Comments on: Hawaii opens at 17 in RPI, up to 21 in poll

By: OrbitalRipZ

OrbitalRipZ — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 22:40:11 +0000

I was 17 years old when I graduated from HS, and 17 has always been a special number to me. In a good way. But 17 may be an ugly number for this year’s version of the Rainbow Wahine.

They started out ranked 17 in the first Top 25 Coaches Poll. (17 is said to be the UH’s weakest ranking ever in preseason AVCA polling.)

Now they are ranked 17 by the NCAA’s supercomputers in the first “official” RPI of the season. (It was just a year ago that the Bows received their highest ever RPI opening in history. Needless to say, that team — which “played ugly but we’ll take the win” throughout the season — had all that “ugly” catch up to them on their own territory in the form of BYU slamming the Sweet 16’s NO ENTRY door right smack in the Wahine face. BANG!)

Let’s hope the number 17 doesn’t come back to haunt the Bows come Selection Sunday.

By: Maverick

Maverick — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 20:33:20 +0000

36. Cubi gets it. I don’t even know what conference ratings mean when discussing RPIS. It is very simple what you want to see happen–UH must win as many of its games as possible and UH’s non-conference opponents must win as many games as possible.

By: tako

tako — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 20:00:19 +0000

Very informative discussions on RPI and winning records. All great for speculation and the possibility of U of H hosting initial rounds.

Believe the only thing right now that the Wahine have CONTROL of is their play. If they continue to win, they’ll make the tournament.

Currently, the team and players are improving as was the hope and prediction. Haven’t observed anyone taking a step backwards. For example some might argue that Long has. Believe Long is “steady” and some of the “other” OH players are just getting better. Tai the most glaring improvement. Nikki is coming back stronger each day. Kalei G. is a rock. Long, Passi and Huff serve as powerful backups ready to jump in if any falter. A testimony to the Coaching Staff…

Go Wahine

By: Cubicle1126

Cubicle1126 — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 19:37:32 +0000

cindy — if you were taking into account where the teams play, and i don’t understand why you had said only 2 of 3 of the pac-12 teams are helping hawaii’s RPI.

if you’re referring to the component of the RPI that is “opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage,” then yes, the pac-12 would give hawaii a boost. but the deviation in this component is much narrower than the other components of the RPI, so the “boost” to hawaii’s RPI would be negligible.

the RPI does not have a “negative bonus” for a bad loss.

By: Cindy Luis

Cindy Luis — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 19:16:27 +0000

24. I understand how it works. But as you mention a potential bonus for beating a Top 25 team think there could be a negative bonus for a really, really bad loss.

By: Cindy Luis

Cindy Luis — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 19:14:14 +0000

16. Don’t see it that way. I feel Shoji will be here at least until 2016. And I think Sealy would apply given the right conditions.
33. one must also take into account how the conferences are rated.
Want a bad region? Big West, Mountain West and WAC make up one.

By: Cubicle1126

Cubicle1126 — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 19:00:52 +0000

cindy — you had written this in today’s article: “Two of the three Pac-12 teams Hawaii lost to in nonconference play are helping the RPI. Oregon (13-1) is at No. 5 and UCLA (11-4) No. 15, but Arizona State (12-4) is at No. 37.”

i would add that it’s not the “rank” of a team in the RPI that helps or hurts hawaii’s own RPI; rather, it’s the win-loss records of those teams, regardless of rank, that helps more. all 3 of those pac-12 teams when 1-1 last week, so really all three helped Hawaii’s RPI about the same. a team like ohio arguably is helping hawaii’s RPI more, since they are currently undefeated in conference, and will likely gobble up more wins. the pac-12 teams are in too good of a conference — they’ll all start to suffer some losses as conference play continues.

By: blunite

blunite — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 18:58:29 +0000

If Sealy’s vote (on Hawaii being #25) is based upon the UCLA vs Hawaii match then I would agree with him. At that time UH was a 2 dimensional team (Magill first then everything to the left). The difference now is marked by the number of blocks and kills from the opposite – justifying 3rd in blocking nationally, and theoretically more efficient.

By: Maverick

Maverick — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 18:53:15 +0000

29. I agree with you. I am basically ignoring RPI and poll rankings this year and hoping the team continues to improve so that they defeat some seeded teams in the tournament.

By: Cubicle1126

Cubicle1126 — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 18:38:33 +0000

rollshot — haha, ok …. i’m not sure what part of my post sounded like it took offense. was making an observation just like you. though i would say that your post in #28 would seem to contradict your post in #22. just sayin’ …