The Schwach Indicator: Feb. 24

This is the seventh week of the Schwach Indicator standings.  For those of you who missed the explanation of this new evaluation tool, here's a quick recap.

As the NCAA tournament approaches every March, one starts hearing college basketball experts talk a lot about top 50 and top 100 wins when discussing a team's possible seed or whether or not a school deserves to be in the Big Dance at all.

I think these two criteria are important as well, but they're not perfect. Why? Because not all top 100 wins are created equal. 

So I set out to create a more precise evaluation system in which teams aren't grouped by 50 or 100, but individually according to their RPI.

I enlisted the help of two friends: Brad Wachtel, director of operations at Hoop Group, a New Jersey-based company that organizes basketball camps and runs an NCAA preseason tournament; and Mike Sverdlov, a computer programmer for New York Life.

We came up with the following formula.

For each victory, a team receives the number of points equal to their opponent's RPI rank subtracted from 344. So if you beat the RPI's 144th-ranked team, you receive 200 points.  Beat them at a neutral site, and you multiply that number by 1.25. Beat them on the road and multiply the number by 1.5.

For each loss, a team receives a deduction of the exact number of points equal to their opponent's RPI rank. So you better not lose to the RPI's 300th-ranked team, or you'll lose 300 points. Lose to the top team in the country? No sweat, you drop only one point. But lose at home, and that number is multiplied by 1.5.

This way teams are rewarded for beating better teams (especially on the road) and punished for losing to worse teams (especially at home). 

Mosang Miles put together an interesting slideshow article last week grouping teams by conferences and ranking the leagues based on the Schwach Indicator.

Without further ado, let's get to the rankings through action on Monday, Feb. 23.

1    Connecticut    7275.50
2    Pittsburgh    6940.25
3    North Carolina    6813.75
4    Oklahoma    6595.00
5    Memphis    6317.25
6    Michigan State    6146.50
7    Duke    6010.00
8    Louisville    5993.00
9    Clemson    5573.50
10    Kansas    5559.00
11    Villanova    5487.50
12    Xavier    5382.75
13    Marquette    5359.25
14    Arizona State    5212.25
15    Illinois    5204.75
16    Florida State    5129.25
17    Butler    4911.50
18    West Virginia    4885.25
19    Wake Forest    4869.00
20    Purdue    4846.00
21    Missouri    4809.75
22    Washington    4782.50
23    Creighton    4588.75
24    Siena    4555.50
25    California    4513.50
26    Utah    4509.50
27    LSU    4449.00
28    UCLA    4426.25
29    Dayton    4375.75
30    Gonzaga    4360.25
31    Syracuse    4337.50
32    Brigham Young    4119.00
33    Minnesota    4085.75
34    Texas    4030.50
35    UNLV    3940.50
36    Utah State    3934.50
37    Wisconsin    3932.50
38    Boston College    3865.00
39    Saint Mary's    3756.00
40    Niagara    3752.50
41    Ohio State    3746.50
42    Penn State    3670.00
43    Arizona    3629.00
44    Tennessee    3608.00
45    Illinois State    3606.00
46    Temple    3538.75
47    Florida    3487.25
48    Kentucky    3468.75
49    UAB    3458.75
50    Oklahoma State    3456.75
51    South Carolina    3373.00
52    Texas A&M    3361.00
53    Rhode Island    3299.25
54    USC    3268.25
55    Maryland    3207.25
56    Davidson    3175.50
57    Cincinnati    3169.00
58    Georgetown    3146.75
59    Virginia Tech    3100.50
60    Kansas State    3091.00
61    Michigan    3013.75
62    Wisconsin-Green Bay    2958.75
63    New Mexico    2890.00
64    Tulsa    2845.50
65    Providence    2764.00
66    Miami (FL)    2712.00
67    Northern Iowa    2686.75
68    Virginia Commonwealth    2684.00
69    San Diego State    2676.25
70    Vermont    2636.75
71    Hofstra    2604.00
72    Mississippi State    2545.00
73    Notre Dame    2491.25
74    UTEP    2482.00
75    Northeastern    2460.00
76    George Mason    2424.00
77    Cleveland State    2399.50
78    Baylor    2395.75
79    Washington State    2395.75
80    Nebraska    2358.00
81    Western Kentucky    2263.25
82    Vanderbilt    2226.50
83    Mississippi    2185.00
84    Northwestern    2167.50
85    Houston    2143.50
86    Stanford    2026.00
87    Duquesne    2005.00
88    Iowa    1955.00
89    North Carolina State    1950.00
90    Auburn    1934.50
91    Arkansas-Little Rock    1915.00
92    Saint Joseph's    1893.50
93    Buffalo    1893.00
94    Drake    1833.75
95    Old Dominion    1832.50
96    Bradley    1811.00
97    Evansville    1794.00
98    Drexel    1749.50
99    Seton Hall    1695.00
100    Saint Louis    1689.25
101    Wright State    1621.50
102    Nevada    1609.50
103    Binghamton    1597.50
104    American University    1556.00
105    Miami (OH)    1552.50
106    James Madison    1487.50
107    Charleston    1449.75
108    Fairfield    1414.75
109    UCF    1398.00
110    La Salle    1366.75
111    Portland    1332.25
112    Boise State    1310.50
113    Wyoming    1297.25
114    Weber State    1265.50
115    TCU    1203.75
116    Manhattan    1169.00
117    Southern Miss    1139.25
118    Oregon State    1116.50
119    Arkansas    1115.00
120    St. John's    1077.00
121    Milwaukee    1051.50
122    Rider    1045.50
123    New Mexico State    1039.00
124    North Dakota State    1006.00
125    Alabama    936.25
126    Virginia    920.00
127    Texas Tech    908.00
128    Cornell    809.25
129    Wichita State    774.25
130    Akron    769.00
131    Richmond    752.50
132    Oakland    720.50
133    Iowa State    710.50
134    Virginia Military    683.00
135    Stephen F. Austin    659.50
136    Robert Morris    575.50
137    Troy    540.75
138    San Diego    540.25
139    Portland State    526.25
140    Kent State    476.00
141    Citadel    469.75
142    North Texas    461.00
143    Liberty    456.00
144    Charlotte    448.50
145    Oral Roberts    421.75
146    Radford    412.50
147    Georgia Tech    372.00
148    South Florida    367.00
149    Massachusetts    351.00
150    Idaho    349.00
151    Illinois-Chicago    343.50
152    South Alabama    338.75
153    Boston University    244.00
154    Long Beach State    217.00
155    Southern Illinois    207.50
156    Tennessee-Martin    202.50
157    St. Bonaventure    147.50
158    Iona    138.75
159    Mount St. Mary's    134.50
160    Albany    71.00
161    Bowling Green    18.50
162    Morgan State    12.00
163    Belmont    -21.50
164    Navy    -36.50
165    Oregon    -44.00
166    East Carolina    -46.00
167    Texas A&M-CC    -57.50
168    Pacific    -58.00
169    Marshall    -63.00
170    Rutgers    -81.50
171    Ohio    -110.75
172    Sam Houston State    -134.50
173    Middle Tennessee State    -136.50
174    Eastern Kentucky    -156.50
175    Montana    -176.50
176    Loyola (IL)    -197.50
177    Colorado State    -203.00
178    Texas-San Antonio    -239.50
179    Missouri State    -240.00
180    Chattanooga    -270.00
181    DePaul    -304.25
182    East Tennessee State    -322.50
183    Wofford    -364.00
184    Morehead State    -379.75
185    Murray State    -390.50
186    Georgia    -399.75
187    Loyola (MD)    -401.00
188    Stony Brook    -442.50
189    UC Riverside    -482.00
190    Santa Clara    -563.00
191    Jacksonville    -605.50
192    Texas-Arlington    -615.00
193    Indiana    -657.00
194    Hawaii    -687.00
195    George Washington    -698.00
196    Cal State Northridge    -721.00
197    Louisiana Tech    -752.50
198    UC Santa Barbara    -768.00
199    Holy Cross    -807.50
200    Mercer    -814.75
201    Nicholls State    -831.50
202    UMBC    -861.50
203    Alabama State    -869.25
204    Delaware    -873.75
205    Cal State Fullerton    -877.00
206    Tulane    -886.75
207    Montana State    -901.00
208    Western Carolina    -931.50
209    North Carolina-Asheville    -937.00
210    Indiana State    -938.00
211    Colorado    -968.75
212    Lamar    -1026.50
213    Ball State    -1046.00
214    Idaho State    -1071.50
215    Austin Peay    -1104.00
216    Arkansas State    -1111.00
217    San Francisco    -1132.50
218    IUPUI    -1171.00
219    Canisius    -1226.00
220    Youngstown State    -1237.50
221    San Jose State    -1283.50
222    Lehigh    -1296.00
223    Sacred Heart    -1308.00
224    Denver    -1317.25
225    Florida International    -1347.00
226    Fresno State    -1347.50
227    Presbyterian    -1354.00
228    Jackson State    -1414.25
229    UC Davis    -1429.75
230    Eastern Washington    -1453.50
231    New Hampshire    -1471.50
232    St. Peter's    -1554.00
233    Air Force    -1570.75
234    Samford    -1588.50
235    Yale    -1593.50
236    Chicago State    -1603.50
237    Valparaiso    -1628.50
238    Rice    -1657.75
239    Long Island    -1665.00
240    Marist    -1682.50
241    Central Connecticut State    -1698.00
242    Lipscomb    -1745.50
243    Utah Valley    -1748.50
244    Towson    -1845.50
245    Western Michigan    -1847.50
246    Appalachian State    -1854.00
247    North Carolina A&T    -1871.50
248    Southern Methodist    -1874.00
249    IPFW    -1881.50
250    Louisiana-Lafayette    -1900.00
251    UC Irvine    -1903.50
252    Columbia    -1917.75
253    Georgia State    -1941.50
254    Longwood    -1948.50
255    William & Mary    -1978.50
256    Texas State    -2002.00
257    Gardner-Webb    -2024.00
258    Coppin State    -2033.00
259    Stetson    -2036.50
260    Georgia Southern    -2108.50
261    South Dakota State    -2124.00
262    McNeese State    -2126.00
263    Southern Utah    -2195.00
264    Detroit    -2205.50
265    Harvard    -2223.00
266    Winthrop    -2238.00
267    Pennsylvania    -2268.00
268    New Orleans    -2276.00
269    Campbell    -2296.00
270    Hampton    -2305.00
271    Northern Colorado    -2314.00
272    Eastern Illinois    -2348.50
273    Elon    -2373.50
274    Princeton    -2388.50
275    Savannah State    -2399.50
276    North Carolina-Wilmington    -2438.75
277    Pepperdine    -2438.75
278    Quinnipiac    -2471.50
279    Wagner    -2479.00
280    Arkansas-Pine Bluff    -2488.00
281    Jacksonville State    -2488.50
282    Cal Poly    -2581.00
283    Tennessee State    -2581.00
284    Coastal Carolina    -2596.75
285    Maine    -2618.75
286    South Carolina State    -2629.00
287    St. Francis (NY)    -2647.50
288    Louisiana-Monroe    -2673.00
289    Bethune-Cookman    -2688.75
290    Prairie View A&M    -2726.00
291    Central Michigan    -2753.50
292    Southeastern Louisiana    -2820.50
293    Fordham    -2852.00
294    Northern Arizona    -2898.00
295    Alabama A&M    -2905.50
296    Central Arkansas    -2965.75
297    Cal State Bakersfield    -2999.00
298    Centenary    -3043.75
299    Northwestern State    -3107.00
300    Texas-Pan American    -3108.75
301    Brown    -3130.50
302    Northern Illinois    -3160.75
303    Florida A&M    -3169.75
304    Lafayette    -3201.50
305    Toledo    -3270.50
306    Howard    -3296.50
307    Charleston Southern    -3366.00
308    Tennessee Tech    -3374.50
309    USC Upstate    -3387.50
310    Bucknell    -3388.50
311    Hartford    -3434.25
312    Colgate    -3474.50
313    Florida Atlantic    -3489.25
314    UMKC    -3562.00
315    Dartmouth    -3608.00
316    Norfolk State    -3736.50
317    Western Illinois    -3775.50
318    High Point    -3858.00
319    Army    -3861.50
320    Furman    -3904.50
321    Bryant University    -3969.50
322    Florida Gulf Coast    -4006.50
323    Delaware State    -4013.50
324    Houston Baptist    -4055.50
325    Loyola Marymount    -4085.00
326    Fairleigh Dickinson    -4132.00
327    North Florida    -4170.00
328    Winston-Salem    -4233.00
329    Southern University    -4399.50
330    Eastern Michigan    -4454.50
331    Grambling State    -4503.25
332    Mississippi Valley State    -4572.00
333    Monmouth    -4638.75
334    St. Francis (PA)    -4666.50
335    UNC Greensboro    -4670.00
336    Maryland-Eastern Shore    -5148.00
337    Kennesaw State    -5189.50
338    Alcorn State    -5201.00
339    Texas Southern    -5203.50
340    North Carolina Central    -5387.00
341    Southeast Missouri State    -6120.50
342    Sacramento State    -6300.50
343    N.J.I.T.    -7419.50

Jordan Schwartz is Bleacher Report's New York Yankees Community Leader. His book "Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man" is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at [e-mail]