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Resume comparison: Feb. 15

A reader comment yesterday got me thinking ...

Unlike other comparisons, this one is for seeding purposes rather than inclusions purposes.

Team A	Category	Team B
18-6	W-L	17-7
15	RPI	14
2-4	Road	3-6
4-5	Road/Neutral	6-7
4-4	T50	5-5
9-4	T100	6-7
1-0	200+	4-0
6-4	Conference	5-5
14	SOS	10
No. 109 (H)     No. 119 (A)	100+ Losses	None

Also worth mentioning: Team A beat Team B on Team A's home floor.

So what to make of this? The records are nearly identical. So are the RPI and strength of schedule metrics. Both teams have won a third of their road games and are one game under .500 away from home. Both have played a healthy number of top-50 games and split them.

On the surface, Team B's greatest advantage is that is has no befuddling losses. Team A's greatest advantages are strong work against the second 50 and only one game against a truly dreadful team.

But here's a below-the-surface figure: Team A's best true road victory came against the No. 144 team in the RPI, and it owns only two top-100 victories away from home (Nos. 10 and 86 on a neutral floor). Team B has two top-100 road wins (Nos. 24 and 83) and two top-100 neutral floor wins (Nos. 9 and 37).

So why are the mystery teams? Read on after the jump.

Resume comparison: Feb. 14

Two teams. Potentially one spot. You know the drill ...

Team A	Category	Team B
19-6	W-L	16-8
55	RPI	64
4-4	Road	2-4
5-4	Road/Neutral	3-7
2-6	T50	1-4
5-6	T100	4-6
9-0	200+	6-0
6-6	Conference	6-5
108	SOS	65
None	100+ Losses	No. 121 (A) No. 141 (A)

No, this isn't a trick question. Team A is the team with a better profile.

It owns more road wins. It hasn't absorbed any obnoxious losses. It's slightly better against top-50 and top-100 competition.

Of course, both of these teams have relatively so-so records against those inside the top 200 --- Team A is 10-6, while Team B is 10-8. Still, even that suggests Team A is a little bit better.

Then again, when you've played eight games by now against top-50 competition and still have a schedule strength in triple digits, it means a lot of patsies clogged your early-season schedule.

So who are the mystery teams? Read on ...

Resume comparison: Feb. 11

Two bubblers in today's resume comparison, one that will be of some regional interest. ...

Team A	Category	Team B
19-6	W-L	20-6
72	RPI	53
8-2	Road	7-5
10-3	Road/Neutral	9-6
1-2	T50	2-2
4-4	T100	5-3
8-0	200+	9-1
8-2	Conference	12-2
141	SOS	160
No. 116 (A)      No. 175 (N)	100+ Losses	No. 157 (A) No. 165 (A) No. 223 (A)

These are two teams with virtually identical records, differences in the statistical metrics (RPI and strength of schedule) that effectively make them a push and places near the top of their respective leagues.

Team B's best wins are against No. 31 (on the road) and No. 40 (on a neutral court). Team A's best victory is against No. 11 on a neutral court.

So Team A's resume is slightly thinner, but it definitely had the best victory between the two.

Neither team has a home loss to a team outside the top 100 (heck, Team B hasn't lost at home yet), and both have some unpleasant blemishes to explain away.

Oh, and Team A beat Team B by 12 in a head-to-head meeting.

Who are today's mystery teams? Read on after the jump

Resume comparison: Feb. 10

A notable mid-major lost on Wednesday for the first time since early December.

Said team still leads its conference, but imagine it had to fight its way into the NCAA tournament as an at-large selection.

Would it be easy? Read on.

Team A	Category	Team B
22-3	W-L	15-10
28	RPI	55
8-3	Road	3-4
8-3	Road/Neutral	3-6
0-2	T50	2-7
0-2	T100	7-9
10-0	200+	6-0
11-1	Conference	5-7
156	SOS	13
No. 156 (A)	100+ Losses	No. 152 (A)

This isn't a comparison in which a team's worst day is going to decide anything. Both teams have effectively identical lousy results.

Obviously, Team A has a gaudy record, a better RPI and has done well on the road. But some of that has to be evaluated in the context of strength of schedule.

Team A has played the No. 156 schedule and is 8-3 on the road. Team B has played the No. 13 schedule and is 3-4 on the road. While it is possible Team B has played bad teams on the road, it stands to reason that it has done a bit more away from home than Team A. And indeed, it has; Team B's road victories are against Nos. 48, 62 and 66.

Team A has only played two top-100 teams. That's not the easiest bit of scheduling magic.

This should not be construed as an endorsement of Team B's tournament prospects, but rather as an indication that Team A is nowhere near a lock for the NCAA tournament should it lose in its conference tournament. That was probably already true, but the possibility of arguing Team A ran the table for three months before a random conference tournament loss is now kaput.

Who are the mystery teams? Read on after the jump

Resume comparison: Feb. 9

Both of these teams may well be in the NCAA tournament if it began today.

It's surprising, though, how close these two profiles look based on the names of the teams involved.

Team A	Category	Team B
16-7	W-L	16-7
41	RPI	54
5-3	Road	5-4
8-4	Road/Neutral	6-5
2-3	T50	2-4
4-5	T100	6-6
7-0	200+	8-1
6-3	Conference	6-3
44	SOS	73
No. 132 (N) No. 188 (H)	100+ Losses	No. 281 (A)

I promise, this is not one team looking in the mirror at the other.

But it's understandable why someone might think that.

There is very, very little to distinguish these teams. Team A has a better schedule strength and doesn't have a humiliating loss to a team among the 100 worst in Division I.

Of course, Team A has also lost at home inexplicably to a team teetering on falling out of the top 200.

Perhaps worth noting: Team A's best victories are against Nos. 27 and 44. Team B's best victories are against Nos. 8 and 43. Team B clearly has the best single-day performance between the two teams.

But ultimately, it looks like a push.

Who are the mystery teams? Read on.

Resume comparison: Feb. 7

The two teams in today's blind comparison were among the final teams on the board for last night's projection. One made it. One did not.

Let's take a look at both.

Team A	Category	Team B
15-8	W-L	17-6
57	RPI	46
4-3	Road	2-3
6-4	Road/Neutral	4-4
2-5	T50	2-3
3-7	T100	6-5
8-0	200+	6-1
3-5	Conference	5-3
38	SOS	60
No. 145 (H)	100+ Losses	No. 214 (A)

These are not dissimilar teams at all. Team A appears to be a bit better away from home, but not by a considerable margin. Both teams have a couple decent victories --- Team A  topped Nos. 12 and 49 at home, Team B beat Nos. 41 and 49 on the road --- and Team B picked up roughly a third of its victories against the top 100.

Team A owns the slightly tougher schedule. Team B owns the ugliest loss.

That setback, coupled with the one high-profile win for Team A, tipped the scales against Team B. But it was close. Real close. thisclose.

Who are the mystery teams? Take a peek after the jump.

Resume comparison: Feb. 4

Closing out the week with another look at two mystery teams ...

Team A	Category	Team B
13-9	W-L	14-9
42	RPI	60
3-5	Road	2-5
4-7	Road/Neutral	2-7
3-7	T50	3-8
6-8	T100	4-9
5-0	200+	7-0
5-5	Conference	5-5
7	SOS	28
No. 151 (A)	100+ Losses	None

These are both teams comfortably in the field right now, which says quite a bit about this year's field. So while this isn't so much an are-they-in-or-aren't-they post, it is a bit of a reality check about the state of Team A.

Granted, Team A isn't perfect. The overall record isn't pristine, and one of the wins won't count because it came against a Division II team. The road and road/neutral marks aren't great, but at least most of that work was done against top-100 teams.

The loss to No. 151 does Team A no favors, but some quick math makes it clear Team A has played more teams inside the top 100 (14) than outside of it (8). Just one game on Team A's remaining schedule is against a team outside the top 75.

Meanwhile, Team B has all the makings of what collegerpi.com's Jerry Palm would call a Home Court Hero. It has won two games away from home and one away from its area code all season. It is worth noting its seven road/neutral losses have come against top-75 opponents (six against the top 25) and have come by a combined 41 points. Its largest margin of defeat is eight points.

It is what most people would peg as a tournament team as of today. And since Team A is fairly similar, it stands to reason it would be in the field as well.

Click on the jump to find the identity of the mystery teams.

Resume comparison: Feb. 3

Time for today's NCAA tournament resume comparison, which includes a variable that (a) will be mentioned later and (b) will have the fanbase ever-so-slightly on the wrong end of this analysis flustered.

Team A	Category	Team B
15-7	W-L	15-6
46	RPI	62
2-5	Road	3-3
5-6	Road/Neutral	7-4
3-2	T50	2-4
4-6	T100	5-4
5-0	200+	7-0
3-5	Conference	5-3
55	SOS	84
No. 152 (A)	100+ Losses	No. 137 (H) No. 158 (A)

The statistical metrics --- RPI and strength of schedule --- lean toward Team A. Predictably, Team A has fewer victories over chumps.

So what's going for Team B? The record away from home stands out. Team B is 2-3 against top-100 teams outside of its home gym, and the 5-4 overall mark against the top 100 is notable. Team A owns the better set of victories, but Team B has some breadth to its resume.

Both teams have had inexplicable losses, but the road setbacks to teams in the 150s basically cancel each other out. Team B, though, must explain just how it lost to No. 137 on its home floor. That's a tougher sell.

Team A has defeats of Nos. 33, 38 and 49, all in its home arena. Its best victory away from home was against No. 98, an in-state opponent.

As for Team B, its best road victory was a 17-point throttling of No. 74. But on a neutral court, it topped No. 46.

Hey, wait a minute ... doesn't that sound familiar?

More after the jump.

Resume comparison: Feb. 2

There's 40 days to Selection Sunday, which means it is probably time to start comparing teams from a so-so NCAA tournament bubble --- and, at times, take a look at seeding arguments as well.

But let's start with a couple teams fighting for attention for one of the final spots in the tournament.

Team A	Category	Team B
14-8	W-L	19-4
40	RPI	41
2-4	Road	6-1
3-6	Road/Neutral	8-2
0-6	T50	0-3
5-8	T100	0-4
3-0	200+	8-0
2-5	Conference	10-2
15	SOS	105
None	100+ Losses	None

This is a tricky one. The teams have virtually identical RPI figures, and neither owns a victory over a top-50 team.

Team B has fared better in road games, but the substantial difference in strength of schedule suggests that might not be an entirely accurate reflection of Team B's ability.

Also notable: Neither team has an unexplainable loss. Delving deeper, Team A's worst loss was at home to RPI No. 91. Team B's worst loss was to RPI No. 53 at home.

Neither option is particularly palatable, and in some ways it would be easier to hope Team B --- which is tied in the loss column in its conference --- would just win its league and avoid the necessity for this sort of scrutiny. To be completely fair to Team B, it beat only two nonconference opponents outside the top 200; its strength of schedule is hurt by three terrible teams at the bottom of its league.

The verdict? My guess is Team A would, at least today, receive a slight nod, but not by much. And given the teams' respective profiles and Team A's inability to gain traction in the last month, chances are Team B will look better at some point in the next couple weeks.

As for the mystery teams? Click on the jump and see who they are.