RPI Musings

[Cajunsmike]

Wouldn't have guessed the top RPI team in LA is Nicholls until I looked at their schedule. They have the number 6 non-conf SOS. The RPI will keep falling now of course in conference. Their OWP is pretty high (got an ok ACC team in BC, a great ACC team in FSU, a really good UCF, a WCC team in USD, Samford with a good record and our good record on there.) FSU is the only team to beat them worse than we did.

Texas Southern is another team we played with a good RPI, though they don't help us too much because their WP isn't great. Their RPI is top 60

Minnesota as well helps obviously

Texas Southern winning percentage isn't that high due to the fact they played 14 straight road games. That is how they fund their program. Their winning % will improve greatly now that are starting conference play. I expect they will be the top SWAC team once again.

[wcd35]

Texas Southern winning percentage isn't that high due to the fact they played 14 straight road games. That is how they fund their program. Their winning % will improve greatly now that are starting conference play. I expect they will be the top SWAC team once again.

Oh wow, that is a crazy schedule. Played some top teams as well (Louisville, Baylor, Arizona.)

[Hatch]

We played Texas Southern as part of that tournament. Did they request to play all of their tournament games on the road?

[CajunEXPRESS]

It is no doubt good for Wisconsin, but it is RPI neutral for us. our OOR picked up a win and a loss.

Yeah,I was thinking of Minnesota. Tonight UGA lost.

[VObserver]

Yeah,I was thinking of Minnesota. Tonight UGA lost.

UGA lost, Texas Southern won.

[VObserver]

Cajuns RPI went up this morning to 74 from 81; thanks to a 5-2 performance by Cajuns OOC opponents last night.

For a school not in a power conference, it cannot be emphasized enough how important it is to play winning programs in non-conference games.

[CajunNation]

...For a school not in a power conference, it cannot be emphasized enough how important it is to play winning programs in non-conference games.

Yep. IMHO, you can never have too tough a non-conference schedule with the exception of a very young team.

[Cajun90]

Yep. IMHO, you can never have too tough a non-conference schedule with the exception of a very young team.

It doesn't have to be a tough schedule for RPI purposes. It has to be against teams with wins. Two very different things. Stay away from the bottom feeders at any level. Play teams that historically have had winning records. Doesn't matter if they are in the SWAC or SEC.

You also have to stay away from the teams that consistently have horrible records. Softball was guilty of this for many years because they didn't understand the significance of playing a three game series against a team that was going to lose 30 games before the year was out and add 90 loses to your OWP.

There are obviously reasons to play a tough non-conference schedule but not in regards to RPI.

[LaCajunsFan]

It doesn't have to be a tough schedule for RPI purposes. It has to be against teams with wins. Two very different things. Stay away from the bottom feeders at any level. Play teams that historically have had winning records. Doesn't matter if they are in the SWAC or SEC.

You also have to stay away from the teams that consistently have horrible records. Softball was guilty of this for many years because they didn't understand the significance of playing a three game series against a team that was going to lose 30 games before the year was out and add 90 loses to your OWP.

There are obviously reasons to play a tough non-conference schedule but not in regards to RPI.

So, just doing a quick check, a couple of our ooc's are doing ok: Nichols is 67, mckyneese 167.....but Pepperdine is now 241 and @ruston is in the toilet with 261, and I believe ulm is 283. So even if we win tomorrow will our rpi suffer?

[Cajun90]

So, just doing a quick check, a couple of our ooc's are doing ok: Nichols is 67, mckyneese 167.....but Pepperdine is now 241 and @ruston is in the toilet with 261, and I believe ulm is 283. So even if we win tomorrow will our rpi suffer?

We would be adding 10 loses to 7 wins so no it isn't going to help. Keep in mind that the RPI number itself doesn't calculate into your RPI. It is opponents and opponents opponents winning percentage that matters. You also have to consider that our record gets added to our opponents once we play them. That in itself helps out their OWP.

However, I do think it might prove difficult to keep climbing the RPI ladder due to things outside of our control. At this stage there is only one thing we control and that is wins.