The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

According to the dance card we are 7 places out at 57. This is up from about 64 a week ago. And thank you Ole Miss for getting us one spot closer

EDIT: forgot the link: http://www.unf.edu/~jcoleman/dance.htm

Quote:Rank Team Dance Card RPI Rank

1 North Carolina 8.9571 3
2 Xavier 7.9962 6
3 Tennessee 7.9372 1
4 Memphis 7.8800 2
5 Duke 7.2797 5
6 Texas 6.9802 4
7 UCLA 6.8279 7
8 Indiana 5.9737 15
9 Kansas 5.5892 8
10 Drake 5.3744 9
11 Notre Dame 5.2389 19
12 Georgetown 4.9944 10
13 Stanford 4.8423 21
14 Butler 4.6399 20
15 Louisville 4.5618 12
16 Wisconsin 4.5163 11
17 Michigan St. 4.4727 17
18 Connecticut 4.3980 13
19 Washington St. 4.2414 22
20 Marquette 4.2403 18
21 Vanderbilt 3.7792 14
22 Purdue 3.4108 28
23 Arizona 3.1355 16
24 Clemson 3.0458 24
25 Oklahoma 2.6618 23
26 Brigham Young 2.5812 29
27 Southern California 2.4696 33
28 Miami FL 2.3804 25
29 Pittsburgh 2.3030 26
30 South Alabama 2.1687 36
31 Kent St. 2.1657 41
32 Baylor 2.0691 27
33 Nevada Las Vegas 1.7569 32
34 Gonzaga 1.555 31
35 St. Mary's 1.5441 35
36 Arkansas 1.2404 37
37 Kansas St. 1.1888 30
38 West Virginia 1.0740 34
39 Massachusetts 0.6339 43
40 Illinois St. 0.5884 47
41 Mississippi St. 0.4494 42
42 Maryland 0.0769 44
43 Kentucky 0.0682 46
44 Texas A&M -0.0786 40
45 Southern Illinois -0.1794 48
46 Davidson -0.2636 65
47 Texas Tech -0.4638 49
48 Virginia Commonwealth -0.4678 59
49 Dayton -0.7147 38
50 Syracuse -0.7962 39
The Bubble Bursts Here
51 Villanova -0.8605 51
52 Saint Joseph's -0.9048 58
53 New Mexico -0.9215 54
54 Houston -0.9711 55
55 Ohio St. -1.1955 50
56 Arizona St. -1.3539 61
57 UAB -1.4364 73
58 Mississippi -1.4392 45

Wow. Check the sorry state of the State of Alabama basketball

Rank Team Dance Card RPI Rank

332 Jacksonville St. -27.4340 338

315 Alabama A&M -26.2919 328

250 Troy -19.8124 227

249 Samford -19.8023 262

232 Alabama St. -18.4586 259

136 Alabama -9.3762 104

129 Auburn -8.3702 115

57 UAB -1.4364 73

30 South Alabama 2.1687 36

I think this ranking is close to where we need to be annually. USA is playing way over their traditional standing. Everyone else is stinking up the joint.

It is amazing how much love the Missouri Valley gets now days. Teams like Butler and Drake ranked and Southern Ill projected in the dance at 16-12 with an RPI at or better than ours (UAB). The RPI formula is flawed, so what if you play IU and Miss State, if you lose to them and half your conference. If we lose to a mid level conference team we are dead in water looking for next year as a life boat!

I think the RPI formula was a pretty valid measure of a team's ability in the past... but I think it's usefulness is becoming questionable. Teams have learned how to "beat" the RPI system. Or in other cases, some teams are just lucky. For example, UAB scheduled Witchita State with the hope I'm sure that it would be a decent game for our SOS. Well, unfortunately, Witchita State has absolutely flopped this year and has the potential to be our worst loss of the season. That's just luck... or rather, lack thereof.

Fortunately, I think the RPI is becoming less and less of THE tool and more and more just one of the tools the selection committee uses. We all know that injuries and such are taken into account. The RPI also doesn't give UAB any help for the fact we lost by just 1pt to Memphis when they were #1. The 1pt loss, as far as the RPI is concerned, is no different than a 30pt blowout. However, the human element on the committee will weigh that 1pt loss... this is the reason why Joe Lunardi was talking a week or so ago about this loss and said that in the eyes of the selection committee it will be almost as good as actually beating Memphis. Now one can debate how much weight will be placed on such things, but there's no question that it will be considered and is one of the reasons UAB is in some brackets right now despite having a lower RPI than some teams that aren't in the brackets.

I don't think we're in good enough shape to not worry about it, but I do think that if one looks only at the RPI that they'll be mistaken. There are a number of other criteria that they look at and a number of those factors benefit UAB. We need a win on Wednesday to take some more of the pressure off and help solidify our claim.

BlazerPhil Wrote:Wow. Check the sorry state of the State of Alabama basketball

Rank Team Dance Card RPI Rank

332 Jacksonville St. -27.4340 338

315 Alabama A&M -26.2919 328

250 Troy -19.8124 227

249 Samford -19.8023 262

232 Alabama St. -18.4586 259

136 Alabama -9.3762 104

129 Auburn -8.3702 115

57 UAB -1.4364 73

30 South Alabama 2.1687 36

I think this ranking is close to where we need to be annually. USA is playing way over their traditional standing. Everyone else is stinking up the joint.

Just a side thought, but why on earth are we scheduling Troy in the coming years? Talk about murdering your SOS.

BatesUAB Wrote:

BlazerPhil Wrote:Wow. Check the sorry state of the State of Alabama basketball

Rank Team Dance Card RPI Rank

332 Jacksonville St. -27.4340 338

315 Alabama A&M -26.2919 328

250 Troy -19.8124 227

249 Samford -19.8023 262

232 Alabama St. -18.4586 259

136 Alabama -9.3762 104

129 Auburn -8.3702 115

57 UAB -1.4364 73

30 South Alabama 2.1687 36

I think this ranking is close to where we need to be annually. USA is playing way over their traditional standing. Everyone else is stinking up the joint.

Just a side thought, but why on earth are we scheduling Troy in the coming years? Talk about murdering your SOS.

Tied with football. Talk to our AD this was his call.

Alabama State has a great chance of getting into the tourney with a conference tourney championship win. Only two teams stand in their way, Jackson St. and Southern. They seem to have Southern's #. If they make it in and everything stays as is, three state teams will make it into the NCAA tourney. Who will go the farthest?

Just a side thought, but why on earth are we scheduling Troy in the coming years? Talk about murdering your SOS.
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Well, at least Troy is the 'best of the rest' other than South Alabama.. Plus playing them in basketball might get a better crowd at Bartow than Alabama A & M or Al State, Jacks St, etc...