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We’re less than a week into the college basketball season, and we’ve seen a wide variety of games and results so far.
We’ve had a couple of mid-majors upset power-conference teams. There have been a bunch of great mid-major-vs.-mid-major games. (Thanks, LIU and IU Indy).
There have been a couple of teams losing bye games. As Jon Rothstein always points out, that’s the “epitome of brutality.”
But what may be even more brutal is when a Division-I team falls to a non-Division-I opponent. Looking at you, Boise State and Hawaii Pacific. That’s not the only example from the opening days of the season, but it’s the most prominent.
Those results sparked a debate: Should games against non-DI teams count in the computer metrics (such as the NET and KenPom)?
The selection committee will certainly remember it. So, human element? Yes, count them. Computers? Not now.
A loss to a non-Division-I team is memorable. Like really memorable. It’s a black stain that lasts a long time. We still talk about Doug Gottlieb’s Green Bay squad losing to Division-II Michigan Tech, and it’s been nearly a full year since it.
It counts as a game on a team’s official record, so it should count in the computers.
However, if the Division-I team wins the game, how much can one learn/take away from that matchup? Not much.
Often times the DI team overmatches the opponent. For example, the CSU Northridge women defeated Bethesda, who competes in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), 103-13 Tuesday. Yes, you read that right. It was a 90-point burial. The Matadors led 52-0 at halftime and scored the first 72 points of the game. 72!!!! What would the computers do with that point differential. Yay for style points? If it’s that.
It almost seems as though a win shouldn’t count but a loss should. Not really sure how that would work, but it kind of makes sense.
So, let us know what you think. Should they count? Yes or no?
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