Sunbelt Baseball RPI's

[Dad04]

Took a look at Boyd's World for the current Sunbelt RPI's.

65 - UL
103 - ULM
104 - AR State
106 - FAU
127 - Troy
133 - Middle Tennessee
134 - South Alabama
148 - FIU
189 - Western KY
193 - AR-LR

One team in the top 100. What happened to the Sunbelt? Is it more than a cycle?

[GoneGolfin]

Took a look at Boyd's World for the current Sunbelt RPI's.

65 - UL
103 - ULM
104 - AR State
106 - FAU
127 - Troy
133 - Middle Tennessee
134 - South Alabama
148 - FIU
189 - Western KY
193 - AR-LR

One team in the top 100. What happened to the Sunbelt? Is it more than a cycle?

As far as why the RPIs are down ...

The league OWP is down considerably (.5075 vs. .5259 at selection time last season). .5075 is rather poor. But also important ... the teams with respectable OWPs (UL at .5555 and South Alabama at .5703) are not winning enough games (WP .5650 and .3910 respectively). The teams that are winning (FAU and UALR) have OWPs in the dumper (.4664 and .3839).

As for the general lack of winning and the effect on the league and its chances for at-large bids ... the two teams that were supposed to be the horses in the league (Troy and FIU) are having very disappointing seasons. As such, the Sun Belt currently does not have a single at-large bid candidate.

I would not call this a cycle as a cycle assumes the return to a prior point. Hopefully this is simply an anomaly. But we will need to see how this plays out over the next couple of years. I think in terms of the future, the league is fine. I think the teams that were supposed to carry the banner this season have simply fallen down.

Brian

[BirdofParadise]

This has time to change as we are not halfway through the season as of yet. For instance, if FAU keeps winning, their win percentage and strength of schedule (OWP) will go up, given their poor OOC schedule. They can get into at-large position.

South Alabama is the real head scratcher. They couldn't beat anyone OOC and suddenly they're hitting the bejezzus out of the ball and looking like a couple of Kittrell's really good teams.

And, as far as the Cajuns are concerned, their RPI despite being just three games over .500 tells me they've played a very good OOC schedule....despite the poster who suggested it's unacceptable to lose to Texas State.