Why is the RPI still a thing?

[ckhokie]

It's not about cherry picking 6 games in the non conference. But because of all those games against sub 150 competition, Va Tech is only 6-6 against the top 100 of the RPI. Along with a sub 100 loss to St Louis. So obviously as great as the UVA win is, the St Louis loss just about cancels it out. Is a team that can go .500 against the top 100 deserving? If it were today, I'd say probably, but it's why Va Tech is squarely on the bubble.

Again, I'm not, and have not argued we shouldn't be in the bubble. I'm stating the RPI is a farce and shouldn't even be referenced when deciding who is deserving given the other metrics.

Also, St Louis is our only bad loss. Everyone has a bad loss. A fluke loss in November should NOT hold the same weight beating the #1 team in the nation on the road in the middle of conference play, when you're in the upper half of your conference.

 

[ericd7633]

Again, I'm not, and have not argued we shouldn't be in the bubble. I'm stating the RPI is a farce and shouldn't even be referenced when deciding who is deserving given the other metrics.

Also, St Louis is our only bad loss. Everyone has a bad loss. A fluke loss in November should NOT hold the same weight beating the #1 team in the nation on the road in the middle of conference play, when you're in the upper half of your conference.

If you want to reference who's deserving and don't like RPI, take a look at KPI and SoR. KenPom, Sagarin and BPI are predictive measures. I don't think they're a good way to judge who's deserving. Just my opinion. I like the RPI, personally, and it's not as if the committee doesn't skew away from that when it makes sense to do so, because historically they have.

And in regards to the St Louis loss, I said it just about cancels it out. That St Louis loss is a Q3 loss, if they perform poorly down the stretch it could drop into a Q4 loss. Not that I think it will though.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

RPI is helpful because it is computer based and removes a lot of biases from it, you shouldn't make it the number one ranking to go over but it should be used to help folks realize a team like Mid Tenn State should be in the tournament

 

[huskers1217]

The RPI shows how Nebraska and Boise ST are much better than Arkansas and USC.

 

[Hitman Hart]

speaking of VT weak non-conference schedules..

Lunardi was talking about NC State's weak non-conference schedule and he goes "heck, Seth (Greenberg) you had tougher non-conference schedules than this!" Greenberg wasn't amused.

ahahahaha

 

[wildturkey]

speaking of VT weak non-conference schedules..

Lunardi was talking about NC State's weak non-conference schedule and he goes "heck, Seth (Greenberg) you had tougher non-conference schedules than this!" Greenberg wasn't amused.

ahahahaha

Lulz. That dude would schedule nobody and would freak the fuck out every time we'd get left out. It use to annoy the hell out of me. We got legit screwed like one time, but pretty much every other time in his tenure was self inflicted and was justified to leave us out

 

[Smart]

RPI's issue is that it rewards teams who schedule the "best" terrible teams. If you beat am 8-4 MEAC team, it is considered better for your resume than a 4-8 MEAC team. And that doesn't make any sense, because if you are a top 20 team, you should still beat both of them with ease. This means that RPI becomes a test of how well you schedule, not how good you actually are.

 

[jontaejones]

Whatever metric you use, somebody is getting screwed.

Providence has an RPI of like 40 but a BPI of like 74.

 

[douggie]

This is the influence of football in coIIege measurements making it over to basketball

 

[Destroydacre]

I agree, RPI is very out of date. It's too easy for teams to "game." Here's Gonzaga's rankings right now:

AP/Coaches: 9/8
Kenpom: 8
Sagarin: 10
BPI: 7
RPI: 39

And that RPI of 39 represents a jump of 11 spots after beating Saint Mary's on Saturday. All the other top metrics suggest that Gonzaga is a borderline 2 seed and very worthy of a 3-4. But did they show up in the top 16 reveal this last weekend? Nope. According to RPI, once all the auto bids are taken into account, Gonzaga should be somewhere around a last 4 in team. That's ridiculous. RPI would be fine when used in conjunction equally with everything else, but it's painfully obvious the committee still weighs RPI way too heavily.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

The RPI shows how Nebraska and Boise ST are much better than Arkansas and USC.

I agree sir

down with crappy teams like Arkansas and USC

Boise State and Nebraska shall be in the tournament

 

[Hitman Hart]

It's not about cherry picking 6 games in the non conference. But because of all those games against sub 150 competition, Va Tech is only 6-6 against the top 100 of the RPI. Along with a sub 100 loss to St Louis. So obviously as great as the UVA win is, the St Louis loss just about cancels it out. Is a team that can go .500 against the top 100 deserving? If it were today, I'd say probably, but it's why Va Tech is squarely on the bubble.

I just looked at VT's resume. I really thought it was better than what it was. Thought they had more than 2 top 50 wins for some reason. Man, they're the definition of a bubble team in mid-February. Poor SOS and ok RPI. #42 on kenpom, so they're a solid squad. Just don't have the resume yet.

Good thing is that VT has excellent opportunities during the last month of the season. Games against Clemson, Louisville, Duke and Miami.

 

[NolePride]

I don't think RPI is used that much in selecting teams the committee want in.

RPI is one of many measuring sticks the committee uses. And they use it to their
own advantage.

With team X they will cite RPI if they want that team in, and they have a good RPI.
If team B has a good RPI, but the committee is going by the "eye-test" (They want somebody
else in they totally ignore RPI). It happens every damn year.

They don't have a set criteria of measuring sticks that the fan can follow. They're going to put
in, who in the hell they want in and forget the rest. They have enough measuring sticks to justify
any addition or omission to or from the field. Even though they may contradict themselves when explaining
it to the fans.

The only place where RPI is usually followed is in College Baseball. On the average, you'll find yearly
that 5 or 6 of the 8 National Seeds are Top 8 RPI schools. This year they are going to seed the
other 8 hosts, also so following RPI will probably take a hit in baseball, too.

 

[Codaxx]

RPI is not the greatest, but it is a useful tool. It is also completely unbiased and readily duplicated. There are better models to use, but most of them do not publish what goes into it.

 

[DHoey]

I agree, RPI is very out of date. It's too easy for teams to "game." Here's Gonzaga's rankings right now:

AP/Coaches: 9/8
Kenpom: 8
Sagarin: 10
BPI: 7
RPI: 39

And that RPI of 39 represents a jump of 11 spots after beating Saint Mary's on Saturday. All the other top metrics suggest that Gonzaga is a borderline 2 seed and very worthy of a 3-4. But did they show up in the top 16 reveal this last weekend? Nope. According to RPI, once all the auto bids are taken into account, Gonzaga should be somewhere around a last 4 in team. That's ridiculous. RPI would be fine when used in conjunction equally with everything else, but it's painfully obvious the committee still weighs RPI way too heavily.

Gonzaga shouldn’t be any higher than a 5 seed this year. When you play your toughest conference game of the year and then get to follow it up with Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine.....come on.

 

[Ron G]

Just like football there are so many variables. But one change I would like to see is this: Prior to the conference championship tournaments, each conference is informed (based on the body of the season's work) how many teams will be included in the selection process. So for example if the Big 10 is told it will have 7 teams, and Illinois gets hot and wins the tournament, the Big 10 does not get 8 teams to the detriment of a 22-5 team in the Horizon League that does not win it's tournament. That team would be judged against Illinois not the number 7 Big 10 team. All leagues would be told up front that if their league champion is not the tournament champion it would judged against the worst team in a Power 5 league that has a tournament winner from the bottom half of its regular season.

 

[ckhokie]

So Lunardi has us playing Nevada first round. Our RPI is 50 vs theirs which is 13, which massive difference. Interesting though, when you break it down into the 'Quadrants' they're doing this year.

VT 20-8 RPI (50)
Q1- 5 wins and 5 losses
Q2- 7 wins and 2 losses
Games played in Q3&Q4 12 games played, record is 11-1 (No Q4 losses)

Nevada 23-5 RPI (13)
Q1- 2 wins and 2 losses
Q2- 3 wins and 1 loss
Games played in Q3&Q4 20 games played record is 18-2 (No Q4 losses)