I really don't get the RPI. I won't tell you which team this is ... but take a guess what this team's current RPI is based on the results below:

Date Opponent (Expected RPI) Conf Loc Score Outcome
11-9 Montana (136.5) BSky H 72-65 W
11-21 Denver (92.9) WAC A 53-60 W
11-24 Washington (79.1) P12 A 55-73 W
11-26 Northern Colorado (306.6) BSky H 85-69 W
12-1 Evansville (125.9) MVC H 79-72 W
12-5 Colorado (26.7) P12 A 70-61 L
12-8 Illinois Chicago (125.8) Horz A 64-55 L
12-17 North Florida (203.4) ASun H 83-55 W
12-19 Cal St. Bakersfield (242.8) ind H 78-58 W
12-22 Portland (229.1) WCC N 53-70 W
12-23 Virginia Tech (165.1) ACC N 88-52 W
1-2 Texas El Paso (82.4) CUSA H 62-58 W
1-5 St. Bonaventure (157.5) A10 H 85-64 W 100% 0.0

So, this team has a current record of 11-2 and a best Win over current #61 Washington, and a worst Loss to current #101 Illinois-Chicago. Their other loss was to current #10 Colorado (which is an absolute farce in and of itself).

Honor system here ... without looking it up, guess what this team's RPI is.

total shot in the dark..... haven't kept up this year at all really.

Kansas at #9.

EDIT: Now that I know the right answer... Never would've guessed. I will say that the RPI is better at the end of the year. Not perfect, but I think it ranks teams better than most computer rankings and certainly better than pollsters. RPI was greatly devalued by the mainstream media the year Missouri Valley got 5 teams in the tournament. Before that the media considered it gold because it rewards conferences who collectively schedule weak OOC and then get "quality wins" against each other.

It's still early...the numbers will adjust. IF this team keeps winning, then they will have a good RPI. What works for them is that they have played 4 true road games and went 3-1 in those games, also played 2 neutral games and won them as well. Winning on road always helps the RPI and none of their opponents have been really RPI killers.

(01-12-2013 01:07 AM)tiger1016 Wrote:  It's still early...the numbers will adjust. IF this team keeps winning, then they will have a good RPI. What works for them is that they have played 4 true road games and went 3-1 in those games, also played 2 neutral games and won them as well. Winning on road always helps the RPI and none of their opponents have been really RPI killers.

Well, they did play 3 teams +200 at home ... and they are actually 3-2 in true road games, not 3-1, and their neutral site wins were against teams +165.

I do realize things even out to some degree, and this team's schedule actually gets tougher going forward. So their expected RPI has a fairly wide range ... win a few of those tough ones, move up, get upset in a game or two and move down.

The team in question is a MWC team, and because of that league's solid results (3rd best RPI conference and 6 of the 9 teams in the top 50 RPI), it is going to continue to buoy their RPI. The problem with the MWC is that they have been very consistent, but their is not a single big win by any team, unless you count New Mexico's victory over Cincinnati. The best you can say is that the top 6 in the league have been extremely good at beating average to bad teams.

I just posted this because it is extremely likely that this team will end up significantly higher in the RPI than the Tigers at season's end.

Rule #1 for scheduling with the RPI in mind: don't schedule teams expected to have an RPI below 200.

All of their losses are away, and they have not played a lot of major crappy teams, like 225+ teams. That's the key to the RPI.

Not an RPI, but a ranking related point-


The other nite it showed where tOSU was 12-0 vs unranked teams and 0-3 vs ranked. Guess who is still in the top 25.


We just have to win games. All of the other junk will take care of itself.

(01-12-2013 05:02 AM)bubbapt Wrote:  Rule #1 for scheduling with the RPI in mind: don't schedule teams expected to have an RPI below 200.

I thought we established... "a win is a win".

(01-12-2013 05:02 AM)bubbapt Wrote:  Rule #1 for scheduling with the RPI in mind: don't schedule teams expected to have an RPI below 200.

The RPI is so easily manipulated, anyone who doesnt take advantage deserves a bad RPI.

Now if we can ever convince Josh to stop playing the 300+ RPI teams..... but hey, "This is a really good team, with a really good coach, and really good players"...

Lipscomb, Austin Peay and UTM are all RPI killers.

(01-11-2013 11:43 PM)NigelTufnel Wrote:  I really don't get the RPI.

RPI is only good at the end of the season. Although it sometimes starts settling in about mid-season, that's not always the case.

A big part of the RPI right now is the teams own win-loss record. Any team at this point that has a home loss is at a disadvantage. Any team that does not have an away win is at a disadvantage.

So let's take Memphis. Up until a week ago, Memphis had a home loss. It doesnt matter it was to a top 5 team. It was a home loss, and as far as the RPI is concerned that was morbidly bad.

Memphis also did not have any away wins, because they had yet to play an away game.

Therefore, a few weeks ago, Memphis' RPI was between 150-200.

The reason it takes an entire season to truly work out the RPI is because not every team plays an equal number of away games early, or quality opponents early. Memphis schedule's tougher games than many mid-major teams in the OOC. Over the past few years, we have also scheduled very few away games until conference play. (Part of this was how our OOC home-away schedules were synced up so that they were either all away or all home.)

So, in a year like this one, where Memphis hasnt played but one true away game, and has a home loss, our RPI is going to take a hit until:

A) Other teams play tougher opponents at home in their schedule and lose

B) Memphis gets into their away schedule.

Take a look at the movement of our RPI by simply beating UTK. That was an away win.

Anyway, this is why the RPI is never correct until you are deep enough into the season that most teams have had the same ratio of home and away games played. Until then, the away game players have the RPI advantage.

(01-12-2013 10:03 AM)Original Sabretooth Wrote:  Lipscomb, Austin Peay and UTM are all RPI killers.

Yep, but 3 guaranteed wins Josh and his loyal followers can cheer him about.

Yesterday, ESPN reported that one of the 6 or 7 computers that is used to rank football teams actually had Notre Dame as #1 AFTER losing 42-14 to Alabama!

Apparently, these mathematical ranking formulas [including RPI] are not infallible

(01-12-2013 10:59 AM)dan o Wrote:  Yesterday, ESPN reported that one of the 6 or 7 computers that is used to rank football teams actually had Notre Dame as #1 AFTER losing 42-14 to Alabama!

Apparently, these mathematical ranking formulas [including RPI] are not infallible

Yep, they are easily manipulated.

Colorado State

(01-11-2013 11:43 PM)NigelTufnel Wrote:  I really don't get the RPI. I won't tell you which team this is ... but take a guess what this team's current RPI is based on the results below:

Date Opponent (Expected RPI) Conf Loc Score Outcome
11-9 Montana (136.5) BSky H 72-65 W
11-21 Denver (92.9) WAC A 53-60 W
11-24 Washington (79.1) P12 A 55-73 W
11-26 Northern Colorado (306.6) BSky H 85-69 W
12-1 Evansville (125.9) MVC H 79-72 W
12-5 Colorado (26.7) P12 A 70-61 L
12-8 Illinois Chicago (125.8) Horz A 64-55 L
12-17 North Florida (203.4) ASun H 83-55 W
12-19 Cal St. Bakersfield (242.8) ind H 78-58 W
12-22 Portland (229.1) WCC N 53-70 W
12-23 Virginia Tech (165.1) ACC N 88-52 W
1-2 Texas El Paso (82.4) CUSA H 62-58 W
1-5 St. Bonaventure (157.5) A10 H 85-64 W 100% 0.0

So, this team has a current record of 11-2 and a best Win over current #61 Washington, and a worst Loss to current #101 Illinois-Chicago. Their other loss was to current #10 Colorado (which is an absolute farce in and of itself).

Honor system here ... without looking it up, guess what this team's RPI is.

Yes, the team is Colorado State, and their current RPI is 24, well ahead of the Tigers, despite the fact that they have a "worse" loss than the Tigers (@ UIC). Their best win is slightly better than the Tigers (@Washington).

On paper, the Mountain West looks pretty good, 6 teams in the RPI top 33 but if you dig deeper, what is the best out of conference win for the conference? Maybe New Mexico over Cincinnati? Primarily, the MWC teams have been very good at beating average to bad teams, but are they really going to be able to compete with the big boys?