2013 Sears ESPN Bracketbuster Game

[GoShockers89]

Our best hope might be Stephen F. Austin now. They are 8-1 (only 4-1 against D-1 teams) and just won at Oklahoma. Their RPI is currently at 13 but will only go down as conference play progresses.

Other notable turds w/RPI in ( ):

Canisius (45)
McNeese State (50)
North Dakota State (77)
Eastern Kentucky (85)
Jacksonville State (70)
Central Michigan (68)
Pacific (75)
Cal State Northridge (94)
Albany (62)

This is the exhaustive list of potential opponents currently in the top 100. I left the rest of them off.

[WuShock Reaper]

Here is where we stand today (01/01/13) regarding the 2013 Sears ESPN Bracketbuster Field and their respective RPI’s, they are:

Top 15 Home Teams

Tier 1
Wichita State (#18), Belmont (#20), Indiana State (#36), Murray State (#37), Western Michigan (#54)

Tier 2
Illinois-Chicago (#70), College Of Charleston (#76), UC Santa Barbara (#87), Davidson (#93) , Akron (#96)

Tier 3
Saint Mary's College (#100), Northern Iowa (#110), Utah State (#111), Valparaiso (#114), Long Beach State (#116)

Top 15 Away Teams

Tier 1
Creighton (#19), North Dakota State (#40), McNeese State (#42), Stephen F. Austin (#51), Canisius (#52),

Tier 2
Cal State Northridge (#60), Illinois State (#61), Northwestern State (#63), Weber State (#83), South Dakota State (#86)

Tier 3
Montana (#97), Detroit (#99), Albany (#112), Central Michigan (#113) Jacksonville State (#115)

COMMENTARY
Now for all you out there who insist that the event has gotten worse over the last few years, I think you are all full of bovine excrement. Here is the average RPI for the top 11 teams (the ESPN TV Games) for the last few years as they stood on Selection Monday (the days the teams are matched-up):

2008 TV Games - RPI #62.6
2009 TV Games - RPI #68.5
2010 TV Games - RPI #71.0
2011 TV Games - RPI #72.3
2012 TV Games - RPI #67.2
2013 TV Games - RPI #60.9 (As of today 01/01/13

If the event has gotten worse, then why is the RPI better than previous years? In fact, it is the best it has been in the last six years. Yeah, I know that the RPI rankings will likely deteriorate over the next four weeks, but they could get better as well. We will see.

NEXT UPDATE – January 7, 2013

[moshock]

Top 15 Away Teams

Tier 1
Creighton (#19), North Dakota State (#40), McNeese State (#42), Stephen F. Austin (#51), Canisius (#52),

Tier 2
Cal State Northridge (#60), Illinois State (#61), Northwestern State (#63), Weber State (#83), South Dakota State (#86)

Tier 3
Montana (#97), Detroit (#99), Albany (#112), Central Michigan (#113) Jacksonville State (#115)

Reap, thanks for the updates. Please keep them coming.

The problem is perception not RPI. Outside of the MVC teams, the other teams are all "buy in" games. If one of those teams beats us - no matter what their RPI is - the perception is a bad loss.

They are all in 1 bid conferences. With the higher profile teams/conferences all opting out - this whole thing reeks of " bovine excrement".

[ShockTalk]

Two problems with your RPIs.

1) Many of these teams will see their RPIs heading downward due to their league play and the lower RPIs they will be facing. If a team listed here loses to one of those lower RPI teams, their own RPI will take a bigger hit.

2) Yes, supposedly, teams are matched up based on their RPIs on that selection Monday. However, #1 and #1, #2 and #2 are not always matched up. Also, what will be important to WSU will be their opponents RPI when it comes to the Dance selection. As stated in 1), many of these teams' RPIs will continue downward through February as well.

Here's a listing of the top projected RPI teams along with some of the "top" teams you list:

Home: #18 WSU, #22 Belmont, #55 Akron, #60 St. Marys, #68 Ill-Chicago, #73 Murray St, #78 IN St, #114 Davidson, #127 Charleston, #139 W. Michigan, #165 CS Santa Barbara

Away: #23 Creighton, #52 Ill St, #59 NDSU, #64 Detroit, #65 Canisius, #83 SF Austin, #93 Iona, #95 Ohio, #108 Weber St, #138 SDSU, #153 NW St, #154 CS Northridge, #161 McNeese St

If everything holds, Belmont should get either CU or Ill St, so we should get the next best in line, #59 NDSU.

[Ta Town Shocker]

Can someone explain how Davidson and Murray State are at home this season when they had home games last season?

[shox1989]

Can someone explain how Davidson and Murray State are at home this season when they had home games last season?

They probably insisted they would be at home again or they would drop out. I think the MVC should have insisted that Cu and WSU be at home each year. They make for much better TV games then having teams play in a high school type gym.

[RoyalShock]

Can someone explain how Davidson and Murray State are at home this season when they had home games last season?

I think the organizers will occasionally do that so it's not always the same groups of home and away teams.

[Ta Town Shocker]

I went to Murray State's website and checked their schedule for the past several years and it appears they play at home every season.

[shox1989]

I went to Murray State's website and checked their schedule for the past several years and it appears they play at home every season.

I am sure they insisted on it to be part of this "event".

[wusphlash]

Can someone explain how Davidson and Murray State are at home this season when they had home games last season?

Possibly with the departure of the CAA, VCU to the A10, etc. there was a need to balance out the Homes and Aways.

[WuShock Reaper]

Can someone explain how Davidson and Murray State are at home this season when they had home games last season?

I think that that is a load of crap. However, teams on the road have the most to gain, so a win at the home teams by the visiting teams have historically been much more valuable.

[WuShock Reaper]

Two problems with your RPIs.

1) Many of these teams will see their RPIs heading downward due to their league play and the lower RPIs they will be facing. If a team listed here loses to one of those lower RPI teams, their own RPI will take a bigger hit.

2) Yes, supposedly, teams are matched up based on their RPIs on that selection Monday. However, #1 and #1, #2 and #2 are not always matched up. Also, what will be important to WSU will be their opponents RPI when it comes to the Dance selection. As stated in 1), many of these teams' RPIs will continue downward through February as well.

Here's a listing of the top projected RPI teams along with some of the "top" teams you list:

Home: #18 WSU, #22 Belmont, #55 Akron, #60 St. Marys, #68 Ill-Chicago, #73 Murray St, #78 IN St, #114 Davidson, #127 Charleston, #139 W. Michigan, #165 CS Santa Barbara

Away: #23 Creighton, #52 Ill St, #59 NDSU, #64 Detroit, #65 Canisius, #83 SF Austin, #93 Iona, #95 Ohio, #108 Weber St, #138 SDSU, #153 NW St, #154 CS Northridge, #161 McNeese St

If everything holds, Belmont should get either CU or Ill St, so we should get the next best in line, #59 NDSU.

But they (the ESPN Bracketbuster Selection Committee) does not use the preojected year-ending RPI #'s, they tend to use the RPI # from the weekend before selection Monday.

[ShockerFever]

What a suckitude of potential opponents to choose from. So glad this s*** is done after this year.

[ShockTalk]

Two problems with your RPIs.

1) Many of these teams will see their RPIs heading downward due to their league play and the lower RPIs they will be facing. If a team listed here loses to one of those lower RPI teams, their own RPI will take a bigger hit.

2) Yes, supposedly, teams are matched up based on their RPIs on that selection Monday. However, #1 and #1, #2 and #2 are not always matched up. Also, what will be important to WSU will be their opponents RPI when it comes to the Dance selection. As stated in 1), many of these teams' RPIs will continue downward through February as well.

Here's a listing of the top projected RPI teams along with some of the "top" teams you list:

Home: #18 WSU, #22 Belmont, #55 Akron, #60 St. Marys, #68 Ill-Chicago, #73 Murray St, #78 IN St, #114 Davidson, #127 Charleston, #139 W. Michigan, #165 CS Santa Barbara

Away: #23 Creighton, #52 Ill St, #59 NDSU, #64 Detroit, #65 Canisius, #83 SF Austin, #93 Iona, #95 Ohio, #108 Weber St, #138 SDSU, #153 NW St, #154 CS Northridge, #161 McNeese St

If everything holds, Belmont should get either CU or Ill St, so we should get the next best in line, #59 NDSU.

But they (the ESPN Bracketbuster Selection Committee) does not use the preojected year-ending RPI #'s, they tend to use the RPI # from the weekend before selection Monday.

Well, yeah. I think I said as much. That wasn't the point of my post. With the exception of the probably the first two teams you listed in Tier 1 for both Home and Away, the other teams will most likely have a pretty good drop in RPI over the next 4 weeks. The future RPIs for most are not as good as they may appear now.

When you say, "Here is the average RPI for the top 11 teams (the ESPN TV Games)", are you referring to the average of just the top 11 RPI teams, the average of the 22 teams that played in the 11 TV games, or something else? The top 11 teams all had an RPI at or higher than 60 last year and I'm pretty certain that will not happen this year. The average of the 22 teams in the 11 TV games can vary greatly depending on: 1) how unbalanced the RPIs may be between Home and Away and 2) whether ESPN made sure to have the best possible RPI match-ups. Besides, wasn't there 13 TV games last year? Last year's TV games included at least a #13 home team and #17 Away, #9 home and #16 Away, #17 Home and #10 Away, #8 Home and #14 Away, so the best 11 Home and Away were not all involved. Since this happens every year, your evaluation of the the quality of the field based on the TV games doesn't hold water.

[ShockTalk]

Double post.