RE: UC new RPI rank, RPI Question

[Richmond, Dean]

You have to be careful... Not all RPIs are created equal! Some are much more
accurate than others. I had always used Jerry Palm's collegerpi.com until he
started charging for daily updates. I have nothing against him (as a
capitalist myself, I support his right to charge for his services, but I
have a right to refuse to pay), but he is really good. His predictions of
the field of 65 have been very accurate in the past. For daily updates, I
use Warren Nolan. Try Warrennolan.com.    

According to Warren Nolan, St. Joe's has a SOS of 41 and UC's is 52. By the
end of the regular season we will be nearly equal. You answered your own
question because the SOS is a function of the entire season. St. Joe's has
apparently played fewer really bad teams than we have. You also need to look
at the closeness of the team's rpi or SOS. Sometimes teams are bunched
together and one game can really make a difference.  

Beware of rpi projections. There are just too many factors that can
influence the final result. We have quite a bit of basketball yet to play
before Selection Sunday.

A few weeks ago some were posting about UC's schedule. I posted that it
would comparable to Syracuse's schedule last year (they had a SOS of 47).
Well, we will have a better SOS then Syracuse had last year. UC will end the
regular season with a SOS in the lower 40s. In addition, nobody will finish
the regular season with 7 tougher games than UC. I am not saying that the
Cats will win the NC, but we can already see that this team is benefiting
from some really good competition.
 
We win on Saturday and hang another banner at The Shoe!

Dean Richmond



-----Original Message-----
From: Jay Larbes [mailto:address@hidden
Sent: Monday, March 01, 2004 2:04 AM
To: address@hidden; Jay Larbes
Subject: [UC Basketball] UC new RPI rank, RPI Question


First,

Just to let everyone know who hasn't yet seen, UC jumped from #30 to #18 in
the RPI after their victory over Charlotte yesterday!  That jump really
surprised me.

This leads me to my question.  I am beginning to seriously question the
quality of the RPI.  Can someone explain to me how St. Joe's SOS is better
than UC's?  They have played two teams with an RPI ranking below 40.  TWO.
(Not that it matters for the RPI, but both of those were before Christmas:
11/14 against #11 Gonzaga and 12/09 against #26 Boston College)

St. Joe's SOS = 31
UC's SOS = 46

# teams played in the top 50:
St Joe's:  4
UC:  8

After looking further, UC has played 4 teams over 200 in the RPI, while St.
Joe's has played zero.  I guess that could explain it, but I think that
playing high teams should weigh significantly more than weak opponents.

Take it for what it's worth, just my 2AM rant ...

- Jay