Two weeks ago, we had an interesting discussion about the advantages/disadvantages of using the RPI to pick and seed the field. This discussion also included the “benefits” of using margin of victory in picking which bubble teams make the NCAAT. Here’s something that ESPN put up Friday about evaluating BYU (before their win at Gonzaga).
In this case, the RPI’s blind spot — its ignorance of the final score — is actually kind of a strength. Yes, the Cougars’ eight losses have all come by eight points or fewer. Yes, two of their notable nonconference defeats went to overtime. But BYU still lost those games. They lost to San Diego and Pepperdine (twice). While most teams in this position could counteract the argument with at least one example of a quality win, the Cougars’ best three victories have all come at home — over Stanford, UMass and Saint Mary’s. There is maybe one tournament team in that mix, and that team (Stanford) is very much on the bubble.
The RPI is outdated, imprecise, too quietly impactful on the selection process, you name it. We tolerate it as a function of the Bubble Watch’s purpose; we rarely see its value. But in extreme situations, its inherent logic can hold true. At some point, you’ve got to beat somebody.
http://espn.go.com/ncb/bubblewatch
The URL makes me think that this will get over-written soon. Just in case that it does, I saved the entire (short) article.
