Rpi

[Da Coach]

If you don't like to read bad news, then maybe you should not keep reading.
The NCAA released it's first Official RPI report yesterday, though many other sites track RPI pretty accurately, since the NCAA's formula is well know.

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d1/ncaa-mens-basketball-rpi

Bradley's RPI is currently 244.

Just how bad is that? Bradley's RPI was 266 in 2011-2012, when they went 7-25, the worst record ever for a BU team. Prior to that, Bradley had not finished a season with an RPI that bad since 2001-2002, the last season of Jim Molinari, when BU was slightly worse at 248. Even in the 2010-2011 season with 2 starters out for the year, Bradley was better than that. The only other season worse was 1991-1992 (RPI 272), in Jim Molinari's first year when he took over the terrible remnants of Stan Albeck.

This site shows the RPI by year listed in the 3rd column from the right-

http://www.bbstate.com/teams/BRAD/history

It was stated that Bradley had the second best Strength of Schedule in the MVC, which was shown to be erroneous. Bradley is 5th in the MVC.
From the NCAA's formula for SOS, here are the current rankings in the MVC for Strength of Schedule-
UNI 18
ILSU 84
WSU 90
UE 134
BU 138
DU 150
INSU 198
SIU 210
LU 302


And here are the Non-Conference SOS-
Bradley has now fallen to 6th among MVC schools as teams begin to play within their own conferences. Because Bradley played a bunch of teams from weak conferences, expect their Non-Conference SOS to keep dropping.
UNI 17
WSU 60
ILSU 127
DU 145
UE 190
BU 202
INSU 209
MSU 228
SIU 274
LU 337

In Conference RPI, the Missouri Valley is still 11th, a significant drop from the last couple years. But the are very close to dropping to 12th

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology/conference/rpi/2013-14

[tornado]

and unfortunately Indiana State - as strong as they are, good record (12-3) and undefeated at home...
they won't help our RPI if we lose there - as they actually don't have that impressive of an RPI due to their weak SOS.
If we lose at Indiana State then at Wichita - which is likely, then our RPI will almost certainly be as low as it's ever been in the 35 year history that it's been figured.

We could end up with the TWO worst RPI's ever in our history achieved in just the last three years -- how bad is that?
Is it bad enough that along with the near-50% dropoff in home attendance - to qualify for the fallout that some have yet to admit is happening?

[bravetime33]

looking at the final 2 years of the previous regime year 8 of JL rpi was 147 and final year of JL rpi was 229 (this was accomplished after NINE years). the longer i am away of what we had with that program the more i forget the growing discontent of many the last 2 years of JL.. so looking at the current situation i am not going to be part of a geno bashing agenda with basically the same rpi after 2 years which the previous coach accomplished in his 9th year
simply because Geno has a track record
If Genos record after 9 years is similar to JL i would be part of that a similar movement but until that time i will be supportive
by the way UC Cal Davis rpi is currently 339

[Da Coach]

Just like in Jim Les final season at Bradley, his team this year is playing without 2 top players and without 3 regulars who are injured. What excuses are there for where we are now? No coach in Bradley history has played in 3 straight play-in games. Maybe we'll see a turnaround, but if not we are headed for a historically bad year. And no coach in Bradley history has lost 20 games in year 3.

[lefty]

looking at the final 2 years of the previous regime year 8 of JL rpi was 147 and final year of JL rpi was 229 (this was accomplished after NINE years). the longer i am away of what we had with that program the more i forget the growing discontent of many the last 2 years of JL.. so looking at the current situation i am not going to be part of a geno bashing agenda with basically the same rpi after 2 years which the previous coach accomplished in his 9th year
simply because Geno has a track record
If Genos record after 9 years is similar to JL i would be part of that a similar movement but until that time i will be supportive
by the way UC Cal Davis rpi is currently 339

I see LBSU started the second half on a 30-0 run against UCD??¦??¦.that would be tough to take

[Da Coach]

looking at the final 2 years of the previous regime year 8 of JL rpi was 147 and final year of JL rpi was 229 (this was accomplished after NINE years)...

Now that I am home, I have had a chance to fact-check these numbers, and they are not correct.

First, in Year 8 of Jim Les, his RPI was 101, not 147. And the SOS was 64, compared to the awful SOS we have seen these past 2 seasons.

Year 9 was the year Jim was forced to play without 2 All MVC starters, so of course his RPI was down. It was 227, the only time in 9 seasons that Jim's teams were 200+. But recall that even our AD stated multiple times that it would be unfair to judge JL on that season, and then claimed the firing had nothing to do with anything related to that season.

Here are the RPI's for the past decade+

2001-02 248 (last season of Jim Molinari)
2002-03 199 (first season of Jim Les)
2003-04 166
2004-05 142 (JL's 3rd season for comparison)
2005-06 39
2006-07 38
2007-08 107
2008-09 103
2009-10 101
2010-11 227 (last year of Jim Les)
2011-12 266 (first year of Geno)
2012-13 191
2013-14 243 (current season- year 3 for Geno)

Jim Les actually inherited a worse team according to RPI, and turned things around improving the RPI each of the first 5 years, and reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 in year 4. His impressive RPI's of 39 & 38 (2006 & 2007) are now a distant memory that we may never see again. By comparison, the RPI this year is headed down, and could end up lower than in any year under Jim Les.

But the other point is that we again see which side keeps bringing up Jim Les. When things are going poorly, there are some who want to divert attention to the failures of our athletic department by trying to drag up old arguments and shift blame. Maybe some day, someone will be accountable and take responsibility, but there won't be many fans left to notice. Bradley has all-new 50+ million dollar facilities, and more money to support their program than the great majority of similar private schools, but has squandered it all.

The BU men's basketball team is in a death spiral, setting records for losing and futility and losing fans faster than at any time in history, and yet we talk about "another strong statement by a BU team seemingly on the verge of vastly changing its fortunes", and some hail the great improvement because we lose by less than predicted.
I don't want to sound like I am bashing Bradley, because I have been a devoted fan for 47 years, and have supported the athletic program with a lot of my own money. I even spent a lot of my own time and money to develop this fan forum, because at the time Bradley was the only school in the MVC that did not have one, and the message board that masqueraded as a fan site was actually run entirely by ISU fans and Bradley-haters. Like most fans, I just want to see a winning team that actually does compete for the championships we have been promised.
But here are more discouraging facts:
Last season, the BU baseball team went 2-19 in the MVC (in year 5), one of the worst records in the history of the MVC. And yet that apparently justified an extension for the current coaching staff.
In Women's basketball, after finally putting back-to-back winning seasons together, the administration saw fit to run off the coach and hire a new one on the cheap, and now they too are following the same path as baseball. The number of embarrassing blowouts is astounding.
Women's softball has not had a winning MVC record for 20 years, and have never won an MVC regular season title. But they do have 6 last place finishes in the last 23 years.
Volleyball is as bad or worse. It's been 14 years since Bradley Volleyball has had a winning record, and they have hovered around the bottom of the MVC almost every year.
The other BU sports with the sole exception of soccer are not much better. If Bradley doesn't care enough to put respectable teams on the field or court that actually can compete for championships, they will eventually lose even the most devoted and loyal fans like myself.

[Skut Farcus]

Jim Les might be available within the next 2 years. Maybe BU can hire him back.

[Chico]

I see LBSU started the second half on a 30-0 run against UCD??¦??¦.that would be tough to take

Almost as tough to take as blowing a 28-0 lead that a Bradley team did several years ago.

[bu fan 9]

I hope Geno, Elvis,and Glasser are gone sooner.

[tornado]

Currently the MVC has FOUR TEAMS with RPI of 220 and worse.

You have to go back a long time to find this happening before. Many recent seasons there were ZERO Valley teams at or worse than 220, some years there have been one, a few years, two...but pretty hard to find seasons where we've even been close to having four teams - nearly half our members doing that poorly.
This bodes poorly for the teams in our conference should any of the upper teams lose to the lower ones - and drags their RPI way down, as MSU's loss to Loyola did.

[Da Coach]

Currently the MVC has FOUR TEAMS with RPI of 220 and worse.

You have to go back a long time to find this happening before. Many recent seasons there were ZERO Valley teams at or worse than 220, some years there have been one, a few years, two...but pretty hard to find seasons where we've even been close to having four teams - nearly half our members doing that poorly.
This bodes poorly for the teams in our conference should any of the upper teams lose to the lower ones - and drags their RPI way down, as MSU's loss to Loyola did.

Yes, not that long ago, in 2007, all 10 MVC teams had RPI's of under 140, and 6 had RPI's of 100 or less-

http://realtimerpi.com/2006-2007/rpi_mvc_Men.html

And in 2006 there were 6 MVC teams with an RPI of 41 or less, and all 10 teams had SOS of under 100-

http://realtimerpi.com/2005-2006/rpi_mvc_Men.html

The MVC has definitely gotten substantially weaker.

[BUBalum05]

Yes, not that long ago, in 2007, all 10 MVC teams had RPI's of under 140, and 6 had RPI's of 100 or less-

http://realtimerpi.com/2006-2007/rpi_mvc_Men.html

And in 2006 there were 6 MVC teams with an RPI of 41 or less, and all 10 teams had SOS of under 100-

http://realtimerpi.com/2005-2006/rpi_mvc_Men.html

The MVC has definitely gotten substantially weaker.

Creighton for Loyola certainly didn't help, but also, 2006 was the pinnacle of mid-majors being able to schedule games against the big boys to crack the RPI SOS formula. Now the power conferences avoid playing the mid majors and instead play other power conferences more.

[LongTimeFan]

I don't want to get too involved in this discussion. I will just say that in the last 5 years Bradley fans haven't had a lot to be proud of.

[tornado]

LTF - I somewhat agree but I also love this team, am loyal and will attend every game, and I think we do have some things to be proud of and cheer for...just not a lot of wins... but I am going to try to keep my rose colored glasses on from time to time...

We have good kids - whatever troubles have been jus minor college-kid-stuff, good academics, several have gone on to good pro careers, and in reality we have had some pretty good individual play - Chris Roberts' 75 foot game winner, Walt's game winners, flashes of good play & hustle, and hopefully more winning in the near future.

I am supportive of the team and players, but they've been put into a tough situation and we need better leaders from the very top down to the team itself