Originally Posted by
GoneGolfin
_ No. The SEC earns a healthy number of bids each year because they have teams with high RPIs ... due to the schedule that they play. Due to the nature of baseball and the imperfections in the RPI formula, it is easier to build a strong RPI when you have a stronger schedule. But the RPI does not distinguish conference from non-conference, except in the case of certain RPI bonuses and penalties for non-conference games.
You misunderstand how the RPI works. Let me try another angle of explanation.
The Base RPI formula is broken into three weighted components ...
1) 25% (Winning %)
2) 50% (Opponents' winning %)
3) 25% (Opponents' opponents' winning %)
Thus, when I say that it is irrelevant whether the four losses (used in this example) come from conference teams or non-conference teams, this is so because of two things ...
1) #1 above (winning %) does not change. That is, the winning % will be the same.
2) The SOS (strength of schedule) measured in #2 and #3 above also does not change. All you did was swap a win/loss with two of your opponents. Your opponents' overall winning % did not change.
Thus, the Base RPI will be the same in all permutations of the 14-4 record.
As a simple example, let's say that we changed the one FAU win to a loss ... but offset that loss with a win against Miami-Ohio (now a sweep of the series). The Cajun RPI would not change.
#1 Cajun winning % is unaffected
#2 Aggregate opponents' winning percentage is unaffected
Brian _