Was looking at the rankings for this week, and saw this nugget (
courtesy of Boyd's World):
Last updated: Wed Mar 21 06:30:07 2012
Rank Rating W L W L SoS Team
1 132.4 13 2 13 2 14 Stanford
2 132.0 20 1 20 1 61 Florida
3 126.5 14 3 14 3 29 Purdue
4 126.4 21 0 21 0 188 Kentucky
5 126.1 15 4 15 4 17 UCLA
6 125.8 18 2 18 2 113 Florida State
7 124.7 16 6 16 6 9 Rice
8 123.7 14 6 14 6 5 Texas State
9 122.5 17 4 17 4 80 North Carolina
10 121.8 19 2 19 2 167 Arkansas
11 121.3 16 4 16 4 82 Miami, Florida
12 120.6 13 5 13 5 33 Oregon
13 120.6 15 4 15 4 112 North Carolina State
14 120.1 14 7 14 7 12 Baylor
15 120.0 12 7 12 7 3 Cal State Fullerton
16 119.8 14 5 14 5 60 Oregon State
17 119.6 16 5 16 5 83 Pepperdine
18 119.5 16 5 16 5 97 Texas A&M
19 119.3 11 7 11 7 4 Texas Christian
20 118.9 16 4 16 4 126 South Carolina
21 118.3 16 5 16 5 106 Arizona
22 117.8 13 4 13 4 107 Santa Clara
23 117.7 15 6 15 6 81 Mississippi
24 117.4 15 6 15 6 68 Maryland
25 117.2 12 6 12 6 36 Gonzaga
26 116.8 14 7 14 7 56 Georgia Tech
27 116.8 17 4 17 4 173 Louisiana State
28 116.7 15 4 15 4 141 East Carolina
29 116.2 16 6 16 6 101 Missouri State
30 115.7 16 6 16 6 114 Virginia Tech
31 115.4 17 3 17 3 224 Appalachian State
32 115.1 11 3 13 3 162 Portland
33 115.0 18 6 18 6 147 San Diego
34 114.9 15 6 15 6 110 Southeastern Louisiana
35 114.8 11 8 11 8 15 Texas
36 114.7 14 7 15 7 94 Nebraska
37 114.7 12 7 12 7 66 Arizona State
38 114.3 13 6 13 6 99 Southern California
39 114.0 11 7 11 7 30 Notre Dame
40 114.0 13 8 13 8 44 Texas-Arlington
Now, why do Iterative Strength Ratings (ISRs) matter? Because they provide a clearer picture of team (and conference) quality over the Strength of Schedule (SoS) or the Ratings Power Index (RPI), and it's becoming a bigger factor in how teams are perceived (and ultimately ranked).
And for a breakdown of ISRs by conference for the same week, check this out:
Division I Overall
Rank Rating W L W L SoS Conference
1 114.2 136 68 136 68 4 Pac 10
2 112.7 162 82 162 82 6 ACC
3 112.7 175 73 175 73 9 SEC
4 111.4 106 61 106 61 5 WCC
5 108.9 110 69 110 69 8 Big 12
6 107.9 77 58 77 58 7 WAC
7 107.8 105 54 105 54 18 MVC
8 107.7 108 69 108 69 12 C-USA
9 107.2 81 89 81 89 1 Big West
10 106.4 117 115 117 115 3 Southland
11 103.4 42 53 42 53 2 Mountain West
12 102.8 105 93 105 93 15 Sun Belt
13 102.5 121 85 121 85 19 Atlantic Sun
14 101.9 129 94 129 94 21 Southern
15 101.6 98 104 98 104 10 Big Ten
16 98.9 125 107 125 107 26 Big East
17 97.4 47 50 47 50 20 Independents
18 96.1 74 116 74 116 14 OVC
19 96.0 128 104 128 104 30 Big South
20 95.8 100 110 100 110 25 CAA
21 95.6 80 135 80 135 13 MAC
22 93.8 25 51 25 51 11 Ivy
23 93.4 103 123 103 123 27 Atlantic 10
24 92.3 35 71 35 71 17 Horizon
25 90.4 39 71 39 71 23 Summit
26 90.3 32 59 32 59 22 America East
27 90.1 46 53 46 53 31 Patriot
28 88.0 54 90 54 90 29 NEC
29 87.9 25 79 25 79 16 Great West
30 87.1 65 117 65 117 28 SWAC
31 87.1 47 115 47 115 24 MAAC
32 78.0 48 127 48 127 32 MEAC
Middle of the pack is not too bad for the Big 10--could be a lot worse, but yes...for the 'half-empty' folks on this board, it could be better as well.
As for RPIs, since the NCAA still uses this formula, here's the latest (pseudo)
RPIs for this week:
Division I Overall
Rank Rating W L W L Team
1 0.706 20 1 20 1 Florida
2 0.665 13 2 13 2 Stanford
3 0.662 15 4 15 4 UCLA
4 0.659 16 6 16 6 Rice
5 0.657 21 0 21 0 Kentucky
6 0.653 18 2 18 2 Florida State
7 0.648 14 3 14 3 Purdue
8 0.644 16 4 16 4 South Carolina
9 0.641 17 4 17 4 North Carolina
10 0.639 15 4 15 4 North Carolina State
11 0.628 12 7 12 7 Cal State Fullerton
12 0.627 14 6 14 6 Texas State
13 0.623 16 5 16 5 Texas A&M
14 0.622 16 4 16 4 Miami, Florida
15 0.619 19 2 19 2 Arkansas
16 0.617 14 7 14 7 Baylor
17 0.614 15 6 15 6 Mississippi
18 0.612 17 3 17 3 Appalachian State
19 0.612 15 6 15 6 Maryland
20 0.609 11 7 11 7 Texas Christian
21 0.605 15 4 15 4 East Carolina
22 0.605 16 5 16 5 Arizona
23 0.603 16 5 16 5 Pepperdine
24 0.603 13 5 13 5 Oregon
25 0.603 14 7 14 7 Georgia Tech
26 0.603 17 4 17 4 Louisiana State
27 0.599 16 6 16 6 Virginia Tech
28 0.588 11 8 11 8 Virginia
29 0.588 16 7 16 7 Wake Forest
30 0.588 14 5 14 5 Oregon State
31 0.587 15 6 15 6 Southeastern Louisiana
32 0.581 11 8 11 8 Texas
33 0.580 10 8 10 8 Clemson
34 0.580 13 8 13 8 Auburn
35 0.577 13 6 13 6 Southern California
36 0.577 4 7 4 7 Princeton
37 0.575 12 9 12 9 Elon
38 0.575 13 10 13 10 Wichita State
39 0.573 11 7 11 7 Notre Dame
40 0.572 15 7 15 7 Mississippi State
41 0.571 10 7 10 7 Michigan State
42 0.570 15 5 15 5 Western Carolina
43 0.569 11 9 11 9 Fresno State
44 0.568 13 8 13 8 Louisiana-Monroe
45 0.567 14 7 14 7 Hawaii
46 0.567 12 8 12 8 Louisiana-Lafayette
47 0.566 12 6 12 6 Gonzaga
48 0.565 16 6 16 6 Missouri State
49 0.565 14 8 14 8 Belmont
50 0.565 12 7 12 7 Cal Poly
51 0.565 15 6 15 6 Louisville
52 0.564 13 4 13 4 Santa Clara
53 0.564 14 7 15 7 Nebraska
54 0.561 9 10 9 10 Houston
55 0.561 17 5 17 5 Central Florida
56 0.561 8 9 8 9 Rutgers
57 0.559 12 7 12 7 Washington
58 0.557 16 8 16 8 New Mexico State
59 0.557 15 7 15 7 Mercer
60 0.556 13 6 13 6 Coastal Carolina
Of note, Illinois is the next Big 10 team, at #65, for Boyd's (pseudo) RPIs. And while RPIs will take a hit, Nebraska and/or Illinois could get a good assist by beating Purdue, and if Illinois comes in a solid third in the Big 10 (behind what appears to be a Nebraska/Purdue battle for the conference title), there is a good (not great--just good) possibility of landing three teams from the B1G in the tournament this year.
