Fun with RPI

[BeKnighted_rivals]

Now posted on RebKell, for anyone who's interested. This one ranks the conferences by RPI top 25, 50 and 100 schools, which is a good way to look at how deep a conference really is. (Spoiler: The B1G is pretty deep.)

RPI fun

 

[IndianaKnight]

Sure nice to be out of the AAC!

 

[bac2therac]

Too many games against reallt bad schools is hurting Rutgers rpi...need to do a better job scheduling low majors that do not drain SOS

 

[BeKnighted_rivals]

Originally posted by bac2therac:
Too many games against reallt bad schools is hurting Rutgers rpi...need to do a better job scheduling low majors that do not drain SOS

In fairness, I'm not sure you'd have expected Temple and St. Joe's to have such low RPIs, and the LSU's troubles at the beginning of the year also probably were not precisely anticipated when that game was scheduled in 2012. That said, it probably would have been smarter to have upgraded a couple of the OOC games from among Colgate, Wagner, Northeastern and Iona.

The RPI has been rising steadily since OOC play ended, and I think we should expect that to continue. A top 20 RPI is not out of the question, but with a better OOC, it would be higher already.

 

[ecojew]

RPI rankings always mystify me and these are no exception. LSU is playing well in the SEC but isn't in the Top 50 but Florida Gulf Coast, Princeton, Dayton, and USF are all in the Top 25? Yes, Princeton is undefeated but how many Top 100 teams has it played that would boost its rating that high? USF lost to UConn by 40 or 50 points and doesn't really get to play any other strong teams in the AAC so where does its high ranking come from?

I'm not expecting answers to these questions! I seriously doubt that there are any answers. But year by year, RPI ratings seem to be further and further removed from reality. I do wonder how much emphasis the NCAA selection committees place on RPI nowadays.

 

[BeKnighted_rivals]

The most important component in RPI is a team's record (even though it's only 25% of RPI, it's where the most variation occurs), so a team like Princeton is going to have a good RPI ranking. Princeton also played a pretty decent OOC schedule, with 2 RPI top 50 opponents and 5 more RPI top 100 opponents, but its RPI probably actually will go down the rest of the way because the Ivy League isn't very good overall.

South Florida (which dropped out of the top 25 today, by the way) is benefitting from a strong OOC schedule (4 RPI top 25 opponents) and a generally good record. The Bulls have only 1 RPI top 50 opponent left, though (UConn), and so there's a decent chance they will drop, too.

The committee has said for years that RPI by itself is not really a factor in seeding, but that they use it to look at how good a team's wins are and how bad its losses are - RPI top 50 and 25 wins (and to a lesser extent, RPI top 100 wins) are good, and sub-RPI 100 losses are bad.

 

[ScarletDave]

Can't really argue with OOC scheduling considering we played #6 UNC and #10 Tennessee in the span of a few weeks (and almost beat both). And when it comes to ranked teams, the B1G WBB is no joke.

 

[cubuffsdoug_rivals]

Originally posted by ScarletDave:
Can't really argue with OOC scheduling considering we played #6 UNC and #10 Tennessee in the span of a few weeks (and almost beat both). And when it comes to ranked teams, the B1G WBB is no joke.

I think some fans overlook this point. There has to be balance. You knew the B1G was going to be tough, so you don't overload the OOC with a ton of tough teams because you could end up hurting your team down the stretch. UNC and Tenn. was more than enough to balance out the OOC. I remember there were years where C Viv had Rutgers playing a way too tough OOC before league play in the BE. People said Rutgers should ease up. Some people are never happy.

 

[sammybb]

Agree with BeKnighted--hard to predict how good a team will be every year, and LSU and St. Joe's were likely expected to be better this year than they have been. But we can upgrade the "lesser" teams we play, and I hope we get Princeton and SHU back on the schedule soon.