Polls vs the RPI (a weekly comparison)

Let's do something fun, compare the latest basketball polls with the RPI data. I am using the RPI data from Ken Pomeroy as of right now.

Here are the latest polls posted at Yahoo Sports.

New Term: Poll-25 refers to a team in the polls (25 teams). It does not necessarily mean it's one of the Top 25 teams.

So let's go through the teams one by one and see what their RPI and SOS are. I am going by the AP poll (writers poll) since the writers poll usually shows more basketball savvy than the Coaches poll, which is rather ironic...

1. UCLA RPI: 2, SOS: 14
2. Pitt RPI: 10, SOS: 66. Obviously not the 2nd best team in the country.
3. North Carolina. RPI: 6, SOS: 7
4. Ohio State. RRI: 37, SOS: 158. Thad Matta likes homecooking. Greg Oden has only played two games. This cannot be reflected in the numbers. No judgement can be made here.
5. Florida. RPI: 91, SOS: 208. Billy likes homecooking too. Corey Brewer has been out and Noah under the weather.
6. Duke. RPI: 4, SOS: 4. Great numbers quantitatively, but qualitatively their play is a work in progress (at best).
7. Wisconsin: RPI: 24, SOS: 83. Homecookin!
8. Wichita State, RPI: 8 SOS: 17.
9. Alabama RPI: 29, SOS: 142
10. Arizona, RPI: 1, SOS: 1. While they may not be the best team on the court, they are the best team statistically (at least according to the RPI/SOS numbers)
11. Kansas, RPI: 57, SOS: 124. Over-rated?
12. LSU, RPI: 79, SOS: 82. Those two losses hurt.
13. Texas A&M, RPI: 95, SOS: 191. Kinda sad when Texas A&M Corpus Cristi has a higher RPI!. It's fascinating that this team was rated at #6 last week. I mean, COME ON!
14. UConn, RPI: 84, SOS: 307. Jim Calhoun loves CT a lot. He doesn't want to leave the state. But to his defense at least for this season his roster is loaded with inexperienced players and freshmen too. Clearly not the 14th best team in the country as of right now. But make sure you watch them and start a Thabeet-block drinking game :-)
15. Oklahoma State, RPI: 19, SOS: 129
16. Gonzaga, RPI: 11, SOS: 8. This reads like a Top 10 team to me!
17. Washington, RPI: 52, SOS: 200. Same reason as UConn above. Too many inexperienced players and four super-freshmen needing to mesh in the comforts of the Pacific Northwest. Not the 17th best team right now for sure.
18. Butler, RPI: 5, SOS: 16. It's awesome baby! They almost swept the state of Indiana but the Sycamores (without Larry Bird) managed to beat them. Another good win for the MVC.
19. Memphis, RPI: 35, SOS: 63 Shadows of the Elite 8 loss all over when they got owned by Tennessee. On a totally unrelated note, Kareem Cooper has been reinstated :-)
20. Marquette, RPI: 60, SOS: 87. A Duke win carries a lot of "poll cred". The definition of a downer? beating Duke and then losing to North Dakota State
21. Notre Dame. RPi: 51, SOS: 179. Back to back wins over Gary Williams and Alabama gave them "poll cred"
22. Oregon. RPI: 8, SOS: 47. The Flying Ducks and the Oregon Dunks are back! The grinder wins over Georgetown and Nebraska are probably more impressive than their high scoring affairs.
23. Syracuse. RPI: 56, SOS: 86. Not that bad when compared to UConn. But Syracuse is a team full of experienced seniors and a FINO in Paul Harris. FINO = Freshman In Name Only. Players who stay in prep school for additional years or reclassify early and often are not exactly freshmen (although technically they are!). Other examples: Tyler Hansborough of North Carolina last year, and 21 year old freshman Taj Gibson of USC this year and Devon Jefferson of USC next year (or the year after that?).
24. Air Force. RPI: 21. SOS: 70.
25. Nevada. RPI: 43, SOS: 139. Fazekas carries "poll cred".
*. Michigan State. RPI: 39 SOS: 99. Izzo's name is "poll cred" for the Coaches.
*. Clemson. RPI: 18, SOS: 121. Here we go again. Line up the cupcakes and the struggling BCS teams, beat them up and get everyone jazzed up. Then play NCAA-caliber competition and be thankful you got the NIT invite. Will this year be different for Clemson? The Coaches bought it and voted them in. At least the writers knew a little better.



Who's Missing from the Polls?
* RPI #7: ARKANSAS: SOS: 15. Got blown out by Missouri. Best wins: West Virginia and Southern Illinois (both neutral in the Disney classic).
* RPI #9: SMU: SOS: 13. Abrasive personality Matt Doherty has a home win over Dayton, and two cupcakes who don't count. Which explains the high RPI/SOS. Let's move along...
* RPI #14: Florida State: SOS: 22. They beat Florida, lost to Pitt/Wisc on the road. Sounds like a Poll-25 team when compared to some of the others in the Poll 25! Certainly the RPI/SOS numbers support this.
* RPI #15: UNLV
* RPI #16: Maryland
* RPI #17: Purdue
* RPI #20: Western Kentucky. SOS: 26
* RPI #22: Drexel.
* RPI #23: Villanova
* RPI #25: UAB


Notable high SOS not in the polls
Excluding the teams mentioned above, most of these teams are getting nice paychecks for the guaranteed road games:
* SOS #2: Arkansas Pine Bluff
* SOS #3: Delaware State
* SOS #5: Texas Southern
* S0S #6: Louisville. Bellarmine doesn't count RPI-wise so their SOS is propped up.
* SOS #10: Toledo
* SOS #11: Western Michigan
* SOS #12: Northeastern
* SOS #18: Rice
* SOS #19: Winthrop
* SOS #20: Alabama State
* SOS #23: Georgia Tech
* SOS #24: Grambling.

Any comments, suggestions, corrections, rants or ideas, please leave them as comments or send an email or blog them :-)