RPI vs. seed vs. poll
Did a comparison earlier about seed vs. RPI. am adding today’s poll
Numbers are RPI followed by Seed and Poll
1. Penn State.(28-2) seeded 2 No. 2
2. Texas (23-2) seeded 1 No. 1
3. Florida (27-3) seeded 5 No. 6
4. Missouri (34-0). seeded 4 No. 4
5. Washington (26-2) seeded 3 No. 5 final four host
6. Stanford.(24-5) seeded 7 No. 3
7. USC (26-5) seeded 6 No. 7 regional host
8. Marquette (25-5). unseeded No. 22
9. Nebraska (23-6) seeded 8 No. 9 regional host
10. Kentucky (21-8) seeded 15 No. 17 regional host
11 Minnesota (27-6). seeded 10 No. 10
12. Duke (27-4) seeded 16 No. 14
13. Kansas (24-7) seeded 14 No. 23
14. San Diego (24-3). seeded 9 No. 8
15. Wisconsin (23-9) seeded 12. No. 13
16. Creighton unseeded unranked
17. Hawaii (24-4) seeded 11 No. 11
20. Illinois (16-14) seeded 13 No. 18 regional host
Other teams in Top 25 not seeded
12 Colorado State RPI 21
15. North Carolina RPI 22
19. Purdue RPI 27
20. Michigan State RPI 28
21. BYU RPI 29
24. Michigan RPI 33
25. Oregon RPI 25
The only semi-legitimate argument for seeding Illinois, other than host protection, is that they went 9-4 since October 20 with wins over the then #17, 16, 17, 13, 18 AVCA-ranked teams, all from the Big 10. This is the only data-based support I can find for seeding them. All other figures I’ve seen, from top 25/50 performance, to polls and RPI ranking, do not pass the smell test. I am convinced hosting was the determining factor. Had Illinois not hosted, I don’t think their recent results would have gotten them a seed.
If I were living in Illinois, I don’t think I would go to the games if Illinois or some other Illinois school weren’t in the tourney.
Many of the Hawaii fans would probably go to the games even if Hawaii was not in the tournament.
Hartong as named BW POW
http://www.bigwest.org//story.asp?story_id=17378
3. thanks. see new thread
I think this really shows the NCAA values wins over top 30 rpi teams more than your actual rpi when it comes to seeding.
I really hope Shoji schedules a trip back to Wichita next season. Not sure if Wichita and Creighton will be good again next season however.
6. agree about the value. but scheduling is such a guessing game. Don’t know if he wants to go back to Wichita State. Depends on what other tourneys are out there as well as how the Big West schedule is set.
UH likley will host 3 tournaments to start 2014. He might be a little cautious with the loss of so many starters, including Uiato and Hartong.
scheduling is a guessing game, true … but for the most part, you know who are traditionally strong and/or who will post solid win/loss records year in and year out. for a great many teams, this can be predicted, just by looking at their past history.
of course, there will always be exceptions. there will always be a team riddled with injuries (like cal a couple years ago), which no doubt can’t be predicted. ucla this year is another example, as they limped out of the season going 15-15. (but ucla can be forgiven a little, because they normally will do better than that. they’ve helped give hawaii an rpi boost for a great many years now.)
there is some guessing, and there is some luck. but smart choices can be made from scheduling certain teams from different regions of the country. for instance, wichita st has played hawaii a few times over the years. for the most part, i think they’re a good bet to schedule as an opponent, because they’re usually in the upper half of their conference (the MVC), and will traditionally have a solid win/loss record. they will also usually have an rpi in the top 50, so they can help the ‘nitty gritty’ of hawaii’s schedule look good too.
As long as Shoji is HC he usually schedules teams with Hawaii seniors on their roster for the three season opening tournaments. Next year there maybe an Albany again, so don’t be surprised if the schedule includes a average so-so team from a weaker conference. I can already hear the moans and complaints of these people with RPI on their minds.
Marquette getting blown out by 4 (?) top ranked teams and using their W/L records to their RPI advantage didn’t work on getting seeded. Hope they learned from this and schedules teams more their level and get Ws instead. RPI #8 and not getting seeded, pretty embarrassing for the program. It’s the quality of your level of play that gets you a seed.
Like UH, Marquette can’t help it if their conference is not viewed highly – and they did schedule top teams during non-conference play, but probably hard to attract much from the Pac-12 to the midwest. Wanna talk weak non-league schedules, look at #12 Duke. Other than FL and IL, pretty lame.
UH has no trouble attracting top tier teams, given a huge fan base and let’s face it, it’s UH. I love the Wahine but anything can happen during the tournament. I’m hoping this is UH’s year to take it all.
9. Agree. You not only have to play good teams, you actually have to beat them.
5. I don’t think there will be a trip scheduled to Wichita next year because the Big West will add two more teams, Boise State and San Diego, right? Furthermore, it will be a rebuilding year, so playing high RPI teams won’t be such a high priority. Rather it is to build confidence and improve. Also, we don’t know if Shoji will decide to stay next year.
Volleyball fan – Nope, Boise State and San Diego State was going to leave the Mountain West for the Big East in football only and move their other sports to the Big West. They both opted to remain in the Mountain West at the last minute.
12. Shoji’s coaching next year and maybe making 2015 his last.
mauna — are you in the know? is that for sure, that shoji is coaching through 2015? just wondering …
15. just saw this, 2014 is for sure, 2015 as I said maybe. He’s taking it one year at a time right now, depends on several things in his family life and if someone is ready to take over for HC.
16. my thought has been he’ll stay for at least his 40th season, which would be 2014.
as for his replacement, Shoji will have input on his successor but it will be decided by a committee. It will depend on who is available whenever it happens.