Playing with Numbers

[SubGod22]

I've been surprisingly bored for a Friday with the lack of activity at work so I checked out RealTimeRPI.com and looked at some numbers. I think I mentioned on the scheduling thread that the Valley RPI averaged out to be 147 and that we need to get that closer to 100. Only one non BcS conference broke 100 last year and that was the MWC at 73.13. I picked out 15 conferences and played with the numbers.

Conference - RPI 1-50 - 51-100 - 101-150 - 150-200 - 200+ - AVG RPI
Big Twelve ------- 5 -------- 4 --------- 2 --------- 1 -------- 0 ------ 70
Big Ten ----------- 6 -------- 3 --------- 0 --------- 2 -------- 0 ------ 69.36
Pac Ten ----------- 3 -------- 3 --------- 1 --------- 2 -------- 1 ------ 99.6
Big East ---------- 10 ------- 1 --------- 2 --------- 2 -------- 1 ------ 64.5
Atlantic Coast ---- 2 -------- 6 --------- 2 --------- 1 -------- 1 ------ 92.08
Southeastern ----- 5 -------- 2 --------- 3 --------- 0 -------- 2 ------ 95.75
Conference USA - 2 -------- 6 --------- 0 --------- 1 -------- 3 ------ 112.5
Mountain West --- 4 -------- 1 --------- 4 --------- 0 -------- 1 ------ 73.13
Colonial ----------- 3 -------- 3 --------- 1 ---------- 1 -------- 4 ----- 134.58
Western Athletic - 1 -------- 0 --------- 4 --------- 2 -------- 2 ------- 170
Atlantic Ten ------ 3 -------- 1 --------- 4 --------- 4 -------- 2 ------- 126.86
Mid America ----- 0 -------- 1 --------- 2 ---------- 4 ------- 4 ------- 196.27
Horizon ----------- 2 ------- 2 --------- 2 ---------- 2 -------- 2 ------- 146
West Coast ------ 1 -------- 1 --------- 2 ---------- 1 -------- 3 ------- 164.13
Ivy ---------------- 2 ------- 0 --------- 1 ---------- 2 -------- 3 ------- 169.13
Missouri Valley --- 1 ------- 2 --------- 3 ---------- 0 -------- 4 ------- 146.9

It's easy to see why we're not getting at large bids and the Colonial, MWC, A10 and CUSA do. I'm glad we've heard talk that the conference is taking scheduling seriously and looking to improve these numbers. Hopefully we start seeing that actually happen. We need improvement at the top and the middle of the conference. That includes us. The bottom should start getting somewhat better, but the middle of the conference has to make a push to improve.

I hope that's easy enough to read. I tried. If we could get it inside of 120 we'd be in decent shape. We really do need to get back to getting 4 or 5 teams in the Top 100 with a few of those in the Top 50. Having 4 teams over 200 is disgusting for this conference and hurts those at the top since we have to play them twice.

[martymoose]

Conference   RPI 1-50    51-100   101-150   150-200    200+      AVG RPI 
Big Twelve       5         4         2         1         0        70.00
Big Ten          6         3         0         2         0        69.36 
Pac Ten          3         3         1         2         1        99.60
Big East        10         1         2         2         1        64.50
Atlantic Coast   2         6         2         1         1        92.08 
Southeastern     5         2         3         0         2        95.75 
Conference USA   2         6         0         1         3       112.50
Mountain West    4         1         4         0         1        73.13 
Colonial         3         3         1         1         4       134.58 
Western Athletic 1         0         4         2         2       170.00
Atlantic Ten     3         1         4         4         2       126.86 
Mid America      0         1         2         4         4       196.27 
Horizon          2         2         2         2         2       146.00
West Coast       1         1         2         1         3       164.13 
Ivy              2         0         1         2         3       169.13 
Missouri Valley  1         2         3         0         4       146.90

[SubGod22]

Much better Marty.

[60Shock]

Anyway you slice it, it is retty pathetic to say the least.

[SubGod22]

And compared to what we did as a conference in '06 when we should have probably had half the conference in the Dance....

Wichita State - 19
Missouri State - 24
Northern Iowa - 30
Southern Illinois - 31
Bradley - 32
Creighton - 41
Indiana State - 158
Drake - 174
Evansville - 190
Illinois State - 233

Average - 93.2

That may not be achievable every season, but there's no reason we should be near 150. Six teams in the top 50 is impressive. I'd be happy to have six in the Top 100. I believe ISU was awfully young that year but even the other 3 Thursday teams had acceptable RPI numbers for the bottom of the conference. This can be done again if the conference will take things seriously.

[ShockTalk]

A lot of bad numbers there for the MVC.

Among these 16 conferences, the Valley would be tied with WAC and WCC for fewest teams (1) in the top RPI 50 after throwing out the goose egg by the Mid Amerca who doesn't belong in this group to start with.

In the top 100 RPI, the MVC was 12th (although ahead of the Ivy, they had 2 in the top 50). With only 3 teams, we do poorly among with the conferences we should be compared with or ahead of: C-USA 8, Colonial 6, MWC 5, A-10 4 (3 in top 50), Horizon 4.

On the back end, or 200+ RPI, the Valley finished tied for the most teams, 4, with Mid America (remember, they shouldn't even be on this list) and the Colonial (that was the only thing that kept us somewhat close to them). Those 4 teams were 1 more than the Ivy and WCC and 2 more than the Horizon and WAC.

Let me reiterate: