Conference RPI

[tornado]

The MVC finishes 9th in Conference RPI and not even that close to the top 8 conferences...
I know there are those arguments that RPI is useless or not used - but it's still an objective standard of comparison...

Also - only two teams are currently inside the TOP 70 in RPI - and only one inside the Top 40 (Creighton at 37).

Last year we had two teams in the top 25
and only once in the last nine seasons has the MVC finished any lower than 9th...

I guess it's reasonable - especially since the hype and the press adds to the "eye test" that everyone claims to use now...
that we might expect BOTH Wichita & Creighton would get in if they fail to win the tourney...
but I cannot picture a team with a 75 RPI getting in from the Valley as an at-large bid...


The highest at-large team the past few years has been:
2012: 53
2011: 64
2010: 62
2009: 62
and the highest non-BCS at-large bid was 49....

[Old Coach]

I think one of the biggest effects on the MVC's drop to 9th was Butler and VCU moving to the A-10. If the MVC could increase its profile by adding two teams who became the league's 1st and 3rd rated RPI teams, it would no longer be ranked 9th.

[alczervik75]

MVC is also 9th in Kenpom's conference efficiency ratings

http://kenpom.com/conf.php?c=MVC

[cpacmel]

Not a big fan of conference RPI, but last year as a conference the MVC was .5258.

This year the MVC is .5359

One could argue that the MVC was better this year than last.

#'s from Warren Nolan

[tornado]

but then you'd have to use that criteria to say that Major League baseball was bad the year Yaz won the batting title at .301 - when in fact the real reason was just the opposite and had to do with the league being incredibly GOOD with pitching & defense..
Thus I don't think those numbers are comparable year to year as the players are different

[Tulsa Brave]

Not a big fan of conference RPI, but last year as a conference the MVC was .5258.

This year the MVC is .5359

One could argue that the MVC was better this year than last.

#'s from Warren Nolan

The difference is even greater in the KenPom efficiency ratings. The MVC is clearly better this year as opposed to last year by any and all statistical methods out there. It doesn't matter what anybody's "eyes" see. I trust facts far more than anybody's eyes...

[amckillip]

Hard RPI rating isn't relevant year over year except in ranking. The number means very little except to compare within a year (a la ranking). Saying a team is 10th vs 14th is relevant. But .5631 to .5981 doesn't mean too much. It is actually a little more relevant when talking conferences due the nature of RPI being an aggregate rating (record, plus opponents records, plus opponents opponents record - weighted of course), but it still isn't incredibly useful or insightful on its own.

[SFP]

So what is this post trying to get at? The Valley is a bit down so BU's improvements are not what they seem?

I really do not care about the state of the Valley this year and the eye test tells me that this BU team is greatly improved. Hell with stats!

[Bravesfan]

The MVC finishes 9th in Conference RPI and not even that close to the top 8 conferences...
I know there are those arguments that RPI is useless or not used - but it's still an objective standard of comparison...

Also - only two teams are currently inside the TOP 70 in RPI - and only one inside the Top 40 (Creighton at 37).

Last year we had two teams in the top 25
and only once in the last nine seasons has the MVC finished any lower than 9th...

I guess it's reasonable - especially since the hype and the press adds to the "eye test" that everyone claims to use now...
that we might expect BOTH Wichita & Creighton would get in if they fail to win the tourney...
but I cannot picture a team with a 75 RPI getting in from the Valley as an at-large bid...


The highest at-large team the past few years has been:
2012: 53
2011: 64
2010: 62
2009: 62
and the highest non-BCS at-large bid was 49....

Well this year we won't have to worry about a third team making an at-large bid since Indiana State stunk over the last month. But once again, it's less of where a conference finishes and more of which individual teams have at-large worthy resumes. I think we are ranked ninth because we are deep, but once again, on CU and WSU have shown they are NCAA Tournament worthy. Hopefully some other team wins Arch Madness so we can get three teams in. I think CU and WSU are safe, though I think WSU may want to at least win on game in St. Louis just to be certain they are in. They stumbled at the end while Creighton has at least righted their ship.

[Bravesfan]

The difference is even greater in the KenPom efficiency ratings. The MVC is clearly better this year as opposed to last year by any and all statistical methods out there. It doesn't matter what anybody's "eyes" see. I trust facts far more than anybody's eyes...

Agreed, but again, only two teams will make the tournament unless someone other than CU and WSU win Arch Madness. The Valley was much stronger at the bottom this year, which made for many crazy upsets.

[braveatheart]

Sagarin has the MVC as 9th also. So if RPI, Pomeroy and Sagarin all say 9th, that is pretty hard to argue against.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/bkc1213.htm