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[Grandpa]

FOTP said:

Agreed. I think we really basically agree on things.

Let's just hope that JTIII does the same analysis and tweaks the schedule slightly. Nothing major actually.

While I think we've all been somewhat pleasantly surprised by the way our non-conf schedule has worked out this season, several quotes from THE HOYA's pre-season interview of JT3 seemed to indicate to me that Coach may not in fact be as in tune with the nuances of the RPI calculation. At Princeton I'm sure the concept of RPI was probably of much less concern to him since the automatic bid was generally the more common path of making the Tournament. I do hope that he does take a thoughtful approach to the issue of scheduling, particularly given the upcoming conference expansion in which it appears that each team will need to do more to distinguish itself to the selection committee (beyond just success in conference).

Here's the excerpt and a link:

THE HOYA: Do you pay any attention to RPI ranking?

JT3: Nope.

THE HOYA: Do you think it’s important when considering an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament? Do you think it comes into play a lot with the NCAA tournament selection committee?

JT3: Yes it does. But I think that success in your conference comes more into play or is as big of a factor as anything. I think if you have some success in the conference, then your RPI will be fine.

www.thehoya.com/basketball2004/111604/sports1.cfm

[SFHoya99]

Grandpa said:

While I think we've all been somewhat pleasantly surprised by the way our non-conf schedule has worked out this season, several quotes from THE HOYA's pre-season interview of JT3 seemed to indicate to me that Coach may not in fact be as in tune with the nuances of the RPI calculation. At Princeton I'm sure the concept of RPI was probably of much less concern to him since the automatic bid was generally the more common path of making the Tournament. I do hope that he does take a thoughtful approach to the issue of scheduling, particularly given the upcoming conference expansion in which it appears that each team will need to do more to distinguish itself to the selection committee (beyond just success in conference).

Here's the excerpt and a link:

THE HOYA: Do you pay any attention to RPI ranking?

JT3: Nope.

THE HOYA: Do you think it’s important when considering an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament? Do you think it comes into play a lot with the NCAA tournament selection committee?

JT3: Yes it does. But I think that success in your conference comes more into play or is as big of a factor as anything. I think if you have some success in the conference, then your RPI will be fine.

www.thehoya.com/basketball2004/111604/sports1.cfm

That quote worried me when it came out. I know there was a lot of talk about dad's sked, so I'm hoping he was being a bit deceptive.

If we go 11-5 or better in the BE next year, it won't matter so much. But that's a tall order.

[GIGAFAN99]

Even with our "better schedule" this year we have the worst out of conference schedule of any team in the Top 47 of the current RPI...by far in most cases.

FOTP, where do you get that number? According to Pomeroy RPI, our OOC SOS is ranked 163. 8 of the top 50 are ranked lower currently.

And our overall SOS is 26.

[hoyarooter]

That quote sounds like it was taken directly from Craig Esherick's best seller entitled "How Not to Schedule". Of course, Craig learned from Pops.

Personally, while I think the RPI is a bogus piece of crap, I will support any move that propels us toward removing the cupcakes from our schedule (although I am willing to make an exception for Howard based on location).