Another RPI thread

[RowdyZip]

I know to consider the source and all that jazz but THIS really pisses me off. If you look at the right hand column of bubble teams they break it down to "looking good," "iffy," and "looking bad." This is the perfect example of the joke number that is the RPI. And I know it's K-e-n-t, but had we won NIU, VCU and a couple of the other close ones, we'd be in the same spot. The major conference bias is something that's so beyond disgusting in college sports and will never go away. I don't care how well we ever do, if we are a MAC team, the only way to be assured a bid is to either lose only 1 or 2 games total or win the tournament. Someone PLEASE explain to me why k-e-n-t is "LOOKING BAD" at 24-6, 32nd rpi while Arizona State (18-10, 70th), USC 18-10 (40th), and DAVIDSON (23-6, 45th) are all "LOOKING GOOD." Give me a break, is the MAC that bad? If you use that as an excuse why is Davidson (IN THE SOCON for poops sake) is getting respect? The NCAA tournament is bottom line money-and-name-driven just as the farce that is the BCS. To build a name "worthy" of respect even in off years (when other teams are more deserving) takes decades. I don't see us stepping out of the MAC for years to come. Hopefully KD has the formula to keep us winning year after year. :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: Oh, and after showing respect to our rival above...i just have to say... :screwks: :screwks: :screwks: :screwks:

[ZachTheZip]

I don't know. They looked pretty darn bad in that Miami game.Or maybe thay have figured out that

[meatwad]

I hope Can't is looking bad... I don't want them to make the tournament. Maybe that website is forecasting a loss to Akron and a loss in their first MAC tourney game. They wouldn't stand a chance then.

[Zips fan]

I hope Can't earns an at large bid. It is good for the conference and ultimately the Zips. The MAC needs to earn at large bids every year to help our reputation as a league. This website: www.rpiforecast.com gives Can't a 99.90% chance of being invited to the tournament. It also thinks that Akron will beat Can't in our final regular season game. The website also has Akron going to the NCAA tournament by virtue of winning the conference tournament.

[Let'sGoZips94]

I hope Can't earns an at large bid. It is good for the conference and ultimately the Zips. The MAC needs to earn at large bids every year to help our reputation as a league. This website: www.rpiforecast.com gives Can't a 99.90% chance of being invited to the tournament. It also thinks that Akron will beat Can't in our final regular season game. The website also has Akron going to the NCAA tournament by virtue of winning the conference tournament.

It's CAN'T STATE! I draw the line there. Plus if the committee knows that , then why invite them. Last year we were snubbed from both tourneys. This year I hope Can't gets snubbed from the NCAA. Let's go Zips! Knock off those flushes!

[GoZips]

ROWDY, my friend, why are you getting your knickers all in a wad over anything that titless Rivals.com writes?Never have known them to be in the loop. Its a fluff piece. While us Zippys have a complete and total revulsion toward that slime ball institution of lower learningperched several miles east of our grand campus, we do acknowledge that Cant has a pretty darn good record at 24-6. Cant did defeat St. Mary's on the road inthe Bracket Buster. They also tanked at BGSU. Their resume (RPI wise) is good because they got their brains beat out at North Carolina just as the Deadhawksblew up at Kansas. RPI is largely determined by what big name school kicked your butt from pillar to post. Akron has not lost to big time OOC foes. So, ourRPI languishes behind the likes of Temple, Miami (OH), Ohio U that all fell to Akron at least once. But, all those teams got shelled by a big timer along the way.Sure, its not fair. What is? The deal is this. Beat Cant on Sunday and the Zips play somewhere post season. At 22-8 going into MAC tournament play the Zipshave qualified to play in one of the three tourneys. Win the MAC tournament and both Akron and Cant get to the NCAA tourney. Perhaps Western gets the NIT automatic. There is even a long shot that Ohio could snag an NIT bid.At least one team from the MAC will go to the new tournament. Frankly, I would rather win that tournament than do a "one and done".We can be pretty confident that at least three and probably four MAC teams will get a bid to a post season tournament.As for Cant being on the outs if they do not win the MAC tournament I think that is highly unlikely. A case can be made for Cant if they get to the MAC final. Pleasenote that even Rivals did not list the MAC as a one bid league.

[ZachTheZip]

I don't get why people still have it in their heads that Miami (OH) has a better RPI than us. The fact is: Akron has a better RPI than Miami. Their schedule has failed them. What's the point of getting your ass kicked by some name school to artificially inflate your RPI if you can't follow it up with wins in conference?Akron is the best team in the MAC right now, although it may be hard to believe by looking at the numbers. Can't lost to BG and sucked pretty badly at home against a team that they only beat because Miami happened to be the worst team in the country that day. Akron beat both Miami and Ohio on the road in the same stretch. In an Akron-Can't final, I would put my money on Akron, even if I wasn't a Zips fan. Can't doesn't deserve an at-large, but they will probably get one because it seems like all the other bubble teams are trying their hardest to screw up right now.

[w00t]

I hope Can't earns an at large bid. It is good for the conference and ultimately the Zips.

I wish people would quit peddling this useless idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :puke: :puke: :puke:

[Zips fan]

I don't get why people still have it in their heads that Miami (OH) has a better RPI than us. The fact is: Akron has a better RPI than Miami.

Akron(#80) does have a better RPI than Miami(#81) by 1 spot. www.realtimerpi.com Since RPI is tied into all the previous games you play this switches back and forth(even if Akron or Miami are not playing).

[skip-zip]

uakronkid...thanks for the update on the RPIs and SOSs in the other thread.With all respect, what is your experience with college basketball? Ok, we get it. You DO NOT want Akron to upgrade their schedule and have a chance to get some national respect? We understand what you are trying to say, if that's it. Akron has won quite a few more games than Miami AND beat them twice. So, why are their RPIs pretty much the same? Because of the difference in schedule strength.We can keep doing what we're doing, and keep getting the same results. Are you trying to tell us that you are happy with that? That's your decision. Can't getting an at-large is sort of a double edged sword for me. I want to see them make it for the conference's sake, but I do not want to see Can't get an edge on us that could help recruiting, etc.

[ZachTheZip]

Skip-Zip, I am all for upgrading the Zips schedule, but our approaches on how to achieve that seem to differ.I ask you this: What team's results would you rather have right now? Akron's or Miami's? The RPI is the same. Please don't tell me you would rather have a team with a 14-14 overall record. Please don't tell me you would want to see the Zips lose by massive margins on a road game that serves no purpose except for playing a numbers game. Akron learned a lot more about itself playing a close game at Dayton than Miami learned by getting blown out at Kansas.Do the Zips need to stop playing teams like Binghamton and NC Central? Absolutely. Do they need to replace those games with road trips to get slaughtered at some media darling like Duke? No way. We need more solid mid-majors on the schedule. Playing more teams from the Atlantic 10 or MVC would be a definite upgrade compared to NC A&T and a win against them can be considered a solid win, while occasionally beating a major team can be called a fluke.

[skip-zip]

My point, more than anything else, is that what we are doing now has never worked.Miami had themselves in a position to get at-large consideration by playing a tough schedule. We were never in that position to begin with, and probably could not have gotten any at large consideration unless we darn near won all of our games. Which would you choose? A chance? Or no chance? And which losses are helpful and which are hurtful? Losses to Portland St. and Arkansas Little Rock? Or a loss to a top-25 team?Adding a couple more mid-level teams to the schedule is very likely not enough to get it done.

[CraftyMFer]

Bottom line the Zips need toplay 7-8 decent mid levels, 1-2 big time programs (whether or not they get a home and home contract), and 2 cupcakes (they played 6 this year and lost 1). I would be happy with that. Unfortunately, next year the zips lose alot of talent. This years schedule would have been much better suited for next year.

[ZachTheZip]

You're right that what we are doing now is not working. It hasn't worked in the past, and it won't work for us unless we somhow move up to a better conference, and I can't see that happening for a while.Miami gave themselves a chance at an at-large bid by scheduling like an at-large team, but they did not win like one. They went .500 in non-conference games, and then went .500 in MAC games. That's not how to get an at-large. They don't deserve to play in any post season tournament with a record like that, no matter how tough their schedule was.I would always choose having a chance over no chance, but neither Akron nor Miami has any chance now. Only Can't State has a chance, and they got there by winning the games they were supposed to, and not losing too many games that they were supposed to win.No loss is helpful come tournament selection time. A loss is a loss. Akron would have a chance as well if they didn't lose to Portland State, NIU, and CMU. Not as great of a chance as Can't, but they would be in the discussion.Adding a couple of mid-level teams may not get it done, but it would give us a better chance than we have now. It all comes down to winning the games you're supposed to, and then also winning the games where it could be considered a toss-up. I hate to keep using Can't as an example, but that's what they did all season, until they screwed up against BGSU. They only played one killer game, at UNC, and the rest of their schedule was against solid mid-majors like Xavier, Illinois State, and George Mason. I think that Can't State would be better served with a win over another team like those than a loss to UNC. Their schedule, with the exception of UNC, is what I think ours should look like. The thing is, they also played cupcake teams like Longwood, Coppin State, Detroit, and IPFW. They just won the games that made the difference like St Mary's and George Mason, while we did not beat VCU, Dayton, and Winthrop.

[RootforRoo44]

I hope Can't earns an at large bid. It is good for the conference and ultimately the Zips.

I wish people would quit peddling this useless idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :puke: :puke: :puke:

I AGREE...what if Al Quaeda University at Iraq (AQUI) was in our conference? Would we be hoping they won? AND Can't IS WORSE!!

[skip-zip]

CraftyMFer...that's probabaly the mix of opponents it would take to get it done.uakronkid...true, neither Miami or Akron is in a position for an at large NOW. But, Miami scheduled well enough to have that chance, and we did not. With our awful schedule strength, do you really believe that winning a couple of more games against teams that were rated far below us, and we should have beaten anyway, would have made much of a difference? At best, those wins would have put us right about where we were last year, which is a team with 26 wins, a weak schedule, and no wins that were big enough to really turn any heads.

[w00t]

Their schedule, with the exception of UNC, is what I think ours should look like. The thing is, they also played cupcake teams like Longwood, Coppin State, Detroit, and IPFW. They just won the games that made the difference like St Mary's and George Mason, while we did not beat VCU, Dayton, and Winthrop.

They also got lucky. Xavier is usually good, but not RPI top ten good. Illinois State is a perennial MVC bottom feeder, this year they're looking like an at-large team and have an RPI of 35... if you saw that coming I want to arrange a trip to Vegas with you. Cleveland St... Usually it's a good bet that you'll have your scrubs in to start the 2nd half against them, this year they finished 2nd behind Butler in the Horizon and their RPI checks in at 79. What kills the MAC SOS across the board is the Western Division. Check out these RPI ratings... 111, 161, 221, 238, 276, 293. You know why we aren't being considered for an at-large? We went 3-3 against those six teams... ouch.

[Captain Kangaroo]

[zippy5]

Yeah...I think you guys should just play the agree to disagree card.

[w00t]

It's Jared!!!I can't concede that Can't strategically scheduled "better" than us this year. They got a little bit of luck and won the big games (most of 'em anyway). If we had won the games we should have, we could have gotten an at-large too.Oh, and by the way...

[RACER]

skip zip you act like akron is the only team that has never gone to the big dance because the way we schedule.nothing this conference has done, or any team for that matter has worked.we have alsways been a one bid conference.the only reason Can't has gone to the big dance is because they have won the mac tourney.that is the way to the big dance.win the tourney.you act like miami,and Can't go to the big dance every year because of the super schedue.give jd a chance.he has done more for akron b-ball in a few years than anyone except maybe huggins.kd got a team for hip that was in the dumps.we win 20 + games three years in a row,and one nit victory.that does not include what we do this year.i would say going to postseason two years in a row in pretty good for a team that was in the dumps.i remeber when coleman crawford had coached the zips.we played cmu,and scored 8 points in one half.i know alott of zip fans want more,but trust me it could be 10 times worse if kd was not here.

[skip-zip]

wOOt...that's exactly the consequence of all of this.....we are pretty much forced to win just about every game, and not have any slip-ups, and no bad losses. Especially this year, where our schedule strength was just way too far off the charts.That's too much of a challenge, even for a good coach, to get a bunch of 18-21 year old kids to play that consistently, every night, for 30+ games. Even the pros can't do it. So, you are always going to lose games you should have won. And in our present situation, we can't have bad losses. So, what do you do?At least playing higher ranked teams improves your schedule strength, gives you a better chance at post season play, and gives you the opportunity to improve your program. Again, I like CraftyMFer's proposed OOC agenda. That's probably right on the money.

[zippy5]

skip-zip, do you realize if we beef up our schedule with BCS teams, and lose, our RPI goes up, but the committee says we have too many losses? It's a lose-lose situation..the best way is to schedule top level mid majors, winnable games, but still boost the RPI. And of course win those games...

[skip-zip]

zippy5...do you also realize that if we keep doing what we're doing it might be another 20+ years until we get a bid to a tournament?Believe me. I was a senior when we went to the tournament in 1986. It's a very long time. Racer, although I can't understand what you are saying sometimes, let me decipher, and try to respond.1) The MAC has had At-Large selections, but not in recent years.2) Can't State had teams that would have been good enough to get an at-large, but they won the MAC Tournament, which, of course, eliminated the need for an at-large bid.3) Keith has done more than anyone in recent years .....agreed.4) Miami and Can't scheduled well enough to give themselves an OPPORTUNITY to get an at-large. We simply had another 20+ win season with absolutely no national recognition.Miami had themselves in at-large position until about mid-season. Can't had (and still may) themselves in at-large position until last week. Akron lost their chance for an at-large bid when they made out their schedule, and lost it for good by losing to Portland State. I know this is harsh, but true.You can sit here forever and say "Well, Miami had great schedule strength, and they won't get an at-large bid" all you want. But they gave themselves a CHANCE to get an at-large, and we did not. I ask again...which would you rather have? A Chance? or No Chance? Without a serious upgrade in scheduling, we're stuck with Option #2.

[zippy5]

we had the opportunity too...we just blew it.losses to NIU, Western, Central, Portland State...we win those ones, we're looking at a top 50 RPI, that's not out of the question.we beat Dayton, we could be around 35-40.Advance to the MAC semi's...with a win over Western in the semi's our RPI is around 30-35.If we win one out of the Dayton/VCU pair, we're on the right side of the bubble.we had the opportunity, Miami didn't.We had a chance to beat teams we scheduled, Miami didn't...