Despite losing two straight, Duke remains #2 in both power ratings, and in the new combined power rating.
The Win/Loss ratings for games through 2/21:
# Team rec Rating Pts rank
1. Memphis 26-0 51.18 3
2. Duke 22-3 35.47 2
3. Texas 22-4 33.89 15
4. Tennessee 24-2 32.98 6
5. UCLA 23-3 27.84 5
6. Kansas 24-2 25.65 1
7. North Carolina 25-2 24.16 4
8. Wisconsin 22-4 20.94 8
9. Butler 25-2 18.12 36
10. Stanford 21-4 17.22 13
The Blue Devils were closing in on Memphis' #1 rank in the Win/Loss power rating, which doesn't use score margin. But now the Tigers are far and away the top team, as everyone else has 2 or more losses. Texas continues their climb toward the top, bracketbuster Butler sits at #9, while Drake's 3rd loss drops them to #19.
Points-only power rating through 2/21:
# Team rec Rating W/L rank
1. Kansas 24-2 25.68 6
2. Duke 22-3 23.57 2
3. Memphis 26-0 23.04 1
4. North Carolina 25-2 22.96 7
5. UCLA 23-3 22.22 5
6. Tennessee 24-2 20.15 4
7. Xavier 23-4 19.31 11
8. Wisconsin 22-4 19.20 8
9. Georgetown 20-4 18.77 13
10. Marquette 19-6 18.76 16
Duke doesn't fall in the points-only rating either, though that's more to be expected. The loss to Miami was only one point, and even with the Wake Forest 13 point margin, those are both decent teams (#42 and #68) and were road games. Averaging these among Duke's 25 games lowers their rating, but not enough for Memphis to overtake them.
It's interesting how the two lists are starting to come together. All of the teams in the Points top ten are 16th or better. While Butler is still an aberration, Drake is only 10 spots apart on the two lists (19th and 29th), and West Virginia has slid to 16th in Points after being 7th or better most of the year while their Win/Loss ranking is far lower.
To give an overall idea of team strength, I've combined the two rating systems, like I do for college football. It makes a pretty decent balance between winning games and dominating scorewise:
Combined Win/Loss + Points rating through 2/21:
# Team rec Rating AP rank
1. Memphis 26-0 74.23 1
2. Duke 22-3 59.04 3
3. Tennessee 24-2 53.13 2
4. Texas 22-4 51.71 7
5. Kansas 24-2 51.34 4
6. UCLA 23-3 50.07 6
7. North Carolina 25-2 47.12 3
8. Wisconsin 22-4 40.14 11
9. Xavier 23-4 35.79 10
10. Stanford 21-4 35.20 9
11. Georgetown 20-4 33.40 12
12. Marquette 19-6 32.69 25
13. Michigan St. 21-5 31.79 19
14. Butler 25-2 31.11 8
15. Washington St. 21-5 30.75 17
16. Louisville 21-6 30.16 18
17. Connecticut 21-5 29.68 13
18. Notre Dame 20-5 29.66 21
19. Indiana 22-4 29.65 15
20. Pittsburgh 19-7 26.95 --
21. St. Mary's 23-3 26.93 23
22. Purdue 21-6 26.83 14
23. Kansas St. 18-7 26.63 24
24. Drake 23-3 26.62 16
25. Texas A&M 20-6 25.51 22
All of the teams in this week's AP top 25 are in the Combined Power Rating top 25, with the exception of Vanderbilt. Pittsburgh makes the power rating list instead. Of course, some of these teams have lost since the AP poll was out, but it's interesting to compare the algorithm's results with aggregated informed human opinion.
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