RPI Ratings for Conferences through 11/28

[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.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

1) Big 12 - .6096
2) Big Ten - .5972
3) Big East - .5923
4) Pac 12 - .5735
5) Atlantic 10 - .5561
6) Missouri Valley - .5452
7) ACC - .5444
8) West Coast - .5403
9) American Athletic - .5359
10) SEC - .5337
11) Horizon -.5287
12) MWC - 5211

There was some debate over how big a gap there would be between the AAC and the Big East. Now we have some data that proves definitively that the gap between the two leagues is huge. And imagine how big the gap would be if UConn would in the Big East instead of the AAC.

UConn currently has an RPI ranking of 5. That RPI is going to get hammered when UConn starts playing conference games against Houston, USF, UCF, SMU and Rutgers. I have been consistent in that virtually any other realistic conference affiliation would be better than the one we are in. We are already seeing the impact of this crappy schedule on ticket sales, and we will certainly feel the pain in the RPI ranking in February.

Herbst made a decision to chase the exit fees instead of do what was best long-term for the university's athletic program. There is little to no evidence to show that the AAC has been a good move for UConn, even when compared to options like splitting the football and basketball conferences. .

Final Conference RPI Rankings:

1) Big 12
2) Big 10
3) Pac 12
4) Big East
5) ACC
6) A10
7) SEC
8) AAC
9) WCC
10) MWC

Is it still too early to say the Big East is a lot better than the American?

 

[BlueHen]

Final Conference RPI Rankings:

1) Big 12
2) Big 10
3) Pac 12
4) Big East
5) ACC
6) A10
7) SEC
8) AAC
9) WCC
10) MWC

Is it still too early to say the Big East is a lot better than the American?

The AAC schools did fine with the computers. The problem is that the Committee does not care.

You made the two above posts within a few minutes of each other. In the first post you are complaining about the RPI, which is computer generated. In the second post you are okay with the computer data, it's the committee that is out to get us.

Which is it?

 

[pj]

Is it still too early to say the Big East is a lot better than the American?

Yes. Wait till UConn-Villanova is done.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Yes. Wait till UConn-Villanova is done.

Or until uconn drops football. In which case your your sentiment might make sense.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Or until uconn drops football. In which case your your sentiment might make sense.

The only thing stupider than staying in the AAC for basketball is to stay in it for football. Not joining either the A10 or Big East in the next few years would be an epically stupid conference decision that would destroy the athletic program.

 

[CAHUSKY]

The only thing stupider than staying in the AAC for basketball is to stay in it for football. Not joining either the A10 or Big East in the next few years would be an epically stupid conference decision that would destroy the athletic program.

I think the board has run that topic into the ground. No need to do it again here.