MBB SOS

[Jojogunne]

There are 351 teams in D1. Our strength of schedule is 339:

http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_209_Men.html

[Cards]

hence a mediocre RPI with a good W-L record

[EvanJ]

The CAA is 13th out of 32 in the Conference RPI, so hopefully our SOS will get better. Our next 11 opponents (including UNC Wilmington twice because we play them twice in that span) have a combined Division I record 34-52 (.395). That's better than the combined Division I records of our opponents so far of 23-46 (.333 or exactly 1/3) excluding our opponents' games against us. If you combine 34-52 and 23-46 to make 57-98 you get .367. Then if you take .367/.333*.3841 (our current SOS) to estimate a future SOS through 20 games you get .4237. If our current record was the same and our current SOS was .4237 instead of .3841, our RPI would be 126th instead of 172nd.

The last two days were bad for our SOS including Jackson State losing to Drake for Drake's second win and College of Charleston blowing a lead at Charlotte.

[Polito]

stinky

but again, I couldn't care less about that this yr - this yr is not about SOS, not even a little. This is about Wins and putting HU basketball back on the 'map' - it's about rebuilding the program, exposure, press, marketing, fan interest, recruiting especially, etc. - all of which are improving with each W...

no one in the CAA is getting an at-large this yr, so it's ALL about winning the CAA and getting back to the NCAA Tournament, end of story.

[Jojogunne]

Don't look now, but our SOS just slipped two notches to 341:

http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_209_Men.html

We have played one team with a winning record and two that are 0-9.

[stuball888]

nCState is leading Tennessee by 10 with 30 tics left.

[Cards]

I agree that we are still in rebuilding mode (and doing a good job of it I might add) and that W's are the most important item. And yes, some of the teams we've played have poor records. But recall, we are not beating those poor teams by 5 or 10 or even 20 pts. Rather, they are being soundly defeated (demolished). Correct me if I'm wrong, but the RPI calculation does not take into account how much you win or lose by. If beating a poor team by 30+ means that we beat average teams by 5 or more, and can be competative with good teams, them I am OK with our RPI, so long as it does not truly represent the type of wins we have. There in lies the importance of our next two games against Columbia and LaSalle. Both are good teams, and if we can take two W's I think it will validate the quality of our team (regardless of RPI).

Also note that UNCW as of now has a really good RPI and if we can pull off wins against them (we play them twice early in our CAA schedule), that will surely help our ranking. By january 17, we will have played UNCW twice and Northeastern once ( they have RPIs of 45 and 64 respectively).

[hualum]

this is a moot point. The ONLY way we make the NCAA's is by winning the CAA touney

[Polito]

exactly - CAA is 1 bid this yr - there's only way to get to the dance for HU, and SOS (although I agree it should be improved in the future) is completely meaningless until the CAA regains it's multi-bid stature

[Cards]

I dont disagree with either of you - however counting on a 3-game win streak in Baltimore at the end of the season is not exactly a "gimmie". I would love to see it, but a 20 win season and decent SOS that gets us into the NIT would not exactly be a bad fall back (just in case)!

[stuball888]

Cards agreed. This year I think some of our fanes have high expectations. Always said 18 to 22 wins and I am sticking to that prediction. I hope they prove me wrong but this team still has some warts and is a work in progress. We are thin and young up front.

[HofstraHockey]

Yeah, I'm just in the need for some good wins for an NIT bid group. That is a tournament they can win, if they're in it.

[Polito]

Absolutely, all things considered the goal is the postseason, whether NCAA or NIT - either is a success IMO for yr 2

And LaSalle is their last shot to get a W against a decent OOC team from a major conf - it's not a 'must-win' per say, but it's a must win, if ya know what I mean

HU needs this - let's roll fellas, PROTECT YOUR HOUSE!! ROLL PRIDE!!!

[Jojogunne]

Crazy things, these statistics. Even when we play better opponents, such as Columbia and LaSalle, our SOS falls even further. Today it's down to 315. And only one of the teams we've beaten (Norfolk State, at 6-5) has a winning record.

http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_209_Men.html

[stuball888]

M
Jojo SBU has a winning record

[Polito]

that's because neither of those teams are the world-beaters some on here have made them out to be - better than what HU has played, yes, and Columbia has a shot to win the Ivy, however they are not going to cause a major shift for HU's SOS

what HU really needed to do in order to help that was to actually WIN ONE OF THOSE FRIGGIN GAMES - would feel a heck of a lot better had they beat USF, Columbia, or LaSalle

course, you all already know how I feel about that, so I digress...

HU needs to win the conf, end of story - if they don't, they need to at least get to the champ game and have 20 wins under their belt for any NIT consideration IMO

[stuball888]

Here is how I see it. If we dont win the CAA championship 22 wins should get us into the NIT so long as we make it to the CAA championship game. 20 plus wins we are in the other two tournys. CIT or CBI it will be good experience for Gustys, Walker and Gonzalez.

[Jojogunne]

M
Jojo SBU has a winning record

Of course, how could I forget SBU. The Seawolves also have an RPI somewhere in the 50s now after their big win over Washington.

[Dooku25]

It will always be about winning the conference. They could have beaten Columbia and LaSalle and they still wouldn't get an at large. The SOS is weak and I am convinced after 2006 when we were snubbed with an RPI of 29 that it will be damn near impossible to ever receive an at large bid. Even more so now playing in a weaker CAA.

That's why we shouldn't lose sleep over a loss to LaSalle. We need to get healthy and be playing our best basketball in February heading into March. That's the goal. I think we'll get there.

[HUSID80]

that's because neither of those teams are the world-beaters some on here have made them out to be - better than what HU has played, yes, and Columbia has a shot to win the Ivy, however they are not going to cause a major shift for HU's SOS

what HU really needed to do in order to help that was to actually WIN ONE OF THOSE FRIGGIN GAMES - would feel a heck of a lot better had they beat USF, Columbia, or LaSalle

course, you all already know how I feel about that, so I digress...

HU needs to win the conf, end of story - if they don't, they need to at least get to the champ game and have 20 wins under their belt for any NIT consideration IMO

If we win the CAA regular season championship and lose the tournament we get an auto to the NIT. Our goal should be the CAA title and the NCAAs. Failing that an NIT berth, forget about those other tournaments IMO.