Utah's a fraud at RPI #10

[jay santos]

Today Utah is #10 in RPI. BYU #22. In my RPI calculation BYU moved up two spots with the road win last night to #20. If I substitute Utah's D2 loss at home to a loss to a low level D1 team, their RPI drops 13 spots to #23.

[Indy Coug]

It just highlights the excessive weighting the RPI gives to SOS relative to a team's actual W-L percentage. The RPI took a step in the right direction a couple of years ago assigning different weights to wins and losses at home/away/neutral, but it's still a very flawed metric.

And don't get me started on the NCAA's institutional ignorance of MOV...

[SeattleUte]

Today Utah is #10 in RPI. BYU #22. In my RPI calculation BYU moved up two spots with the road win last night to #20. If I substitute Utah's D2 loss at home to a loss to a low level D1 team, their RPI drops 13 spots to #23.

Zoobie, grow up! You need to accept and embrace the fact that the Utes are the tenth best basketball team in the nation. The computers don't lie. They didn't lie last January and they're not lying now. I'm sick of you sour grapes POS.

[TripletDaddy]

Zoobie, grow up! You need to accept and embrace the fact that the Utes are the tenth best basketball team in the nation. The computers don't lie. They didn't lie last January and they're not lying now. I'm sick of you sour grapes POS.

BYU beat Wyoming...ha ha ha!

And I bet you were getting your hopes up at halftime when BYU was losing by 5.

lol. ha ha!

[il Padrino Ute]

Today Utah is #10 in RPI. BYU #22. In my RPI calculation BYU moved up two spots with the road win last night to #20. If I substitute Utah's D2 loss at home to a loss to a low level D1 team, their RPI drops 13 spots to #23.

Isn't the RPI determined by computers?

If so, how can Utah's rating be fraudulent, yet the BCS be legitimate?

[scottie]

Isn't the RPI determined by computers?

I think he's just complaining about Utah's game against SW Baptist not counting in their RPI calculation b/c it wasn't a D1 opponent.

[scottie]

For those interested, BYU is currently #18 in RPI.

[WashingtonCoug]

Isn't the RPI determined by computers?

If so, how can Utah's rating be fraudulent, yet the BCS be legitimate?

Who said the BCS is legitmate?

[il Padrino Ute]

I think he's just complaining about Utah's game against SW Baptist not counting in their RPI calculation b/c it wasn't a D1 opponent.

I can certainly understand that, as I am grateful that D2 opponents don't count.

[UtahDan]

Today Utah is #10 in RPI. BYU #22. In my RPI calculation BYU moved up two spots with the road win last night to #20. If I substitute Utah's D2 loss at home to a loss to a low level D1 team, their RPI drops 13 spots to #23.

And for that reason, Utah is not going to get one of the first 10 seeds handed out, nor the first 20. RPI is just a tool for analysis. What is your point?

[scottie]

And for that reason, Utah is not going to get one of the first 10 seeds handed out, nor the first 20. RPI is just a tool for analysis. What is your point?

I think my thread about the tiebreaker coming down to RPI ranking is what triggered Jay's thread. If UNLV beats SDSU on Saturday, and Utah, BYU, and NM all win their Saturday games, Utah wins the tiebreak over BYU and NM because of their higher RPI.

http://cougaruteforum.com/showthread.php?t=3185

[Indy Coug]

The RPI has also historically been the primary driver for NCAA tournament seedings.

[il Padrino Ute]

The RPI has also historically been the primary driver for NCAA tournament seedings.

True.

Of course, there's no way it will matter when it comes to the Utes. They won't get a lofty seed because of RPI. I don't think they deserve anything higher than an 8 or 9 seed, so I don't think there is a problem with that.

[jay santos]

I think my thread about the tiebreaker coming down to RPI ranking is what triggered Jay's thread. If UNLV beats SDSU on Saturday, and Utah, BYU, and NM all win their Saturday games, Utah wins the tiebreak over BYU and NM because of their higher RPI.

http://cougaruteforum.com/showthread.php?t=3185

I've just heard Utah's RPI all over the place lately. It's ridiculous a loss on someone's regular season record wouldn't be counted in a ranking. Utah ranks #28 avg in the computer rankings with a range of about 20 to about 40, with the sole exception being the RPI.

http://www.mratings.com/cb/compare.htm

[Indy Coug]

It's ridiculous a loss on someone's regular season record wouldn't be counted in a ranking.
http://www.mratings.com/cb/compare.htm

Sagarin doesn't include D2 wins/losses either. Trying to quantify the value of a D2/NAIA game is a tricky proposition at best, so it's better just to exclude them across the board.

Besides, if Southwest Baptist went 35-0 this year and their D2 SOS was ridiculously high, do you think it would be weighted properly for the purposes of punishing a D-1 team that lost to them? It's too apples and oranges.

I did some research for Val Hale several years ago to determine whether it was advantageous to play a 200 to 250 RPI level team instead of a D2/NAIA team and my research showed it was a virtual wash (of course, the assumption was that BYU won either encounter) because the gain in BYU's win percentage would be offset by the hit it would take on the SOS side. I still might have the spreadsheet around somewhere...