How the Standouts Score works
Every eligible Division I player gets a Standouts Score out of 100, and the top 25 make the list. It updates live during games, so the list moves every night. Nobody gets moved by hand: the formula decides.
How points work
Each stat is turned into a percentile among eligible players. A player in the 90th percentile for usage rate gets 90% of its points, and so on. Add up every stat, then apply team level: the total is multiplied by 0.80 for players on the weakest teams up to 1.00 for the best (by the Standouts Team Rating). A great game for a top team counts more than the same game for a bottom team.
Who's eligible
- Played in at least 60% of his team's games
- Averages at least 20 minutes a game
- Only games against Division I opponents count
Production
How much he does, everywhere on the floor.
Overall impact 11 pts
His whole night in one number: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, minus misses and turnovers.
Player Efficiency Rating: all-around production per minute, adjusted for pace. 15 is average.
Estimated wins he adds to his team, on offense and defense.
Defense 9 pts
Points opponents score per 100 possessions while he's on the floor. Lower is better.
Steals per opponent possession.
Share of opponent two-point shots he blocks.
Scoring 7 pts
Raw scoring.
Share of his team's plays he finishes while he's on the floor.
Playmaking 5.5 pts
Share of his teammates' baskets he sets up while he's on the floor.
Creating without giving it away.
Rebounding 5 pts
Share of available offensive rebounds he grabs.
Share of available defensive rebounds he grabs.
Role & consistency 2.5 pts
Share of available minutes he plays: how much his coach trusts him.
Share of his games with a Game Score of 10 or more.
Efficiency
How well he does it.
Points he produces per 100 possessions he uses, counting his assists and offensive rebounds.
Points he adds over an average D1 shooter: true shooting percentage above average, times how many shots he takes.
How often his plays end in a turnover. Lower is better.
How often he gets to the line.
Competition
Who he does it against.
Each game's Game Score is multiplied by opponent strength, from 0.5× against the weakest teams to 1.5× against the best, then averaged.
His average Game Score against top-50 teams. Players who haven't played one yet score below average here until they do.
The average rating of every opponent he's faced.
Winning
Whether it's helping his team.
His team's record against Division I opponents. A loss by 5 or fewer, or to a top-50 team, counts as half a win. For the first 5 games, records are pulled toward .500 so one result can't decide it.
Wins over AP Top 25 teams.
Standout nights
The nights people talk about.
How many times he made our nightly standouts list.
Opponent strength
Opponent strength comes from the Standouts Team Rating: each team's points scored minus points allowed per 100 possessions this season, adjusted for who they played and for home court. Early on, before a team has played about 10 games, its rating also leans on a starting value from this season's AP poll and its conference (power conferences start higher), which fades out game by game.
About the advanced stats
PER, Win Shares, Offensive Rating and Defensive Rating use the published formulas from Basketball Reference and Dean Oliver, calculated by us from ESPN box scores. They're close to official numbers but not identical, so we call them CBB Standouts estimates. Box scores can't see on-ball defense beyond steals and blocks, so Defensive Rating leans partly on team defense.