39 RPI

I'm not disagreeing with you. But the other FACT is that the NCAA selection commitee really does care about the RPI. So even if we don't agree with it, we probably shouldn't dismiss it like a barren glowleaf field on the plains of Azamorth.

Not as much as you might think. Right now, the RPI is saying Iowa is a bubble team...and only a fool would say that. Lunardi still has them as four as of yesterday's bracketology, which means they are between 13-16 on the S-Curve
 
Not as much as you might think. Right now, the RPI is saying Iowa is a bubble team...and only a fool would say that. Lunardi still has them as four as of yesterday's bracketology, which means they are between 13-16 on the S-Curve

I'm not saying they put X% amount of emphasis on the RPI or use it more than any other tool, but I could see where they would go to it in a situation like I outlined below:

That's completely off the point. What I'm saying is they have 2 equal teams that they need to slot in to the 6 seed. One has an RPI in the 20's and the other an RPI in the high 30's. The 2 11 seeds they need to separate are Texas (at large B12), and St. Marys (WCC tourney champion). Guess who gets which opponent.
 
Hugh? What am I missing?

Clicked on the link ssckelley provided and it has Hawks at 21. What's with the "39" or "bubble" talk, hugh?
 
Er, folks - it is late January. Selection Sunday is in March.

And don't forget how good Steve Alford Iowa teams often looked at the end of January. The first year we won the Big 10 conference tournament with him, a late-January win over Illinois (coincidentally our next opponent) put us essentially in first place. We won ONE conference game after that.

February is a long month for a lot of good teams. Let's get back to fighting the good fight, night in and night out and see what happens. I guarantee you we win FAR more than one conference game. And I have a hunch that Michigan and maybe also Michigan State have a major funk left in them.

I want us keep winning, yes. But I want us to be at our best in March. I think it's safe to say we weren't in January.
 
I'm not saying they put X% amount of emphasis on the RPI or use it more than any other tool, but I could see where they would go to it in a situation like I outlined below:

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I'm not buying the RPI thing for seeds 1-8. They could give 2 squirts less about beating a #120 RPI team instead of #330. What they are looking at for those seeding spots are big wins, big road wins, along with how you did in your conference tournament, and last 10 games.

They unfortunately do look at the RPI for the last teams into the tourney. It is a joke, as it is the worst matrix out there. This isn't about where we sit in RPI, as like JD said it ain't gonna matter this year for us. We could be #1 in RPI and I would think that matrix is a joke. I think that because it is, and it isn't our faults that the dinosaurs on the committee still use it. Lots of people still use flip phones, doesn't mean I'm gonna be stuck in the dark age with them.
 
Hugh? What am I missing?

Clicked on the link ssckelley provided and it has Hawks at 21. What's with the "39" or "bubble" talk, hugh?

ESPN has a screwed up RPI, they might be counting Abilene Christian but I don't know. A lot look at those because they get updated every day while the official one, I think, is once per week.
 
I stopped paying attention to the RPI a couple years back once it was reported how coaches were manipulating it. It's a crackpot formula that doesn't come close to reflecting a team's true rating among it's peers. KenPom has been nailing it the last few years as it relates to NCAA results. I've used it to win the last 3 NCAA pools I've been in because it's absolutely nailed the "upsets". It was also pretty interesting that Iowa and Baylor were the only Top 35 KenPom teams to not make the NCAA last year and they were the two teams that made the NIT final.

I STARTED paying attention to the RPI last year, because that appears to be by far the #1 thing the committee looks at when deciding whether or not to invite a team to the dance. That said, I do agree that the RPI is a joke.

Would be nice if Iowa's coaches learned how to manipulate the RPI to our advantage, though. Wisconsin can lose games and stay in the Top 10. Iowa has what, one more loss than them, and our RPI is barely Top 40 now? As has been pointed out, maybe this doesn't matter for the third place Big Ten team who is ranked in the Top 20, but still.
 
I STARTED paying attention to the RPI last year, because that appears to be by far the #1 thing the committee looks at when deciding whether or not to invite a team to the dance. That said, I do agree that the RPI is a joke.

Would be nice if Iowa's coaches learned how to manipulate the RPI to our advantage, though. Wisconsin can lose games and stay in the Top 10. Iowa has what, one more loss than them, and our RPI is barely Top 40 now? As has been pointed out, maybe this doesn't matter for the third place Big Ten team who is ranked in the Top 20, but still.

The one thing that's still sort of in the back of my head, though, was the 96-97 season when we finished second in the B1G at 12-6 and 20-9 overall and promptly got a #8 side and had to play freaking Kentucky in the 2nd round (who went on to win the whole thing)...although we damn near beat them that game. But I remember even Pitino saying that it was a travesty and that we were probably the best #8 seed in the history of the tournament. I know the B1G, as a whole, is better, so finishing 12-6 this year would be better than 12-6 in 96-97, but until I actually see our seed, I pretty much figure that we'll get screwed by the committee because that pretty much seems to happen to us more often than not.
 
I'm not buying the RPI thing for seeds 1-8. They could give 2 squirts less about beating a #120 RPI team instead of #330. What they are looking at for those seeding spots are big wins, big road wins, along with how you did in your conference tournament, and last 10 games.

They unfortunately do look at the RPI for the last teams into the tourney. It is a joke, as it is the worst matrix out there. This isn't about where we sit in RPI, as like JD said it ain't gonna matter this year for us. We could be #1 in RPI and I would think that matrix is a joke. I think that because it is, and it isn't our faults that the dinosaurs on the committee still use it. Lots of people still use flip phones, doesn't mean I'm gonna be stuck in the dark age with them.


Exactly, read my post again. I'm talking about using it for matchups when seeds and regions have already been determined for seeds 1-8.
 
I'm not buying the RPI thing for seeds 1-8. They could give 2 squirts less about beating a #120 RPI team instead of #330. What they are looking at for those seeding spots are big wins, big road wins, along with how you did in your conference tournament, and last 10 games.

They unfortunately do look at the RPI for the last teams into the tourney. It is a joke, as it is the worst matrix out there. This isn't about where we sit in RPI, as like JD said it ain't gonna matter this year for us. We could be #1 in RPI and I would think that matrix is a joke. I think that because it is, and it isn't our faults that the dinosaurs on the committee still use it. Lots of people still use flip phones, doesn't mean I'm gonna be stuck in the dark age with them.

Now you've gone too far. I was told several years ago that my free flip phone with my plan would likely last 6 months...still going strong. My wife and son got much better phones at the time and are on their 3rd or 4th phone each.
 
The one thing that's still sort of in the back of my head, though, was the 96-97 season when we finished second in the B1G at 12-6 and 20-9 overall and promptly got a #8 side and had to play freaking Kentucky in the 2nd round (who went on to win the whole thing)...although we damn near beat them that game. But I remember even Pitino saying that it was a travesty and that we were probably the best #8 seed in the history of the tournament. I know the B1G, as a whole, is better, so finishing 12-6 this year would be better than 12-6 in 96-97, but until I actually see our seed, I pretty much figure that we'll get screwed by the committee because that pretty much seems to happen to us more often than not.

If the red hot Brody Boyd could have played in that game I think we would have eliminated the eventual national champs in the 2nd round. Dean Oliver was a scoring machine...needed those Boyd points. Sigh!
 
The one thing that's still sort of in the back of my head, though, was the 96-97 season when we finished second in the B1G at 12-6 and 20-9 overall and promptly got a #8 side and had to play freaking Kentucky in the 2nd round (who went on to win the whole thing)...although we damn near beat them that game. But I remember even Pitino saying that it was a travesty and that we were probably the best #8 seed in the history of the tournament. I know the B1G, as a whole, is better, so finishing 12-6 this year would be better than 12-6 in 96-97, but until I actually see our seed, I pretty much figure that we'll get screwed by the committee because that pretty much seems to happen to us more often than not.

Iowa totally got screwed in 1996-97. Goes right along with Andre Woolridge getting screwed on the B10 POY award. Go 12-6 and finish second in the Big Ten, and get rewarded with an 8 seed and a second round date with a team that, IIRC, was #1 in the country. Yeah, thanks a lot.

I also remember Iowa getting matched up with Duke 2 years in a row in the second round, the second time against a Duke team that is one of the best college teams I've ever seen, and the game played in freaking Greensboro, NC no less.

That second round matchup with Arizona in Tempe (1996), was nice, too.

I agree - the committee often seems to like flipping us the bird on Selection Sunday. When's the last time Iowa even got to play in the Midwest region? 1991, unless my memory fails me.

Hopefully we get a decent draw this year. And I'll win Powerball.
 
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Iowa currently is #21 on the official NCAA.com RPI. This is the one that matters.

Here is the bottom line: If Iowa goes 9-9 in the Big Ten, they are in the tourney. If they don't go 9-9, they don't deserve it.

End of discussion
 
If Iowa goes 12-6 in the bIG that means a 23 win season. There is no way we would end up an 8 seed with 23 wins. My hope is to go 8-2 the rest of conference play and play for the tourney championship. That will get is a top 4 seed.
 
If Iowa goes 12-6 in the bIG that means a 23 win season. There is no way we would end up an 8 seed with 23 wins. My hope is to go 8-2 the rest of conference play and play for the tourney championship. That will get is a top 4 seed.


Prepare yourself for the "you haven't been in the tourney in a decade so you're getting a lower seed than you deserve" kick to the scrote.
 
Don't discount the "We feel bad we kept you out of the tourney last year as you obviously in hindsight were one of the top 64 teams in the country when all was said and done."
 

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