Why ORU will beat Memphis - statistical backbone.

[Lyndell]

Did anyone see the article called "anatomy of a giant killer" in ESPN Mag? It broke down the 10 most important statistics in a Mid Major beating a team from a Major conference with a seed of at least 5 spots higher. Major conferences are teams from ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big 10,

Pac-10, SEC, C-USA, or A-10.

I took things a little bit farther and decided to breakdown of Memphis in these statistics.

The two interesting things about Memphis is they only have 1 senior in the starting lineup, and they did not have an assist-to-turnover ratio of over 1 to 1 (1/1).

1. 32 of 37 Giant Killers outscored their opponents by at least six points a game.

Does ORU qualify?-------Yes 7.5

Does Memphis qualify?--Yes 15.0

2. 33 of 37 Giant Killers had records of .500 or better the season before they slayed Goliath.

Does ORU qualify?-------Yes .756 (25-8}

Does Memphis qualify?--Yes .579 (22-16)

3. Only 3 of the 37 Giant Killers had a leading scorer who carried over 28.4% of his teams load. In other words, you don't want to have one man carrying the load of scoring.

Does ORU qualify?-------Yes

Does Memphis qualify?--Yes

4. 32 of 37 Giant Killers had a higher 3-pt shooting percentage than their opponents.

Does ORU qualify?-------Yes ORU .387 Opponents .345

Does Memphis qualify?--Yes Memphis .352 Opponents .302

5. 30 of 37 Giant Killers started at least 2 seniors.

Does ORU qualify?-------Yes 3 seniors

Does Memphis qualify?---No 1 senior

6. 30 of 37 Giant Killers shot at least 2% better from the field than their opponents.

Does ORU qualify?-------Yes ORU .458 Opponents .433

Does Memphis qualify?--Yes Memphis .448 Opponents .378

7. 31 of 37 Giant Killers had an assist-to-turnover ratio better than one.

Does ORU qualify?-------Yes 1.1/1

Does Memphis qualify?--No 0.99/1

8. 34 of 37 Giant Killers entered the Tourney with a winning percentage of at least .700.

Does ORU qualify?-------No .656 (21-11)

Does Memphis qualify?--Yes .909 (30- 3)

9. 34 of 37 Giant Killers played at least two games against power conference teams.

Does ORU qualify?-------Yes USC, Tulsa

Does Memphis qualify---Yes They're in a major conf.

10. 28 of 37 Giant Killers beat at least one team from a power confernce in the regular season.

Does ORU qualify?-------Yes USC, Tulsa

Does Memphis qualify?--Yes Alabama, UCLA