Saturday, January 28, 2006

The secrets behind the RPI numbers

First of all thanks to kenpom.com for providing a very useful and up-to-date RPI website (for free even).

Browsing through the sets of numbers reveals some interesting things:

  • Arizona and UCLA have played ZERO games against teams with 201+ RPI. No cupcakes! Strong RPI/SOS along with the designer name may be what pushes Arizona in the NCAAs despite their struggles.
  • Top 10 RRI teams with a 50-50 record vs Top 50: Tennesse and Gonzaga
  • Top 20 RPI teams with triple-digit Out of conference SOS: UConn (234!), Illinois, Pitt (178!), Ohio State, Indiana, Boston College
  • UCLA has a 12-0 record against the Top101-200 RPI

    Top 30 RPI teams with...
  • ... low SOS compared to the rest: UConn, Illinois, Pitt, Wisc-Mil (can't blame them as their OOC RPI/SOS is 5/14), Florida and Georgetown.
  • ... a losing record against the Top50: Iowa, Arizona, Wisc-Milw, BC, Maryland, Wichita St, Syracause (horrible 1-5), Michigan, LSU, Marquette and Georgetown. Georgetown may be 1-4 but their one W is against Duke, so that probably counts for 3 :)
  • ... a less than stellar Road/Neutral record: Tennessee, Wisconsin, Iowa, Arizona, Maryland, LSU and NCState.
  • ... losses to Top201+ RPI teams: Indiana, Cincy, SoIllinois, Creighton
  • ... signifantly better overall SOS ranking than RPI ranking: Arizona, Cincy, LSU

    Beyond the Top30 RPI
  • Embarassing OOC SOS for "BCS" teams: West Virginia, Washington, Vandy, Clemson, Kansas State, Colorado, Louisville, Georgia, California, Wake Forest, FSU, Kansas, and on and on
  • Great road/neutral records: Iona, NW St, GW, Nevada, Montana
  • Significantly better overall SOS ranking than RPI ranking: Kentucky, Iowa State, St Joe's, Providence, DePaul, South Carolina, Rutgers
  • Good OOC SOS ranking: Kentucky, St Joe's, Providence, DePaul, Houston, TN Tech and Samford (not Stanford)
  • Inflated OOC RPI rating because of very poor SOS of opponents: Missouri St, Iona, Washington, Kansas St, Vandy, Clemson, Xavier, Nevada, Louisville, Ohio, Wake Forest, and many more
  • Great record against the Top50 RPI: West Virginia, Washington, George Washington
  • Embarassing: Two losses to Top201+ RPI: NC Wilmington

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