Regarding the previous post on the RPI formula: I got some unexpected confirmation that indeed, the formula I am now posting is the one being used by the selection committee. Makes me glad I never charged for this stuff.

After seeing the ‘team sheet’ that Luke Winn posted, the alarm bells sounded in my head (see previous post). But then I read Gregg Doyel’s piece this morning, and noticed this… Until Wednesday, the Pac-10 had been the country’s No. 2-rated RPI league for months. Bowlsby himself thought the Pac-10 remained the No. 2 league, […]

Andy Katz has an article detailing the hopes of bubble teams after talking to some people close to the committee. (But I think it’s hard to believe Notre Dame, with an RPI of 92, still has a bid after a stinker of a performance against Rutgers). Katz knew the field before CBS did last March, […]

UNC’s Rashad McCants has missed the Tar Heels last four games due to a mysterious intestinal disorder. UNC has won all four games, but not surprisingly, they have not been as dominant without him. Most of the minutes vacated by McCants have been snapped up by the offensively-challenged and smaller Melvin Scott. How has McCants’ […]

So I’m about to announce the at-large field for this year’s tourney. The real committee can ignore Sunday’s games, so why can’t I ignore games starting on Tuesday? Naturally, I’m sure I’ll get a few wrong. But one thing I won’t be wrong about is this – New Mexico has no shot at an at-large. […]

Now that every school (except two Ivy Leaguers) has had a chance to honor their seniors, I thought I would recognize five seniors that made a difference during their career. This got me to thinking, why isn’t there some award for the best seniors in the nation? With so many people wringing their hands over […]

Back in November, I played around with how the national leaders in various statistics accumulated wins and losses during the 2004 season. One of the statistics that correlated best with winning was field goal percentage difference. You shoot better than your opponents, you win games. It’s not a revelation that will rock the foundation of […]

Luke Winn has a piece at si.com about three teams that changed personalities this season without a coaching change. It’s kind of an extension of the Basketball ShrinkTM I introduced a while back, with the respective coaches trying to explain the changes. This is especially nice because 1) We all get to read something by […]

Slowest paced games this season by possesions per 40 minutes (score in parentheses)… 1 46, 2/4 Princeton(42) at Dartmouth(50) 2 47, 11/20 Princeton(46) at Temple(48) 3 47, 11/15 Air Force(60) vs. Mississippi(36) 4 48, 12/8 Rutgers(40) at Princeton(53) 5 49, 1/31 UNLV(48) at Air Force(64) Fastest paced games this season by possesions per 40 minutes… […]

Bob Bowlsby 1/3/05 – "[W]e want the RPI to be the best tool possible. We believe this adjustment accomplishes that." Bob Bowlsby 2/23/05 – "The committee has talked till we’re blue in the face that [the RPI] is just one of many tools. … But the fact of the matter is it serves a role, […]