RPI doesn't matter....rankings do?

[Capitol Shock]

Has there ever been a team ranked in the top 25 during the last week of the season that didn't make the tournament? I think that there have been several teams that had an rpi in the 25 to 30 range that didn't.

[H8KU]

I seem to recall within the last 10 years Utah State being ranked in the top 25, but losing the championship game of their conference tournament and not getting in.

[RoyalShock]

Re: RPI doesn't matter....rankings do?

Has there ever been a team ranked in the top 25 during the last week of the season that didn't make the tournament? I think that there have been several teams that had an rpi in the 25 to 30 range that didn't.

Of course those in the top 25 are extremely likely to get in (barring a very rare exception). They are in the top 25 because a "selection committee" of sorts are putting them there week after week. But unless the real selection committee members are following the polls, my undersanding is that they do not have access to the AP or coach's polls during tournament selection time. It's like the difference between causation and correlation. The polls, when compared to inclusion in the NCAA tournament, is correlation.

RPI is used by the selection committee to determine good wins and bad losses. It is not used to directly determine a team's worthiness to be in the tournament. But it is a by-product of doing well against your schedule, so a lot of people use it as a general idea of a team's standing among other teams.

[SubGod22]

I seem to recall within the last 10 years Utah State being ranked in the top 25, but losing the championship game of their conference tournament and not getting in.

I don't remember the year, but I think they were ranked 23rd and 25th in the two polls. I was shocked. I believe Air Force got in and was then smoked in the first round in a game many felt USU could have won.

I do think it's odd that RPI is used to say to tell who is a good win, but doesn't mean you're good enough to get in. SWOMO with an RPI of 21 was deemed a good win by anyone who beat them, but not good enough to compete in the dance. Just seems odd to me. A Top 25 RPI win, but not dance worthy.

[1972Shocker]

They would seem to go hand-in-hand to an extent. How many Top 25 teams have poor RPI's?

[lilshock]

Thank you for bringing this up. I have a gripe about not beating teams by 30 or more when we can. You dont get ranked if you dont have RPI. We beat all the weak team by 12 or so and it hurts us bad in the RPI. If we are a bubble team every year, and we are. RPI can make all the difference. What are your thoughts about this? I bet if one year we beat teams as bad as we could we would help our RPI by 20, or at least 10!!!

[SubGod22]

Thank you for bringing this up. I have a gripe about not beating teams by 30 or more when we can. You dont get ranked if you dont have RPI. We beat all the weak team by 12 or so and it hurts us bad in the RPI. If we are a bubble team every year, and we are. RPI can make all the difference. What are your thoughts about this? I bet if one year we beat teams as bad as we could we would help our RPI by 20, or at least 10!!!

Point spread has zero effect on the RPI.

[Rosewood]

Thank you for bringing this up. I have a gripe about not beating teams by 30 or more when we can. You dont get ranked if you dont have RPI. We beat all the weak team by 12 or so and it hurts us bad in the RPI. If we are a bubble team every year, and we are. RPI can make all the difference. What are your thoughts about this? I bet if one year we beat teams as bad as we could we would help our RPI by 20, or at least 10!!!

Point spread has zero effect on the RPI.

I'm pretty sure it does in the BCS rankings and a lot of people confuse the RPI and BCS rankings as they both seem to be some mystery formula.

People also confuse McDonalds with Food so that isn't saying much.

[lilshock]

point spread has everything to do with the RPI!!! Its just like the betting lines in vegas. If you dont cover the spread it counts against you.

[AndShock]

point spread has everything to do with the RPI!!! Its just like the betting lines in vegas. If you dont cover the spread it counts against you.

RPI = (WP * 0.25) + (OWP * 0.50) + (OOWP * 0.25)

where WP is Winning Percentage, OWP is Opponents' Winning Percentage and OOWP is Opponents' Opponents' Winning Percentage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratings_Percentage_Index#Formula

[H8KU]

point spread has everything to do with the RPI!!! Its just like the betting lines in vegas. If you dont cover the spread it counts against you.

Point spread is a component to the Sagarin ratings, which isn't the same as the RPI.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/bkt1011.htm

Regardless, I'm all for running up the score - especially against pathetic Valley schools who's pathetic non-conference performance and refusal to schedule tough competition hurt our RPI. Screw em. :-x

[AndShock]

point spread has everything to do with the RPI!!! Its just like the betting lines in vegas. If you dont cover the spread it counts against you.

Point spread is a component to the Sagarin ratings, which isn't the same as the RPI.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/bkt1011.htm

Regardless, I'm all for running up the score - especially against pathetic Valley schools who's pathetic non-conference performance and refusal to schedule tough competition hurt our RPI. Screw em. :-x

I'd only be up for running up the score against certain opponents. Creighton and Evansville immediately come to mind. I don't think I'd get much of a kick out of turning a 20 point victory into a 40 point victory against Bradley.