Comments on: Wahine No. 17 in RPI

By: Maverick

Maverick — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 03:53:46 +0000

31. Cubicle, didn’t see your post. Glad you understand how RPI works.

By: Maverick

Maverick — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 03:44:17 +0000

30. Btw, to what do you attribute Hawaii’s drop in the last RPI rankings, if not playing the worst two teams in the conference and having an opponent w-l total from last weekend of 27-57 (.321), including the w-l records of the two teams Hawaii played (and which are incorporated again in UH’s RPI)? Note that prior to that weekend, Hawaii’s opponents’ w-l record was above .500, and about .550 or so. That component value of RPI was going to fall after last weekend’s results. You make a claim that playing the weak teams was not the only reason (and I never said it was), but you don’t actually explain logically what you think the other reasons are.

Playing teams with terrible w-l records impacts a team’s RPI negatively, which could translate into a fall in the RPI ranking depending on what other teams do. The previous week, UH played Northridge and Davis which had better winning percentages than Fullerton and Irvine, and UH still fell in the RPI rankings.

Absent a logical, data-based alternative, I am very confident that the drop was mostly related to playing weak BWC teams, with other factors having a significantly smaller impact (such as how other teams near UH’s RPI performed). But I welcome your informed view.

By: Maverick

Maverick — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 01:38:31 +0000

30. The rpi drop I mentioned may have been mcginn’s estimate so I stand corrected. Still not difficult to fathom the drop.

By: Maverick

Maverick — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 01:36:58 +0000

30. Nonsensical. You need to add in Fullerton and riverside’s overall record in the rpi calc to perform the marginal analysis.

And th rest of the post addressed other points.

By: Cubicle1126

Cubicle1126 — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 00:20:39 +0000

orbital — also as for seeding duke over marquette … duke was 4-3 against the rpi top 25, while marquette was 2-4. if i were on the committee, i would have seeded duke over marquette too.

By: Cubicle1126

Cubicle1126 — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 00:16:15 +0000

orbital — you’re only factoring in how hawaii’s non-conference and conference opponents did last week (which, as you say, was 14-16).

but since hawaii played uc riverside and cal state fullerton, then their win/loss records (1-15, and 11-17, respectively) gets factored in to hawaii’s rpi formula. factoring in that many more losses helps to explain the drop in hawaii’s rpi in one week.

By: OrbitalRipZ

OrbitalRipZ — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 23:44:56 +0000

Re: 13: Nothing you said answers “It’s really not difficult to fathom UH’s drop” from RPI #11 to RPI #17 in one week. UH’s non-conf. opponents total W-L record from Nov. 25 (date of last RPI) to Nov. 30 (last matches played) was 9-9. UH’s conf. opponents total W-L record from Nov. 25 to Nov. 30 was 5-7. Total: 14W – 16L.

Granted that UH played against the bottom dwellers UC Irvine Riverside AND Cal St Fullerton the same weekend hurt, but that by itself doesn’t explain that huge drop. “Not shocking at all. I predicted the drop a couple of weeks ago, which was a similar drop after UH played them the first time around.” UH played Fullerton on Sept. 27 and Riverside on Sept. 29. At that time the NCAA did not release its first RPI yet. When the first NCAA came out in the first week of October, UH was ranked #3 — its highest RPI ever!

The rest of what you say has nothing to do with explaining the “not difficult to fanthom drop” from #11 to #17 in one week; e.g. ” AVCA poll was used, in addition to other polls.” The AVCA Poll has nothing to do with NCAA RPI or explaining UH’s drop in the RPI from #11 to #17.

I want to explain why I mentioned ILLINOIS from early on when it had a overall W-L record below .500 and why I posted on this blog way before Selection Sunday that Illinois would host a subregonal, but I think Cindy answered that question already.

Anyway, if I were Marquette, I would be pissed. Still think they deserve to host over Duke. Main thing is for the Big West teams to play LIGHTS OUT and do not embarrass the Volleyball [Selection] Committee, which put its ass on the line in sending an amazing 3 BWC teams to The Dance.

By: jake

jake — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 21:37:03 +0000

18-19, per your question, i’ve watched AZ state (PAC12) and BYU (BYUTV). Both are big/strong and can put up a good block.
BYU was impressive in their three set sweep of USD on their home court and just lost out on the conf title when USD beat them in 5 sets in SD. AZ state can be crazy good but their PAC 12 record does’nt show that. They are huge at the net and although early in the season, they accounted for the only other loss Texas incurred. AZ state lost in five to Illinois but swept Texas in three sets in Champaign, Ill in mid Sept. makes for an
interesting first and hopefully second round.

By: Maverick

Maverick — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 21:12:01 +0000

27. I’m glad you brought that up. I thought UH’s record against top 25/50 last year was unremarkable. I guess you gotta play the good teams and win.

By: Cubicle1126

Cubicle1126 — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 21:02:58 +0000

i’m not one to believe in “conspiracy theories” or that the ncaa is out to get hawaii. hawaii ended the season with a 17 rpi, and got seeded 11. it could just be that hawaii earned it! i’m inclined to believe that than anything else. (although, at the end of the day, i have no inside info on how the committee conducts its deliberations.)

it’s a funny contrast, right? hawaii was 17 in rpi last year and was denied a seed. hawaii is 17 this year, and gets an 11 seed.

i’ll echo what maverick said above, and what some other folks have been saying on here and on VTalk all along. if hawaii ended the season in any kind of contention for a seed, the nitty gritty of their record this year, i.e. being 3-1 against top 25 rpi teams, and 6-2 against the top 50, was enough to earn them a seed. maybe geography was also involved in shuffling the seeds around, i don’t know. but “3-1” and “6-2” … those right there were the magic numbers that likely went a long way to getting hawaii seeded, imho.

compare this year to last year. hawaii also ended the season as the #17 rpi team. the nitty gritty of their schedule last year was not impressive. they were 1-2 against the rpi top 25, and 3-3 against the rpi top 50. just a couple wins difference in the win column, but it stands in stark contrast, doesn’t it?