Disappointing Home Losses

[brewcity77]

With some of guru's recent comments, I was thinking about bad home losses. Pomeroy started tracking the game-by-game rankings of a team in 2011. I picked Marquette and 6 other teams for a little experiment.

Here's how it works. I only included games where the home team lost to a team ranked 10+ spots lower than them. I only included rankings at the time and margin of victory so it wouldn't make it too easy.

Three of the other teams are current Big East teams, the others are high-major teams, all of which Marquette has played multiple times since 2011. I have three questions I would like people to answer:

1) Which team is Marquette?
2) Which team would be the most disappointing to follow based on these home losses?
3) Which team would be the least disappointing to follow based on these home losses?

Team 1

• As #4 losing to #36 by 9.
  
• As #4 losing to #62 by 7.
  
• As #6 losing to #40 by 9.
  
• As #7 losing to #26 by 7.
  
• As #11 losing to #36 by 10.
  
• As #15 losing to #38 by 5.
  
• As #15 losing to #62 by 7.
  
• As #28 losing to #74 by 17.
  
• As #32 losing to #102 by 5.
  
• As #61 losing to #120 by 23.
  
• As #71 losing to #84 by 9.
  
• As #125 losing to #159 by 5.

Team 2

• As #28 team losing to #41 by 12.
  
• As #31 team losing to #60 by 1.
  
• As #53 team losing to #129 by 3.
  
• As #56 team losing to #69 by 7.
  
• As #89 team losing to #256 by 8.
  
• As #106 team losing to #183 by 1.

Team 3

• As #35 losing to #150 by 4.
  
• As #38 losing to #120 by 5.
  
• As #49 losing to #93 by 3.
  
• As #50 losing to #97 by 4.
  
• As #87 losing to #282 by 4.
  
• As #112 losing to #238 by 3.

Team 4

• As #12 team losing to #59 by 5.
  
• As #13 team losing to #80 by 13.
  
• As #17 team losing to #81 by 8.
  
• As #20 team losing to #113 by 11.
  
• As #31 team losing to #53 by 12.
  
• As #31 team losing to #77 by 1.
  
• As #49 team losing to #90 by 3.
  
• As #52 team losing to #74 by 7.

Team 5

• As #33 losing to #97 by 1.
  
• As #53 losing to #268 by 10.
  
• As #66 losing to #99 by 5.
  
• As #66 losing to #174 by 10.
  
• As #69 losing to #94 by 1.
  
• As #73 losing to #197 by 3.

Team 6

• As #1 losing to #101 by 7.
  
• As #3 losing to #18 by 7.
  
• As #5 losing to #74 by 13.
  
• As #9 losing to #232 by 2.
  
• As #10 losing to #41 by 6.
  
• As #12 losing to #38 by 13.
  
• As #14 losing to #134 by 9.
  
• As #21 losing to #71 by 2.
  
• As #30 losing to #114 by 1.
  
• As #32 losing to #58 by 25.
  
• As #37 losing to #97 by 2.

Team 7

• As #16 losing to #32 by 8.
  
• As #17 losing to #54 by 13.
  
• As #18 losing to #63 by 3.
  
• As #20 losing to #31 by 2.
  
• As #23 losing to #60 by 2.
  
• As #36 losing to #86 by 12.
  
• As #43 losing to #97 by 5.
  
• As #53 losing to #150 by 10.
  
• As #54 losing to #93 by 2.
  
• As #56 losing to #67 by 4.

Fun Fact: Marquette represents 7 of the away wins and had a win as a 10+ spot road underdog against 5 of the other 6 teams in this experiment.

[fjm]

This both fun and tough. Without looking up things. I am going to guess that
1) MU is team 4
2) the most disappointing team to follow is: team 5
3)the Least disappointing team to follow is: 7

And I am no stats guy so looking I can't really discern a perfect "which team sucks" "which team doesn't suck" outlook. This is just my feelings by how I would feel if my team was ranked as such and lost to such.

[MuMark]

Team 6 is more disappointing to me.

[MUBigDance]

MU debating between 4 and 7. Go with 7. Can't see them ranked as high as some of these (GT 1??).

Disappointing- subjective but 6 (now I wonder if we're 6 )
Least disappointing- maybe 7 hard to say.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Team 2 is Marquette

[brewcity77]

At guru's request on another board, I added 5 more teams (plus a sixth for someone else). The teams are in random order, but the names requested were Gonzaga, Iowa State, Syracuse, Louisville, Purdue, and Butler. Here are how those six teams did, just to add a bit more comparison:

Team 8

• As #5 losing to #142 by 3.
  
• As #9 losing to #28 by 9.
  
• As #11 losing to #59 by 22.
  
• As #11 losing to #114 by 5.
  
• As #13 losing to #31 by 8.
  
• As #16 losing to #50 by 12.
  
• As #27 losing to #38 by 8.
  
• As #27 losing to #69 by 7.
  
• As #30 losing to #99 by 33.
  
• As #55 losing to #78 by 4.

Team 9

• As #14 losing to #69 by 4.
  
• As #18 losing to #28 by 9.
  
• As #19 losing to #44 by 8.
  
• As #20 losing to #51 by 6.
  
• As #34 losing to #168 by 3.
  
• As #37 losing to #129 by 4.
  
• As #47 losing to #138 by 6.
  
• As #62 losing to #183 by 5.
  
• As #105 losing to #138 by 6.

Team 10

• As #4 losing to #36 by 6.
  
• As #5 losing to #27 by 3.
  
• As #11 losing to #32 by 9.
  
• As #11 losing to #93 by 6.
  
• As #17 losing to #42 by 2.
  
• As #26 losing to #48 by 7.

Team 11

• As #1 losing to #80 by 8.
  
• As #4 losing to #28 by 3.
  
• As #8 losing to #39 by 9.
  
• As #19 losing to #69 by 5.
  
• As #38 losing to #52 by 1.
  
• As #49 losing to #90 by 4.

Team 12

• As #5 losing to #23 by 7.
  
• As #12 losing to #37 by 9.
  
• As #37 losing to #58 by 5.
  
• As #38 losing to #143 by 3.
  
• As #39 losing to #78 by 6.
  
• As #62 losing to #76 by 3.
  
• As #64 losing to #212 by 5.
  
• As #94 losing to #134 by 9.

Team 13

• As #44 losing to #157 by 18.
  
• As #45 losing to #121 by 9.
  
• As #57 losing to #144 by 6.

[brewcity77]

Blackheart is right about Marquette. MUBigDance and MuMark both think Wisconsin is the most disappointing, while fjm voted for Providence. The two least disappointing votes both went to Creighton, at least you'll have a ton of fans to share your sorrows with when they do lose.

Obviously if you add in the latter 6 teams, everyone would probably pick Iowa State and their miniscule 3 losses.

1) Pittsburgh: So no really terrible losses, but most losses were by 7+ points, so when they lose to a bad team at home, they generally lose big. Pitt was also tied with Team 6 for the most losses of this sort by a top-10 team and had the most total losses on the list period.

2) Marquette: Iceman had us narrowed to two but Blackheart on Scoop had it dead on. The worst loss was to Omaha. On the plus side, Marquette was tied for the second fewest losses of the 13 teams with 6.

3) Seton Hall: The Hall keeps it close as all losses were by 5 or fewer, but every loss was to a sub-90 team. They have some real dogs in there. Also tied for second fewest losses with 6.

4) Vanderbilt: Vandy only had one such loss that was sub-100, and often overcame these losses by getting NCAA bids anyway. Still, these haven't helped seeding at all.

5) Providence: Not many for the Friars (6 is tied for second fewest), but some real dogs in there. Some have been costly, as well. A 2011 DePaul loss may have kept them out of the NIT and a 2013 DePaul loss may have cost them a NCAA bid.

6) Wisconsin: Tied with Pitt for the most losses as a top-10 and has the second most losses overall. Contrary to one post, Wisconsin has also lost more non-con games (5) than Marquette (3) of this sort. The upside is their rankings have been great so it always resulted in a NCAA appearance, but they really puke on their shoes at the Kohl against lesser teams rather often. Two of their losses on the list were to Marquette.

7) Creighton: Their homecourt reputation seems legendary, so it's surprising to see 10 such losses. On the plus side, only one is to a sub-100 team. Two of their losses were to Marquette.

8) Syracuse: Only 1 sub-100 loss, but one of the ugliest on the list when they lost as the #5 team to a terrible #142 Boston College to ruin their undefeated season in 2014.

9) Butler: Five sub-100 losses is the most of any team. No double-digit losses in the mix.

10) Louisville: The Ville hasn't lost much and doesn't have any sub-100 losses. They've been pretty consistent at home, though if you say that for Louisville you'd probably have to say the same for all the teams with 6 losses.

11) Gonzaga: The Zags haven't lost much, 6 is tied for second fewest. BYU is their bogey team, responsible for half of those losses.

12) Purdue: The Boilermakers can probably blame no 2013 NCAA berth on two of these losses at home. They are all single-digit losses.

13) Iowa State: Hilton Magic is apparently real. Before the 18-point loss to Milwaukee this year, they hadn't lost any of these games since 2012. Three is the fewest on the list by far, though it's interesting that all three losses were to sub-100 teams.

[#UnleashSean]

I'm guessing marquette is number 2. I'm cheating a bit as I'm guessing via the rankings and we fit right around those ranks since 2012.

Edit: I'm guessing #129 is Belmont and #256 is Omaha. I remember that game being closish but marquette never feeling in it. So losing by 8 makes sense.

Edit 2: #31 vs #60 is Belmont. I remember Duane doing something stupid as all hell to lose that game. Now I'm surprised mu was ranked that high at that point.

Edit 3: I just realized #129 won by 3. That's gotta be Belmont again. Looooooool I need answers.

[brewcity77]

I'm guessing marquette is number 2. I'm cheating a bit as I'm guessing via the rankings and we fit right around those ranks since 2012.

Edit: I'm guessing #129 is Belmont and #256 is Omaha. I remember that game being closish but marquette never feeling in it. So losing by 8 makes sense.

Edit 2: #31 vs #60 is Belmont. I remember Duane doing something stupid as all hell to lose that game. Now I'm surprised mu was ranked that high at that point.

Edit 3: I just realized #129 won by 3. That's gotta be Belmont again. Looooooool I need answers.

• 28 vs 41 was St John's on Feb 15, 2011.
  
• 31 vs 60 was Providence on Jan 28, 2017.
  
• 53 vs 129 was Belmont on Nov 13, 2015.
  
• 56 vs 69 was Georgia on Dec 2, 2017.
  
• 89 vs 256 was Omaha on Nov 22, 2014.
  
• 106 vs 183 was DePaul on Jan 20, 2016.

[#UnleashSean]

106 vs 183 was DePaul on Jan 20, 2016.

Fischer........

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

106 vs 183 was DePaul on Jan 20, 2016.

Fischer........

Yep fischer...

[#UnleashSean]

Yep fischer...

That play just boggles my mind to this day. Up 2, depaul drives. Fischer has 2 decent options, play straight up defense on a guard, force him into a tough shot. Hard foul and send him to the line and force him to hit both. But he took option 3, which was to give the man's body a little tap, then completely get out of his way for the easiest end game and 1 I've ever seen. Even after he messed up he didn't have the IQ to instantly bring the guy to the ground when he heard the whistle. Maybe the worst basketball play I've ever seen. (Dwight Buycks vs Lousville and Duane vs Belmont also come to mind)