How Iowa makes the tourney at 1-1 in the BTT

It isn't a perfect tool but it does expose teams that pile up a bunch of wins against garbage opponents.

But it also does the opposite and rewards teams WAY too much for wins against middling competition. As long as you play every game against teams at 200 or better in RPI, you are virtually guaranteed a Top 50 RPI as long as you have a winning record.
 


But it also does the opposite and rewards teams WAY too much for wins against middling competition. As long as you play every game against teams at 200 or better in RPI, you are virtually guaranteed a Top 50 RPI as long as you have a winning record.

Yeah, and those wins against RPI 150 teams.. They're considered bad losses, yet if you load up with those and avoid the 300's, then your RPI looks good. It's messed up.
 


It's not so much about their RPI rank it's more about their winning percentage, which typically go hand in hand. If you do schedule cupcakes at least make sure the team plays in a decent conference. The difference between a 7-23 Missouri team ranked 263 that Illinois beat and a 8-21 Delaware State team ranked 331 that Iowa beat is one is a horrible team from the SEC while the other is from the MEAC. The opponent opponent's winning percentage is 25% of the RPI score.
 


Yeah, and those wins against RPI 150 teams.. They're considered bad losses, yet if you load up with those and avoid the 300's, then your RPI looks good. It's messed up.

Mid majors figured this out years ago which is why so many of them have inflated RPIs. They figured out that all you had to do was schedule 200 or better RPI teams (and playing them on the road was even better) and you were golden. There isn't a lot of difference, talent-wise, in a team at 198 vs 301, but in the RPI equation, it's huge.
 


Mid majors figured this out years ago which is why so many of them have inflated RPIs. They figured out that all you had to do was schedule 200 or better RPI teams (and playing them on the road was even better) and you were golden. There isn't a lot of difference, talent-wise, in a team at 198 vs 301, but in the RPI equation, it's huge.

You bring up a good point, maybe the next time Iowa wants to play Delaware State or Stetson it should be on their home court so the win counts as 1.4. :)
 


RPI jumps into the upper 50s
Mid majors figured this out years ago which is why so many of them have inflated RPIs. They figured out that all you had to do was schedule 200 or better RPI teams (and playing them on the road was even better) and you were golden. There isn't a lot of difference, talent-wise, in a team at 198 vs 301, but in the RPI equation, it's huge.

It's not that they figured it out. It's just how it works. Power 5 conferences play mid majors in the non conference. It makes them look better and power 5s look worse.
 


It's not that they figured it out. It's just how it works. Power 5 conferences play mid majors in the non conference. It makes them look better and power 5s look worse.

Actually he is right, the decent basketball programs in the mid major conferences are very careful who they schedule. Yes they do schedule games from the P5 conferences because those games don't hurt them. But the rest of their OOC games they look to schedule against teams from other decent mid major conferences. Look at UNI's schedule, none of their OOC were against teams from a conference like the MEAC and none of them had an RPI in the 200s. They do that on purpose in case they do end up with a good record they have a shot at an at large bid into the NCAA tournament.

Decent mid major basketball programs like UNI can't afford to load up their OOC schedule on cream puffs.
 


Actually he is right, the decent basketball programs in the mid major conferences are very careful who they schedule. Yes they do schedule games from the P5 conferences because those games don't hurt them. But the rest of their OOC games they look to schedule against teams from other decent mid major conferences. Look at UNI's schedule, none of their OOC were against teams from a conference like the MEAC and none of them had an RPI in the 200s. They do that on purpose in case they do end up with a good record they have a shot at an at large bid into the NCAA tournament.

Decent mid major basketball programs like UNI can't afford to load up their OOC schedule on cream puffs.

Maybe I'm wrong but I would think the bottom feeder conferences are looking to play p5 schools for a big pay day. I feel like it's more about how scheduling goes more than mid level conferences cheating the system. That said, I'm sure schools look to schedule bad teams that aren't horrible. I'm sure Fran is too but when every school is fighting for the same ones, Iowa probably has trouble winning those battles.
 


It isn't a perfect tool but it does expose teams that pile up a bunch of wins against garbage opponents.

Except the fact that Illinois state has beaten literally nobody except Wichita state once and lost to them twice.

Illinois state is a shining example of piling up garbage wins
 


Except the fact that Illinois state has beaten literally nobody except Wichita state once and lost to them twice.

Illinois state is a shining example of piling up garbage wins

They are a shining example on how scheduling the right opponents can minipulate the RPI. Granted they've piled up a bunch of wins against mid level teams but they don't own a bunch of home wins against +300 RPI teams either like Iowa did.
 








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