About The Index
A comprehensive approach to college basketball power rankings
What is The Index?
The Index is a composite college basketball ranking system that aggregates multiple authoritative ranking sources into a single, comprehensive power ranking. Instead of relying on any single poll or metric, The Index combines the best available data to provide a more complete picture of team strength.
Our goal is simple: give fans, analysts, and enthusiasts a single destination to understand where teams truly stand by synthesizing human expertise (polls) with algorithmic analysis (computer rankings).
Our Methodology
The Index Score is calculated by averaging each team's ranking across all available sources. Teams are then sorted by their composite score, with lower scores indicating stronger rankings.
This approach has several advantages:
Balanced perspective: By combining human polls with computer metrics, we reduce the bias inherent in any single system.
Handles missing data: Not every team is ranked in every poll. The Index only averages the rankings that are available for each team.
Daily updates: Rankings are refreshed daily at 6:00 AM ET to capture the latest changes.
Our Data Sources
The Index aggregates rankings from four trusted sources, each bringing a unique perspective to college basketball evaluation:
AP Poll
The Associated Press Top 25, voted on by 61 media members. The most recognized poll in college basketball since 1948.
Coaches Poll
The USA Today Coaches Poll, featuring votes from Division I head coaches. Provides insider perspective from those on the sidelines.
NCAA NET
The NCAA Evaluation Tool, the official ranking used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Factors in game results, strength of schedule, and game location.
SRS (Sports Reference)
Simple Rating System from Sports Reference. A tempo-free rating that accounts for strength of schedule and point differential.
Features
Interactive Charts: Track how teams' rankings change over time with our trend visualization tools.
Conference Filtering: Quickly view rankings filtered by conference to see how teams stack up against their rivals.
Today's Matchups: See all games featuring ranked teams, sorted by matchup quality with our "Game of the Day" highlight.
Team Details: Click any team for detailed information including upcoming schedule, recent results, and ranking breakdowns.
Update Schedule
Daily (6:00 AM ET): NCAA NET and SRS rankings are updated every morning.
Weekly (Monday 2:00 PM ET): AP Poll and Coaches Poll are updated after new polls are released each Monday.
Contact
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