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In addition to the glowing WSU writeups by a couple of their reporter / bloggers, ESPN has come up with a ranking tool, called BPI, that they're asserting is better than RPI or any of the rating systems currently out there (e.g., Sagarin). Of course, being better than RPI isn't that hard, because RPI treats all wins equally, whether they're one-pointers or blowouts; and from the standpoint of evaluating how good a team is for predictive purposes, they simply aren't.
What was also striking about ESPN's BPI rankings (which I looked up just before beginning to type this) was how high WSU ranked, 12th even BEFORE the pounding they handed Creighton in Omaha. This may explain why they've had WSU at the top of their "mid-major" rankings, as the Shocks were their highest-ranked such team (Creighton was 19th, just behind UNLV and Gonzaga at 17th and 18th). The next highest team outside a "power six" conference was St. Louis of the allegedly almost major A-10, just behind WSU at 13th.
Here were their top 15 (sorry for the poor formatting; their columns weren't preserved by copy-and-paste). The second number for each team, immediately following its D-1 record, was the team's BPI. Pretty decent company the Shocks are keeping:
Rk Team Conference D-I W-L BPI Net Pts vs Avg BPI SOS
1 Kentucky SEC 24-1 91.4 18.9 90
2 Syracuse Big East 24-1 90.1 17.7 57
3 Ohio State Big Ten 21-3 90.0 17.7 84
4 Michigan State Big Ten 18-5 87.4 15.6 16
5 Kansas Big 12 19-5 86.8 15.1 10
6 Duke ACC 20-4 85.5 14.2 1
7 North Carolina ACC 20-4 85.3 14.1 62
8 Florida SEC 19-5 83.7 13.2 51
9 Missouri Big 12 22-2 83.7 13.1 86
10 Baylor Big 12 20-3 82.8 12.6 17
11 Wisconsin Big Ten 19-6 82.6 12.5 48
12 Wichita State Missouri Valley 20-4 81.8 12.0 56
13 Saint Louis A-10 18-5 81.8 12.0 93
14 Indiana Big Ten 19-6 81.6 12.0 23
15 Louisville Big East 19-5 81.5 11.9 36
By the way, my apologies for the duplication if this has already been posted; I haven't seen it elsewhere on here.
What was also striking about ESPN's BPI rankings (which I looked up just before beginning to type this) was how high WSU ranked, 12th even BEFORE the pounding they handed Creighton in Omaha. This may explain why they've had WSU at the top of their "mid-major" rankings, as the Shocks were their highest-ranked such team (Creighton was 19th, just behind UNLV and Gonzaga at 17th and 18th). The next highest team outside a "power six" conference was St. Louis of the allegedly almost major A-10, just behind WSU at 13th.
Here were their top 15 (sorry for the poor formatting; their columns weren't preserved by copy-and-paste). The second number for each team, immediately following its D-1 record, was the team's BPI. Pretty decent company the Shocks are keeping:
Rk Team Conference D-I W-L BPI Net Pts vs Avg BPI SOS
1 Kentucky SEC 24-1 91.4 18.9 90
2 Syracuse Big East 24-1 90.1 17.7 57
3 Ohio State Big Ten 21-3 90.0 17.7 84
4 Michigan State Big Ten 18-5 87.4 15.6 16
5 Kansas Big 12 19-5 86.8 15.1 10
6 Duke ACC 20-4 85.5 14.2 1
7 North Carolina ACC 20-4 85.3 14.1 62
8 Florida SEC 19-5 83.7 13.2 51
9 Missouri Big 12 22-2 83.7 13.1 86
10 Baylor Big 12 20-3 82.8 12.6 17
11 Wisconsin Big Ten 19-6 82.6 12.5 48
12 Wichita State Missouri Valley 20-4 81.8 12.0 56
13 Saint Louis A-10 18-5 81.8 12.0 93
14 Indiana Big Ten 19-6 81.6 12.0 23
15 Louisville Big East 19-5 81.5 11.9 36
By the way, my apologies for the duplication if this has already been posted; I haven't seen it elsewhere on here.
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