Wed
Feb 15 2006
04:55 pm
Tennessee's RPI: We're No. 2!
By: Oren Incandenza

There's a lot of talk about Tennessee's "RPI" or Ratings Percentage Index ranking being in the top five nationwide, and how that bodes well for our seeding in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.  Currently, we're second only to Duke.

The RPI is complex and I won't pretend to grasp it, but the bottom line is it measures strength of schedule, among other things.  If you want to drill down on it, head to (link...).

This is no small feat.  But why is Tennessee's RPI score is so good?  It's because of the non-conference schedule we played.  And while the high-profile win at Texas was surely huge, look how well most of the other, lower-profile schools we played are doing:


ETSU (15-9, 2d Atlantic Sun)
La.-Lafayette (8-15, T9th Sun Belt)
Eastern Kentucky (12-13, 6th OVC)
Murray State (18-5, 1st OVC)
Appalachian State (11-14, 8th Southern)
Texas (22-3, 1st Big 12)
Oklahoma State (13-12, 11th Big 12)
Alabama A&M (8-11, 5th Southwestern Ath. Conf.)
Lipscomb (16-8, T1st Atlantic Sun)
South Alabama (17-6, 2d Sun Belt)
Memphis (23-2, 1st C-USA)

Records and standings are through yesterday's games, and the teams are listed in the order we played them.  And, of course, we lost to Oklahoma State and Memphis, although the NCAA selection committee rewards you for playing teams like that, especially on the road.

Of our 11 non-conference games, 7 were against teams that have winning records.  Nine were against teams that have double-digit win totals.  And five were against teams currently standing first or second in their own conferences.

This is another example of how most everything Bruce Pearl has touched this year has turned to gold.  Anybody can schedule Texas and Memphis; you know they're going to be good year-in and year-out.  The genius is in scheduling the ETSU's, Murray States, South Alabamas, and Lipscombs -- teams you should beat based on a pure talent disparity, but teams that will then go on to win a lot of games and contend for their conferences' championships.

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Andy Axel's picture

A good RPI certainly helps,

Submitted by Andy Axel on Wed, 2006/02/15 - 5:16pm.

A good RPI certainly helps, but it's going to be tough seeding TN in the top tier of the NCAA tourni without more quality wins. That's right around the corner now.

But, a lower seeding is not necessarily a bad thing. A #1 or #2 seed isn't a guarantee of going the distance. It's just that the AP/Coaches' Poll weightings matter a lot more in the NCAA seeding criteria. A top 10 finish in the regular season is huge and should guarantee no worse than a 3 seed no matter what happens in the SEC tourni, which is a hell of an accomplishment for a school that hasn't been a traditional inhabitant of the top brackets (much less one whose performance has been so uneven over the last decade or so).

It's the thing I dig about men's NCAA basketball -- Cinderella can still conceivably win the title.

____________________________

If we heard mortar shells, we'd cuss more in our songs and cut down on guitar solos

Andy Axel's picture

Rocky Top at Rupp

Submitted by Andy Axel on Wed, 2006/02/15 - 11:14pm.

Beating Kentucky at Rupp was pretty key, and a sheer delight, honestly. Even though the Cats have been having a down year, they're still really tough at home.

Odd, though -- TN has been taking at least one from The Wildcats fairly consistently for the last few seasons.

I still think, though, 3 or maybe 4. Probably 3. The SEC has been down as a whole and despite the RPI they're not going to get much respect from the ranking committee. That's a whole lot better than being a bubble team, but I only expect a 2 if they pretty much win out or if Gonzaga, Villanova, Texas, Memphis, GW, Pitt, and Florida all mysteriously vanish.

on edit: Note: I'm not endorsing this position, I'm just saying that the NCAA selection committee are notoriously pricks about this sort of thing, and will tend to give better seeds to more established schools, all else held equal. Seedings in the tourni come down to the matter of a vote. And I say this being a Kansas Jayhawk fan (and KU grad) and having been the beneficiary of many biased votes on that same committee.

____________________________

If we heard mortar shells, we'd cuss more in our songs and cut down on guitar solos

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