RPI Ratings for Conferences through 11/28

[UConnDan97]

This is a 4 bid league right now. SMU is 2-4 against the Top 100, and only has 5 games left. 4-7 is not good enough, but an SMU gain is another school's loss. SMU is playing a lot of RPI poison games, as are all of the top 5 in the league. Someone is going to lose on Selection Sunday.

Joe Lunardi has SMU as an 11 seed and predicts them to be as likely to get in as Georgetown....but hey, who cares about that because Nelson has spoken!

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

Keep banging that drum, Nelson. Someone might give a damn one day. Your basic premise that the American would be a death sentence for UConn has already proven itself not to be true. Your ideology of scrapping football and joining the Big East in every other sport has already shown itself to be folly. But keep banging the drum...

 

[Fishy]

We've been in the American for about five conference games - the question of our demise or salvation has yet to be answered.

But it is a bad basketball conference going forward. There's just no way around that right now.

The new Big East is a far more appealing hoop conference, but no one can argue that it's gotten off to a lousy start on the court and on the ratings front. They can't afford a couple of down seasons in terms of public perception.

 

[metsfan2323]

They can't afford a couple of down seasons in terms of public perception.

Very true, right now the Big East is barely better than the A10, a couple down seasons and they will be the A10. Being buried on Fox could slowly destroy that league as will losing Buzz Williams and /or Jay Wright to the P5.

I originally wanted NBC to win the AAC contract last year, boy was I wrong, not being on ESPN would be a disaster.

 

[Fishy]

Oh, amen.

Can you imagine the AAC on channel 1782 or wherever NBC Sports lives?

The headlines would be, "UConn bankrupts sports' network".

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The RPI is the RPI. The formula is pretty simple, and based on winning and losing. The Big East conference is essentially tied for #3 right now, makes more money per school, and has a major sports network almost all to itself. I have a hard time understanding how they are worse off than we are.

 

[Hoophound]

The RPI is the RPI. The formula is pretty simple, and based on winning and losing. The Big East conference is essentially tied for #3 right now, makes more money per school, and has a major sports network almost all to itself. I have a hard time understanding how they are worse off than we are.

The Big East doesn't exist anymore. Out of sight, out of mind. It would be nice to be making more money but everything else about our deal is better. I haven't watched a single Big East game yet.

There some very smart people on this board that are pining for the Big East, you and Fishy among them, but the Big East is finished. In the Northeast there are traditionalists that miss it and somehow think it is much better than the AAC, but you are in the minority. Nationally, the Big East has vanished and nobody cares at all. If I still lived up there I might feel the same way but living in the south, I realize that the AAC is front and center and the Big East is gone.

 

[itgoeslike]

Leaving the AAC for the New Big East is a bad idea strategically and financially—at least for the next 36 months. In the near term, the only logical reason for UCONN to leave behind the exit fee payouts, tourney credits, etc. and incur an exit fee of its own, is to join a P5 conference. Joining the NBE any time soon effectively throws in the towel on any P5 aspirations. Most UCONN fans understand why we are slogging away in the AAC.

 

[noeynox]

The RPI is the RPI. The formula is pretty simple, and based on winning and losing. The Big East conference is essentially tied for #3 right now, makes more money per school, and has a major sports network almost all to itself. I have a hard time understanding how they are worse off than we are.

Nobodody watches their games. They make more money per school now (if you ignore the exit fees were getting), but I believe they had a five year deal with Fox. They will have to greatly improve their numbers to approach whatever their deal was again. No one is watching their games, and FS1, is getting really good ratings for things like CFB, and the UFC, so the fact that the Big East ratings are so bad would seem to indicate... no one really cares to tune into CBB between Providence and Depaul or Seton Hall or St. Johns.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

The Big East doesn't exist anymore. Out of sight, out of mind. It would be nice to be making more money but everything else about our deal is better. I haven't watched a single Big East game yet.

There some very smart people on this board that are pining for the Big East, you and Fishy among them, but the Big East is finished. In the Northeast there are traditionalists that miss it and somehow think it is much better than the AAC, but you are in the minority. Nationally, the Big East has vanished and nobody cares at all. If I still lived up there I might feel the same way but living in the south, I realize that the AAC is front and center and the Big East is gone.

This is very true. Traditionalists in the northeast may disagree....but to the rest of the country East Carolina and Tulane are more important in the national landscape than Seton Hall, Depaul, Creighton, Butler, St Johns and Providence. Villanova and GT are probably on par with East Carolina and Tulane. I am not talking basketball only...just sports profile in general.

I think the NBE barely has credibilitiy now..and that will only decrease. I don't think it is possible to lose UConn, Cuse and Pitt and stay relevant. It will be the A10.

UConn is in the best place possible to try and stay afloat until a P5 commisioner throws out a life preserver.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

The RPI is the RPI. The formula is pretty simple, and based on winning and losing. The Big East conference is essentially tied for #3 right now, makes more money per school, and has a major sports network almost all to itself. I have a hard time understanding how they are worse off than we are.

I would suggest that you start looking at the big picture. Long term objectives. And not what the RPI says 5 games into the season on 1/21/14.

 

[itgoeslike]

The NBE is the best option and for Seton Hall, DePaul, Xavier, Butler, St. Johns, etc. But it doesn't make it the best option for UConn. I guess it's just a difference in perceptions, perspective and expectations. Here's what I see:

- Top 20 national public university and climbing
- Billions allocated to research, education, faculty and infrastructure
- Sports facilities among the best in the country
- National champion field hockey
- Elite eight soccer team with MLS's #1 overall pick
- Energetic new football coach 13 months removed from NC game and Broyles award
- Top 30 mens basketball team poised to go deep into the tourney
- Potentially the best womens basketball team in history
- Mens hockey vying for AHA title with Hockey East and scholarships on deck
- Track and field making strides
- Baseball putting together a string of CWS appearances

Midmajor my .

 

[UConnDan97]

The RPI is the RPI. The formula is pretty simple, and based on winning and losing. The Big East conference is essentially tied for #3 right now.

Actually, it's NOT that simple. It's based on winning and losing, coupled with who was on your schedule. If you simply compare winning and losing, the two leagues are almost identical:

Big East: 94 -31
AAC: 91 - 34

http://statsheet.com/mcb/conferences/stats/record

And would you please stop with the "they're essentially tied for #3" nonsense? They're number 4. It's okay to say that they're #4. Unless, of course, you wish to push an agenda, and then you can continue to say "almost #3"...

 

[Husky25]

The NBE is the best option and for Seton Hall, DePaul, Xavier, Butler, St. Johns, etc. But it doesn't make it the best option for UConn. I guess it's just a difference in perceptions, perspective and expectations. Here's what I see:

- Top 20 national public university and climbing
- Billions allocated to research, education, faculty and infrastructure
- Sports facilities among the best in the country
- National champion field hockey
- Elite eight soccer team with MLS's #1 overall pick
- Energetic new football coach 13 months removed from NC game and Broyles award
- Top 30 mens basketball team poised to go deep into the tourney
- Potentially the best womens basketball team in history
- Mens hockey vying for AHA title with Hockey East and scholarships on deck
- Track and field making strides
- Baseball putting together a string of CWS appearances

Midmajor my .

This is the only untruth. Baseball has put together a string of NCAA Tourney appearances, not CWS appearances. They went to the Super Regional in 2011, but did not make the College World Series. Their last appearance in the College World Series was 1979.

 

[John Greene]

The NBE is the best option and for Seton Hall, DePaul, Xavier, Butler, St. Johns, etc. But it doesn't make it the best option for UConn. I guess it's just a difference in perceptions, perspective and expectations. Here's what I see:

- Top 20 national public university and climbing
- Billions allocated to research, education, faculty and infrastructure
- Sports facilities among the best in the country
- National champion field hockey
- Elite eight soccer team with MLS's #1 overall pick
- Energetic new football coach 13 months removed from NC game and Broyles award
- Top 30 mens basketball team poised to go deep into the tourney
- Potentially the best womens basketball team in history
- Mens hockey vying for AHA title with Hockey East and scholarships on deck
- Track and field making strides
- Baseball putting together a string of CWS appearances

Midmajor my .

Looking at that list is depressing. I know it is not what you meant to do, but if you look at the list as a whole it pretty much screams "mid major" with aspirations of being better. Even in MBB you see us as a "top 30" with aspirations. Have we really fallen that far?

 

[itgoeslike]

This is the only untruth. Baseball has put together a string of NCAA Tourney appearances, not CWS appearances. They went to the Super Regional in 2011, but did not make the College World Series. Their last appearance in the College World Series was 1979.

Yes. I meant the tournament for the CWS, which is still an accomplishment akin to making to the NCAA basketball tournament 3 out of 4 past years.

 

[itgoeslike]

Looking at that list is depressing. I know it is not what you meant to do, but if you look at the list as a whole it pretty much screams "mid major" with aspirations of being better. Even in MBB you see us as a "top 30" with aspirations. Have we really fallen that far?

I think we've been ranked as high as 10th in the nation this year for mens BB. I believe we are currently ranked 27th in the AP. If I had said "ranked mens BB team" I would have had 2 or more people replying that we aren't currently ranked. If we take care of business over the next couple of weeks, we'll be ranked again.

If you look at the Learfield Directors Cup we're currently ranked 29th in the nation. I'm confident our basketball teams will contribute to a climb in the rankings. The point is we continue to succeed at the highest level in a multitude of sports as well as academically. The fact that our admissions applications were up 10% in addition to average SAT scores bodes well for the university.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

This is a 4 bid league right now. SMU is 2-4 against the Top 100, and only has 5 games left. 4-7 is not good enough, but an SMU gain is another school's loss. SMU is playing a lot of RPI poison games, as are all of the top 5 in the league. Someone is going to lose on Selection Sunday.

UConn is not going to the Big East. They don't want us .
We don't fit their model. They went all the way to Nebraska to find a school that fit.
Even if we went back to FSB football.
We are a Flag Ship State University who they feel has to many resource for them to compete with.
We're too big for the Big East ,too small for the B1g,too far for the PAC and Big 12 and despised by the ACC. Those are the facts.
Basketball in the AAC needs to be improved I agree.Start a thread about ways to improve the AAC in basketball.
The best way to improve a conference is to have successful programs that receive national exposure..UConn has to be one of those schools, This enables opponents to use us as a recruiting tool. Exposure and success was the old Big East Model.
The conference seems to be football centric especially with FL and Texas so heavily represented.I guess football is our ultimate savior. We still need basketball to have a voice.
I'm an old man and I have come to the conclusion the AAC will be our home at least for me. I'm a basketball fan first like 2 out 3 UConn fans so I want to see us remain viable in that our signature sport.
Work on improving our conference and don't cling to pipe dreams.

 

[John Greene]

I think we've been ranked as high as 10th in the nation this year for mens BB. I believe we are currently ranked 27th in the AP. If I had said "ranked mens BB team" I would have had 2 or more people replying that we aren't currently ranked. If we take care of business over the next couple of weeks, we'll be ranked again.

If you look at the Learfield Directors Cup we're currently ranked 29th in the nation. I'm confident our basketball teams will contribute to a climb in the rankings. The point is we continue to succeed at the highest level in a multitude of sports as well as academically. The fact that our admissions applications were up 10% in addition to average SAT scores bodes well for the university.

Rising applications and test scores are wonderful and do bode well for the university. So is the state giving us the credit card for another round of infrastructure upgrades. In the end both are more important than sports. Unfortunately that does nor help us in the AD where I believe we have 3 years to get out of this AAC mess. After that the lack of revenue and exposure will start to take their toll on all sports. We will find ourselves with a great WBB program(as long as GA is coaching), a respectable MBB program and a hockey program that is near the middle of a very good conference.

 

[itgoeslike]

Rising applications and test scores are wonderful and do bode well for the university. So is the state giving us the credit card for another round of infrastructure upgrades. In the end both are more important than sports. Unfortunately that does nor help us in the AD where I believe we have 3 years to get out of this AAC mess. After that the lack of revenue and exposure will start to take their toll on all sports. We will find ourselves with a great WBB program(as long as GA is coaching), a respectable MBB program and a hockey program that is near the middle of a very good conference.

It doesn't sound like we are in disagreement. If you look back at my post I said "at least for the next 36 months". I'm optimistic that the dynamics will change for UCONN. Until then, all we can do as fans is support our teams and set the record straight whenever necessary. Lamenting about playing Seton Hall, Butler and St. Johns on FS-1 simply doesn't add much value.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Looking at that list is depressing. I know it is not what you meant to do, but if you look at the list as a whole it pretty much screams "mid major" with aspirations of being better.

I don't see that at all. If you focus on MBB and Football, then yes, but not in total. How many mid-majors made the Baseball world series 2 years in a row, won a national championship in field hockey and an elite 8 in men's soccer. Left off the list is that the first player taken in the MLS draft was Blake. When's the last time a women's mid major made the final 4, never mind winning championships?
I do agree that the clock is ticking, but right now we are not a mid major.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

If you look at the Learfield Directors Cup we're currently ranked 29th in the nation.

I wouldn't put too much stock in the Learfield Cup. I had wondered in years gone by how UConn was not higher in the results, but the answer is simple. They include sports that are not significant or in some cases even offered at UConn. Volleyball, skiing, tennis, rifle, fencing, wrestling, gymnastics and lacrosse are in there, just to name a few. At the moment we've only scored points for field hockey (100) and men's soccer (73).

 

[itgoeslike]

I wouldn't put too much stock in the Learfield Cup. I had wondered in years gone by how UConn was not higher in the results, but the answer is simple. They include sports that are not significant or in some cases even offered at UConn. Volleyball, skiing, tennis, rifle, fencing, wrestling, gymnastics and lacrosse are in there, just to name a few. At the moment we've only scored points for field hockey (100) and men's soccer (73).

I don't put too much stock in it, but it is another data point. Some people prefer the weighting of the Capital One Cup. Both UConn Men and Women sports were ranked in the top 20 earlier this season. The point, which you touched upon, is that UConn is and has been competing and winning at the highest level for some time now. Since 1980, UConn has won more national championships than all but a small group of schools. We need to push back a little when some suggest we don't belong and are better served in a mid major conference.

 

[John Greene]

It doesn't sound like we are in disagreement. If you look back at my post I said "at least for the next 36 months". I'm optimistic that the dynamics will change for UCONN. Until then, all we can do as fans is support our teams and set the record straight whenever necessary. Lamenting about playing Seton Hall, Butler and St. Johns on FS-1 simply doesn't add much value.

Not saying we disagree, and I do not lament not playing SH, SJ etc. I will miss Cuse, Ville, GT, etc.. It's just that when I talk to the people I know from the SEC about CR, and what at least some people in P5 conferences want out of the self regulation issue, I see the door closing rapidly.

 

[itgoeslike]

Not saying we disagree, and I do not lament not playing SH, SJ etc. I will miss Cuse, Ville, GT, etc.. It's just that when I talk to the people I know from the SEC about CR, and what at least some people in P5 conferences want out of the self regulation issue, I see the door closing rapidly.

Just so we're clear, the "lamenting" comment was directed towards this thread's intent and not you. . .

This latest move in CR is more about creating separation, and the fruits thereof, than the welfare of student athletes. At the end of the day, if pushed to do so, it will ultimately prove easier to include, than exclude, a school like UConn. Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

 

[John Greene]

Just so we're clear, the "lamenting" comment was directed towards this thread's intent and not you. . .

This latest move in CR is more about creating separation, and the fruits thereof, than the welfare of student athletes. At the end of the day, if pushed to do so, it will ultimately prove easier to include, than exclude, a school like UConn. Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

Did not take the Lamenting personally. As far as inclusion goes we better get good at FB fast because if we do not we are likely to find ourselves in the excluded category.