Well the RPI will certainly continue to improve after Saturday's win. La Tech had a RPI ranking of 57 entering this week while the Aggies were at 110. Let's see what happens when Bracket Buster pairings are announced on Monday but I would be shocked to see the Aggies fail to get a TV game after Saturday's win.
I read Katz's blog where he would like to see NMSU travel to Pacific, which is certainly a possibility since they are so similar in RPI. Here are the top 11 designated home teams and the top 11 designated road teams based on the RPI rankings as of Monday on the NCAA's website
HOME TEAMS
Butler (24)
VCU (49)
Northeastern (53)
Utah State (61)
Kent State (69)
Iona (72)
Missouri State (76)
Murray State (78)
Bradley (85)
Pacific (101)
George Mason (105)
Green Bay (109)
Creighton (115)
VISITING TEAMS
Siena (34)
Old Dominion (36)
William and Mary (45)
Louisiana Tech (57)
Nevada (71)
W. Carolina (74)
College of Charleston (83)
Buffalo (91)
Western Michigan (106)
NMSU (110)
Wright State (116)
Drexel, Moorehead (117)
So what do you think? It would be interesting to see if they pair the Aggies with a Bradley or Murray State, but I'm not sure if they will climb that high with the La. Tech win.
5 comments:
Collegerpi.com shows NMSU's new RPI rank after the La. Tech win as 82. For other WAC schools: Utah State is 53, Nevada 65, La. Tech 75.
Among the visiting teams listed in Jason's post: Siena is now 42, Old Dominion 47, William & Mary 51, Nevada 65, Louisiana Tech 75, Western Carolina 76, NMSU 82, Charleston 94, Drexel 100, Buffalo 101, Wright St. 112, Morehead 116. So the Aggies are apparently in the top 7 of the visiting teams...a good shot at a TV game, since there are 11 of them.
Among the listed home teams, rankings are now Butler 22, Utah State 53, Northeastern 54, VCU 61, Kent State 67, Missouri St 83, Iona 85, Murray St 90, Pacific 95, George Mason 104, Bradley 106, Green Bay 109, Creighton 111.
Iona (#7) would be a very long trip, being just north of New York City. Pacific would still seem to make sense, although Missouri State would not be a lot further.
Siena will almost certainly play Butler. VCU, Northeastern, ODU and William and Mary are all in the same conference so they can't play each other (if you're looking strictly at matching highest home RPI vs. highest road RPI). Kent State is a possibility, the Aggies were matched up with a MAC opponent (Ohio) in the Bracketbusters in the 06/07 season. Pacific seems like the likeliest opponent though.
La. Tech faced Murray State this season and won 87-81, they were Bracketbusters opponents last season, I doubt ESPN would pair them together for a second consecutive season, plus a second meeting this year (of course you never know with ESPN).
I say play a team with an rpi under 40 is possible. The tougher the better.
I really think the ESPN Bracketbuster games are a great deal for mid-majors schools but I dont necessarily agree with the format. Why would you match up two teams like Butler and Siena against eachother, when they are both locks for at-large bids to the dance? That doesn't "bust" anything except maybe seeding in the tournament. How does that help the NCAA selection committee?
I feel that they should match up teams like NMSU and Nevada, who will not receive at-large bids, against opponents like Butler or Northern Iowa, who have good RPIs. That would stage some upset opportunities which would actually shake up the mid-major picture. I believe more mid-majors would then receive at large bids over middle of the pack BCS schools.
Anon 5:47, I get what your saying, but think the result of your scenario would be the opposite of what you want as a mid-major fan.
Pairing Siena/Butler gives one of them another really nice win for seeding purposes, and probably won't kill the other one as a bad loss unless they get blown out.
If Butler plays Reno, then they absolutely have to win, because it's a bad loss, and if Reno wins, it doesn't get them into the tournament.
The current format is probably the best we can do. If they really wanted to make it a Bracketbuster, they'd have middling Big Six teams play the cream of the mid-major crop, but the cartel would never go for that, as they have nothing to gain.
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