As our ACC brethren noticed earlier, the NCAA released its initial RPI ratings this morning and there is plenty to note. Of course the first thing to observe is that the RPI is not the most comprehensive metric for evaluating teams and should be taken with a grain of salt. But the NCAA still uses it and you will hear plenty about it as March creeps closer, so why not give some of our early impressions of the teams from the Big East and where they stand. Some teams such as Cincinnati, which checks in at No. 34, should be content with where they are, but others in the Big East might feel a little more strongly about the current RPI.
Who Should Be Happy
- Connecticut. They won’t have the NCAA Tournament to look forward to so I guess the RPI ratings are a moot point for UConn, but they should feel pretty good about landing at No. 27 especially considering they have just one marquee win (Michigan State) and a pair of solid non-conference wins (Wake Forest, Washington) while playing just one true road game. I think KenPom — who has the Huskies ranked all the way down at No. 61 — is closer to the truth when it comes to evaluating the Huskies. And after tonight’s tilt with DePaul, they play a difficult four-game stretch that could see this rating take a tumble quickly. Of course all of this speculation is worthless because the Huskies’ RPI rating matters not this season. Why did I just write that paragraph again?
- Marquette. Not far behind UConn is the team that beat them in overtime on January 1, Marquette at No. 31. The Golden Eagles should probably also be pretty pleased with their current standing since their best win is the one-point eyesore over Georgetown on Saturday and they have another eyesore that they lost to Wisconsin-Green Bay staining the resume. My guess is they probably weren’t dinged much for losing to Florida and Butler, both of whom are in the top 20 when it comes to RPI, and the Golden Eagles do have 11 wins which can’t be ignored no matter how ugly some of them have been. Marquette’s young team will have to hold up over the course of the conference slate, but if they can do that, they will be right in the thick of the NCAA Tournament discussion.
- Seton Hall. The NCAA’s RPI ratings work in mysterious ways sometimes and Seton Hall — a team without any impressive wins and one of the least-difficult non-conference schedules in the entire country — is an excellent example. The Pirates are inexplicably ranked No. 49, something I am sure coach Kevin Willard won’t complain about, and it’s not obvious why. I mean, they don’t have a bad loss on their resume yet, but their best win is a 71-67 squeaker over a middling Wake Forest team. The Pirates might have enough on their roster to earn bubble consideration come March, but the better bet would be that the conference schedule will help correct this issue in short order.
Who Should Be Upset
- Louisville. Anyone who has watched the Cardinals play considers them one of the top three or four teams in the country. So why then did the NCAA see fit to put four-loss Colorado and three-loss Miami ahead of them in the RPI ratings? The Cardinals’ only loss is to Duke, who sits atop the RPI rankings, and wins over Missouri, Memphis, and Kentucky look a lot better than Miami’s lone impressive win over Michigan State. The team’s non-conference schedule wasn’t the most difficult, but Pitino played more worthwhile opponents that most of his conference colleagues and yet somehow his team is only No. 8? The Cardinals have plenty of time to play their way to the top of the list, but if the season ended today and Louisville was a No.2 seed, how silly would the committee look?
- Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish owe their disappointing place at No. 37 to their atrocious non-conference schedule. The win against Kentucky was less impressive since it came at home and the win against BYU on a neutral court is a nice resume-builder, but it’s hard to earn points with the RPI ratings when you play Chicago State and Kennesaw State less than a month apart from each. The ratings also don’t include the team’s win over Cincinnati on Monday, which should at least bump Notre Dame ahead of the Bearcats, but I think most pundits and fans consider the Fighting Irish one of the best 25 teams in the country, even if the current RPI doesn’t agree.
- Pittsburgh. Coach Jamie Dixon really only has himself to blame for the Panthers slide down the initial RPI ratings. For a team with 12 wins that ranks in the top-50 nationally in both offensive and defensive efficiency, falling all the way to No. 71 seems a bit harsh, but that’s what happens when your team plays one of the softest non-conference schedules in the country and then goes out and loses its first two conference games, including one to rudderless Rutgers. If the Panthers had even beaten one respectable team other than Lehigh and had played more than one true road game (that ugly loss to Rutgers), the RPI might have been more forgiving. But even so, it is hard to understand how Cincinnati, which also played a not-great non-conference schedule, is so much higher in the ratings. I mean I understand that the Bearcats have more quality wins, but there aren’t 40 teams in between Pitt and Cincinnati.