Jeff Sagarin is a math whiz who thankfully is a sports fan as well. He has developed a formula that supposedly ends the debate over which is the best college basketball program in history (in which Iowa magically comes in at #10 with a little help from Dr. Tom Davis, at right). The formula calculates points for wins, NCAA tournament wins and national championships, along with a few other categories. He compiled a list of the top Division I teams, #1 through #330, along with a more detailed explanation of the rating system.
In an October 5 article on ESPNcom however, senior college basketball columnist Pat Forde does debate Sagarin's order of the list. Forde has several qualms in the weight given to some of the categories, for example not enough is given to national championships, he writes. In the article, he lists the top ten programs in his eyes.
Here are the Big Ten and Big 12 teams as ranked by Sagarin:
Big 12 Big Ten
3. Kansas 5. Indiana
18. Oklahoma State 6. Illinois
20. Oklahoma 8. Purdue
27. Kansas State 9. Ohio State
29. Missouri 10. Iowa
47. Texas 13. Michigan
51. Colorado 14. Minnesota
52. Iowa State 15. Michigan State
57. Nebraska 28. Wisconsin
89. Texas Tech 77. Northwestern
111. Texas A&M 82. Penn State
117. Baylor
Forde's Top Ten: UCLA, North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Kansas, Duke, Louisville, Michigan State, Oklahoma State and Ohio State.
This is a joke that Iowa is in the top 10, somehow ahead of Michigan State. What are your thoughts on this Robbie?
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