I decided to do some research (By the way, Memphis is 5-0 versus the Sagarin Top 25, Kansas is 2-0, the closest competitor is Tennessee at 4-1)
Strength of Schedule
Memphis
RPI #34
Sagarin #97
Ken Pomeroy #42
Kansas
RPI #36
Sagarin #85
Ken Pomeroy #28
Tennessee
RPI #2
Sagarin #12
Ken Pomeroy #7
UCLA
RPI #32
Sagarin #36
Ken Pomeroy #19
Duke
RPI #37
Sagarin #47
Ken Pomeroy #15
North Carolina
RPI #11
Sagarin #28
Ken Pomeroy #37
Memphis definitely has the weakest of the group, but not by a big margin, especially compared to Kansas. If you take into account the fact that Memphis plays in the worst conference in the group, it is pretty easy to explain.
So are the critics mad that Memphis has home games against Georgetown, Arizona, Tennessee and Gonzaga? I remember the Tigers playing three of those teams on the road last year. Only Georgetown is new on the schedule. And yes, Memphis was 1 and 2 in those road games last year.
Are the critics now going to say that Memphis has only beat marginal competition on neutral sites?
Oklahoma (14-5) (RPI - #28, Sagarin - #27, Ken Pomery - #27)
Connecticut (14-5) (RPI - #23, Sagarin - #22, Ken Pomery - #28)
Southern Cal (13-6) (RPI - #38, Sagarin - #21, Ken Pomery - #24)
Pretty strong resume by those teams.
1 comment:
i think the argument is against CUSA, not necessarily against the "entire schedule" for coach cal has done a very good job scheduling good teams around the league schedule.
i think the argument is that if you play in say the ACC or the Big East, or the Big 12, then you are more likely to get busted on one night or another,
whereas, in the CUSA, league play is a long coast through less challenging competition.
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