The Purdue Puzzle

[DobbsRover2]

Every year there are certain odd teams that you kind of just shake your head about when you look at their rankings and ratings. This year Purdue is a perfect example. The Boilermakers just beat Penn State and both teams are 11-4. Both Sagarin and Massey have PSU rated ahead of Purdue even though the Boilermakers are rated with the better SOS, and Nolan has Purdue and its SOS rated ahead of PSU. The AP Poll has PSU at #16 and Purdue at #22, but the RPI index has Purdue at an astounding #7 and PSU back at #41. Sagarin places the two teams in the mid 30s, Massey has them in the mid 20s, and Nolan has Purdue at #41 and PSU at #51. So there is just a huge amount of inexplicable variation in the two teams' placements.

But it is between UConn and Purdue that the most baffling oddity shows up. In that idiot RPI index, Purdue's SOS is rated 7th and UConn is rated 11th, and the two teams have a lot of common top opponents. Top 50 teams on the schedules include:

Purdue: Duke, Stanford, PSU, Bowling Green, Ohio St
UConn: Duke, Stanford, MD, Baylor, PSU, California, Ohio St

Only in idiot RPI could the Purdue schedule amount to a #7 SOS while UConn's is #11. The gods indeed are crazy. And yes, in the RPI ratings, UConn is a ways behind Duke and Stanford. So as always the system for imbeciles lives on.

 

[huskybill]

Every year there are certain odd teams that you kind of just shake your head about when you look at their rankings and ratings. This year Purdue is a perfect example. The Boilermakers just beat Penn State and both teams are 11-4. Both Sagarin and Massey have PSU rated ahead of Purdue even though the Boilermakers are rated with the better SOS, and Nolan has Purdue and its SOS rated ahead of PSU. The AP Poll has PSU at #16 and Purdue at #22, but the RPI index has Purdue at an astounding #7 and PSU back at #41. Sagarin places the two teams in the mid 30s, Massey has them in the mid 20s, and Nolan has Purdue at #41 and PSU at #51. So there is just a huge amount of inexplicable variation in the two teams' placements.

But it is between UConn and Purdue that the most baffling oddity shows up. In that idiot RPI index, Purdue's SOS is rated 7th and UConn is rated 11th, and the two teams have a lot of common top opponents. Top 50 teams on the schedules include:

Purdue: Duke, Stanford, PSU, Bowling Green, Ohio St
UConn: Duke, Stanford, MD, Baylor, PSU, California, Ohio St

Only in idiot RPI could the Purdue schedule amount to a #7 SOS while UConn's is #11. The gods indeed are crazy. And yes, in the RPI ratings, UConn is a ways behind Duke and Stanford. So as always the system for imbeciles lives on.

I don't think there is a thing called idiot RPI. There is a RealRPI so I'm guessing there must also be a fake RPI. Actually what you seem to be complaining about is RPI for Idiots.

 

[DobbsRover2]

I don't think there is a thing called idiot RPI. There is a RealRPI so I'm guessing there must also be a fake RPI. Actually what you seem to be complaining about is RPI for Idiots.

Well, the RPI is supposedly made for the selection committee, and I have heard a few fan bases refer to them that way in mid March.