California JC State Coaches Poll is out for 11/24

The State Coaches Poll is out this week, making my job a little easier.  Although my rankings would be quite different, that is the beauty of the coaches poll as you get a combination of various opinions throughout the state. At this point, sample size is important, as teams who have played more games and proven themselves are garnering the most respect.
   After defeating Lassen in the Mendocino Tournament Championship game, Skyline has slid to the #1 spot as one of the only few undefeated teams in the State.  Columbia is a surprise at #5.  Merritt holds a solid #3 after winning the Shasta Tournament.  Fresno isn't getting much love after winning the El Camino Tournament, and is probably still hurting from their consolation performance in their own tournament.  Marin is still riding off their solid performance in the CCSF Tournament.  The Coast-North Conference has the #1 team, including 5 of the top 11 teams, Yikes!   Looks like Chabot needs to play more games to earn their stripes.  Delta earns a spot in the coaches poll.  Santa Rosa isn't earning much respect at the moment falling to #14.  Here is a link for all the details

Top 5
1) Skyline (7-0)
2) Lassen (9-1)
3) Merritt (5-1)
4) San Jose City (4-1)
5) Columbia (4-1)

So what the heck are the Massey Ratings?!

So for those who were wondering, "What is this guy Massey on?"  

Now that basketball season is underway, most of us basketball junkies seem to be scouring the internet for all the information we can about our favorite leagues, divisions, etc.    One thing I'm noticing, especially in the California Community College basketball world, is that many people are having questions about the Massey Ratings.  These questions arise due to them omitting some current hot teams or rating teams very differently than what most would expect at this point in the season.   One can look at the current Massey Ratings and scratch their head wondering where these ratings are coming from.

To start things off, the Massey Ratings is strictly a highly complex mathematical calculation, taking into account many factors (and fun things like linear algebra, etc).  This formula will rate teams in order based on the criteria and information used.   This may be enough to answer most people's questions, because no human or group of people is involved in these ratings.   These ratings are used by just about every sport and many levels of competition.  Once the schedules and results are plugged in, this program runs and will update on a regular basis with the new information.
From wikipedia, "Computer rating systems can tend toward objectivity, without specific player, team, regional, or style bias. Ken Massey writes that an advantage of computer rating systems is that they can "objectively track all" 351 college basketball teams, while human polls "have limited value".^[2] Computer ratings are verifiable and repeatable, and are comprehensive, requiring assessment of all selected criteria. By comparison, rating systems relying on human polls include inherent human subjectivity; this may or may not be an attractive property depending on system needs."

So, in my opinion, as long as we aware at what type of information we are analyzing, this system can be beneficial when rating a very large group of teams.  For instance, I do not rank the Southern California Juco teams in my weekly unofficial rankings, because I do not have the capability of watching these programs, nor do I have the time to research them.   I am sure this is true for most of the coaches as well, so these rankings can be beneficial in some ways in comparison to a standard coaches poll.   However, just like any other computer program, there are definitely room for flaws in the system.  (Here is an article I wrote last year with some major defects in the CCCAA Men's Basketball version of the Massey Ratings)

This early in the season, this type of rating system is almost pointless, other than spurring debate and for entertainment purposes.   California Community College Men's Basketball schedules are heavily filled with tournaments in pre-conference play.  The Massey Ratings take into account "Strength of Schedule" in their algebraic equations.  When looking at each teams' schedule in the Massey Ratings, you only see the first opponent listed, if any opponent is listed at all, during the dates of these tournaments.   The opponent you face on the first day of a tournament is out of your control, so if you are matched up with a team with a very weak Massey Rating it will greatly diminish your power rating and overall rating in the system (and have a domino effect on every team you have on your schedule as well). You may be in the bracket with some highly rated teams, but this system does not take this into account, until after you have played the tournament through.  For greater depth into  this system and the effect on CCCAA Men's Basketball please see my article above.


So for those that may have wondered, "What is this Massey guy on?"  Hopefully you have a better understanding that it's just a big algebraic formula without any bias towards the teams actual talent, tradition, momentum, coaching style, current injuries, or anything else in the human world that actually is important in sports.   So have fun with these ratings and enjoy the information, but don't take them too seriously, especially early on in the season.


For info directly from the source, here is a link to the Massey Ratings FAQ's..   I enjoyed his version of the layman's description..   not very 'layman' to me!

Coach K's Northern California Men's JC Basketball Rankings (Week 2)

*Week 2 only had two tournaments in Northern California, but it was not without it's big match-ups and eye opening victories.  Still very early so these rankings are based on very limited information and are only my opinion.  Mt San Antonio is not making things easy on me either, by coming up two weekends in a row from the South to win another big tournament in the North.   These rankings are unofficial and have no bearing on anything in CCCAA basketball, and is for information and entertainment only.   Enjoy


1)  Lassen (7-0) 
Holds down my #1 spot after another very successful run at the Chabot Tournament this past weekend.  Victories over West Valley 70-31, Los Medanos 104-65 and host Chabot 91-75.   Lassen is loaded with talent at the guard spot and has the length and athleticism to bother opponents at the rim and control the boards.  The Cougars are the 'Real Deal' this year.

2) Chabot (2-1)
Opened up the season hosting a 3 day round robin.  Had victories over Siskiyous 95-36, and Feather River 95-88 before falling to Lassen 75-91.   Had to ponder keeping them at #2 after losing at home.  However almost every other team that could be considered for this spot has at least one loss as well, and at least Chabot fell to my #1 ranked team.   Box score is omitting the names of Rae Jackson and Chris Patterson.  Not sure if it's due to an injury or something else.   Either way, Chabot still has the firepower and inside presence to be a top team this year.

3) Merritt (2-1)
Did not play this weekend.  But they did defeat #4 San Jose City and their only loss is also to Lassen.  So this moves them up a spot to #3 this week.  Is back in action this week as they face Shasta.

4) San Jose City (3-1)
Had a nice win over Canada 77-70 this week which will allows them to move up a spot in my rankings.  Only loss of the year is to Merritt, so had to keep them behind the Thunderbirds for now.

5) Marin (2-1)
Had the week off, but is still riding on the success in the CCSF tournament.  They were victorious over CCSF, so I feel they have to be ranked ahead of the Rams for now.   Is back in action against West Valley this week.

6) City College of San Francisco (4-2)
Jumps up three spots in my rankings.  Had victories over West Hills 94-86 & Sierra 79-73 before falling to Mt San Antonio 64-77 in the Championship of the FCC Tournament.  They beat the team that beat FCC, so I had to move them ahead of Fresno for now.

7)  Fresno City College (4-2)
I'm curious if Coach Madec will put themselves against Sierra next year in the opening round of the Fresno City Tournament.  Two years in a row Sierra took out the Rams on their home court.  This put FCC into the consolation bracket, and put them out of the #3 spot in my rankings, falling all the way to #7.   I'm sure the Madec Regime will make some noise and earn their way back towards the top of the rankings, but for now this is where I feel they belong.  Still had victories last week over Merced 80-66 & West Hills 88-84 in OT to win the consolation bracket.

8) Santa Rosa (3-3)
Had wins over Merced 60-55 and Sierra 70-57 to get to the Championship game of the FCC Tournament before suffering to Mt San Antonio 64-77.  By making it to the Championship game in this loaded tournament, the Bear Cubs jump up four spots in my rankings.

9) Canada (4-1)
Had a win against De Anza 108-81 before suffering their first loss of the season to San Jose City 70-77.  Falls a few spots in the rankings due to the loss, but also the successes of other teams with better quality victories at this point in the season.  Canada is showing they are definitely a top 10 team this year, so far.

10) Feather River (5-1)
Had a solid weekend with wins over Los Medanos 85-58 and West Valley 77-65 before falling to Chabot 88-95.  They are an athletic team that can really shoot the ball, which poses some match up issues for the opposition.  They also own a solid victory over Sierra this season.

11) Skyline (4-0)
Had three more victories this week:  Columbia 77-68, Redwoods 72-55 & Solano 68-62.  Led by Elijah White, this years Skyline team is going to fight it's way for a playoff spot and relevance in the Coast-North Conference.

12) Columbia (3-1)
After taking home the Las Positas Tournament Championship the Claim Jumpers lost some momentum by falling to Skyline 68-77.  They still are looking like a solid team this year and we won't ostracize them too much for this one loss.  They do fall four spots in the rankings this week and are looking to recapture that momentum as they face William Jessup JV before facing Lassen in the Cabrillo College tournament on November 29th.

13) Ohlone (3-1)
Won a close one to Hartnell 74-68 in overtime.  It's still very early in the season, so we will see what the Renegades are made of as they head to the Shasta Tournament this weekend to face Cabrillo again.

14) American River (2-0)
After finishing the season 3-23 last year, the Beavers come out of nowhere to open eyes with wins over Shasta 77-50 and Yuba 84-80 in OT.   ARC will be a team to watch this year. Roster has some recognizable names, including 6'9 force Eugene Crockett.   My article featuring Crockett a year ago here

15) TIE ..... again
Too early to discount all these good teams...

*Contra Costa (2-1)
Roster has some names, still plenty of time to show what they can do this year.  Has talent to make some noise.

*Monterey Peninsula (2-2)
Had a nice win over a very solid Foothill team 67-65.  They have a lot of pieces this year, and Devin Koeplin is still out with an injury.

*Butte (3-1)
Only had one game and it was a win over Simpson JV 84-53 which doesn't help much in determining just how good Butte is this year.  But they have almost their entire team back from last years 10-0 GVC Conference Championship team, so watch out.

*Sierra (2-3)
Record looks bad, but they beat Fresno City again, at Fresno.  They have a talented group and have played a fairly tough schedule so far.  Could jump up in the rankings quick.

*Yuba (1-3)
Lots of hype, not a lot of wins.  But it's very early, so plenty of time for this young team to improve and turn things around.


*Thanks for reading.  Again, my rankings are unofficial and for information & entertainment purposes only.

Coach K's Northern California Rankings (Week 1)

    *After a great opening weekend of California Junior College basketball we have some surprises and we have teams that have made statements.  The CCSF tournament saw Marin College come out of the shadows with huge wins over host CCSF and San Diego City college before suffering to Mt San Antonio in the Championship game.  Getting 2nd in that tournament is nothing to hang your head about!    Columbia College came out and shocked DVC and went on to win the Las Positas tournament to start the season 3-0.   The San Jose City Tournament was full of exciting games with Lassen taking the crown after taking out former top team Merrit in the Championship game.   Canada made serious noise by taking home the Ohlone Tournament championship after beating host Ohlone.  Most of the state's top teams have played, so here is how I put things in my weekly unofficial Northern California state rankings, Week 1.

*Please remember that these rankings are my personal opinion based on limited information, and therefore are very unofficial rankings.  I do hope you enjoy the information.


CP = coaches poll ranking

1 - Lassen  (4-0)   CP #10
Had them ranked Pre Season #5, and the coaches poll had them ranked Pre Season #10.   After winning a very loaded SJCC tournament with wins over Merced, Monterey and Merritt (who was coaches poll ranked #1) I feel Lassen deserves the huge jump.  Also because all the teams I had ranked ahead of them lost a game, with the exception of Chabot who has yet to play.  So I don't want to move a team that is 0-0 into the #1 spot after Lassen battled it out last weekend.   And I thought it would be nice to have them ranked #1 alongside Chabot at #2 since they will be facing each other in the Chabot Tip Off on Saturday at 4pm.   One of only two tournaments in Northern California this weekend, this should surely be the game of the day on Saturday.

2 - Chabot  (0-0)   CP #2
Opens up the season this week on Thursday in the Chabot Tip Off tournament.  They will face two current undefeated teams as they face Feather River (3-0) on Friday and Lassen (4-0) on Saturday.  The tournament is more of a round robin, with 6 teams, so the games are scheduled in advance.  We will see if the Gladiators have what it takes to take the top spot.


3 - Fresno City  (2-1)   CP #3
Since a Southern California team took the CCSF tournament crown, and most of my previously top ranked teams suffered at least 1 loss, it looks like Fresno City will hold tight at #3, for now.  Had a solid showing in the CCSF tournament by beating Yuba and SoCal #10 ranked San Diego City.  Have another tough weekend ahead of them, as they host the Fresno City tournament that shows a loaded bracket.  FCC opens up against Sierra, who shocked the Rams last year in the first round.

4 - Merritt  (2-1)   CP#1
My main concern about their roster missing more players seems to be a non issue.  Looks like the same team we saw in the Fall Showcase.  So we will write that up to the Summer Showcases having no bearing on regular season.    Merritt had a tough road this weekend as they squeaked by Foothill, took down SJCC on their own court, before losing to Lassen in the SJCC Tip Off Tournament.   With their team intact, they will look to end Yuba's streak in the Bay Valley Conference.

5 - San Jose City (2-1)   CP#9
Drops only one spot in my rankings to make room for Merritt, who beat them for the 2nd year in a row on their home court in the Tip Off Tournament.   Very deep and will pester the opposition for the entire 40 minutes.   Had victories over Cosumnes River and Monterey to take home 3rd place.

6 - Canada (3-0)   CP NR
Came out almost nowhere to win the Ohlone Jon Wallace Memorial Tournament with wins over Delta, #11 SoCal Mt San Jacinto, and host Ohlone in the Championship.  Looks to have a variety of scorers and is on a roll.  Feels weird to place them so far up in the rankings, but they have earned it, so far.

7 - Marin (2-1)  CP NR
Another team that made some serious noise this weekend, when they opened up the season by slamming CCSF on their own court, by 22!  They also scored another key victory after beating SoCal ranked #10 San Diego City.   The blow out loss in the Championship game to Mt San Antonio is a little concerning, but they definitely earned this ranking in my book with their successes in the 1st two nights of the season.

8 - Columbia (3-0)  CP  NR
The Claim Jumpers look like they might be back to their glory days as they start the season 3-0 after taking home the Las Positas tournament crown.  Had wins over DVC, Butte and Sacramento City in a very solid string of victories.  It is still very early in the season, but at this point Columbia deserves to be in the Top 10.

9 -  City College of San Francisco (2-1)  CP#4
Has to fall a few spots after taking home the consolation in their own tournament.  Lost badly to Marin in the first round, but scored victories over Napa Valley and Santa Rosa, which shows that CCSF is still formidable.  They head to another loaded tournament this weekend, as they head to Fresno and open up with West Hills-Coalinga.

10 - College of Sequoias (2-1)  CP#8
Took 3rd place in the Cuesta Tournament with wins over Mendocino and West Hills-Coalinga.  Their only loss came to a tough Chaffey team who headed back to Southern California with the tourney crown.

11 - Butte (2-1)  CP#12
Had solid wins over Contra Costa and Las Positas on their way to 3rd place in the Las Positas tournament.  Lost to Columbia who was the eventual tourney champ.

12 - Santa Rosa (1-2)  CP#6
I am not going to be fooled again by SJRC.  Started off the season last year in dismal fashion, before taking the State Title.  Lost to CCSF and Mt San Antonio, who are no slouches.  Had a nice victory over Yuba who went 0-2 in the stacked tournament.  Will head to Fresno this weekend for the equally vigorous Fresno City Tournament.

13 - Ohlone (2-1)  CP NR
Losing to Canada by 18 in the Championship game had to hurt, especially in their own tournament, but Ohlone still had wins over Shasta and Cabrillo to start the season with a winning record.

14 - Contra Costa (2-1)  CP NR
Lost to Butte in a close one to head to the consolation bracket at Las Positas.  Won the next two over DVC and Siskiyous.  The Bay Valley Conference is looking much more balanced so far this year, with several teams looking to challenge Yuba's dominance and nearly double-digit conference championship streak.

15 - TIE
Feather River (3-0)  CP NR
Beat Sierra and Solano to win the Sierra Tournament and start the season perfect.  Heads to Chabot this weekend where they will face some tougher competition, but deserves the recognition as Sierra was ranked #11 in the Coaches Poll, and #10 by Coach K in the Pre Season rankings.

Foothill (1-2)  CP NR
I didn't get to see everyone play this weekend, but Foothill took Merritt to the brink in the opening game of the SJCC Tournament.  They defeated Cosumnes River before suffering another loss to Riverside City.  Foothill looks like one of those teams that can beat anyone on any given night.

Monterey Peninsula (1-2)  CP NR
We should change their name from the 'Lobos' to the 'Nail-Biters'.  Their first three games of the season had an average margin of victory of 1.67 points.  They took out the SoCal #5 Ranked Riverside City by 1 point before losing to Lassen by 1 point, and then suffered a larger margin of only 3 points in the loss to San Jose City.   Devin Koeplin is out with an injury, so I feel this says enough to keep them in the Top 15, for now.




OUT OF TOP 15 from last week
DVC, went 0-2 at Las Positas
Yuba, went 0-2 at CCSF
Cosumnes River, went 0-2 at the SJCC tourney
Sierra, lost to Feather River at home starting off 1-1