Rpi

[Bp4thebest]

In today's rpi, I see we are 50th right now.. In order to move up and be higher then that coming into the pitt game I would imagine we would have to beat st johns by 15-20 points.. this is a team that has beat no one and we are at home. If we can beat them easily I don't see us being anything below 48 in the RPI headed into the Pitt game. The reason I mention this being anything significant is because I feel an rpi at 48 or better gives you a very good chance of being in the tourney as long as you have 20 wins in this con.. we should shoot for the 46 to 48 range in rpi. I would imagine anything above a 45 in the rpi would put us in the locked category. IF we can beat wvu usf sh st johns depual prov if it turns out that way we should be in that range I would have to imagine. Win at syracuse or home against louisville and no slip ups and we should be fine. we have plenty of opportunities to get in here!

[Bearcat Cafe]

For the umpteenth time....point differential has nothing to do with RPI.

[Mick's Da Man]

We need to beat the top teams in the conference to move up. And road wins help as much as anything.

[DarnellBurton33]

What was our RPI the 2005-06 year? I bet you it was around that 45 number and we didn't get in...so I wouldn't bet on saying 45 is a lock and we are in...nothing is a lock when it comes to being on the Bubble. Here is an easy solution to this problem...win games.

LETS GO CATS!

[Brooklyn Bearcat]

I would say 4-3 from here on out would make a pretty good statement. Win the "gimmies": St. John's, Seton Hall, USF, then one more. Would love to beat WVU in Huggins return to the Shoe. That, actually, would not be much of an upset. We smoked them last year and the teams seem to be going in opposite directions right now.
But, if we could steal a game against one of the three ranked teams, as either our fourth or fifth win, we would be a lock in my opinion. It could happen. We always play Louisville tough, as we do against Syracuse. Pitt will be dicey, but hey, we've been beating the odds the last month or so anyway. Besides, Louisville had a rough time against St. J yesterday and Syracuse is always good for a loss or two against teams it "should" beat (not that ANYONE necessarily SHOULD beat us at this point).
Also, don't forget, a win or two in the BE tourney will really put us over the top. Not that I like conference tourneys anyway, they just tend to tire good teams out as much as anything. But, I believe we need to have SURPASSED the 20 win threshold going into the BE tourney to be a lock. But, if we are at or even below 20 wins, we can prove our quality to the selection committee by winning one in the conference tourney. On that note, as I think we do have something to prove, at least to the NCAA selection committee, they might want to see a BE tourney win from us anyway.
Let's just BEAT 'EM ALL! GO UC!

[jbreeds1]

What was our RPI the 2005-06 year? I bet you it was around that 45 number and we didn't get in...so I wouldn't bet on saying 45 is a lock and we are in...nothing is a lock when it comes to being on the Bubble. Here is an easy solution to this problem...win games.

LETS GO CATS!

I believe it was in the 20-30 range. Still outraged.

[BearcatAlum1]

I would say 4-3 from here on out would make a pretty good statement. Win the "gimmies": St. John's, Seton Hall, USF, then one more.

I don't know how many people have seen Seton Hall play, but they're not a pushover. Yes, we're at home and will be favored to win. Yes, I expect we will win and will be thoroughly upset if we do not, but SH has some very good scoring guards and they pressure the ball defensively. That doesn't bode well for our success.

I believe it was in the 20-30 range. Still outraged.

I still think that was one of the biggest snuffs of the last 5-10 years. However, they choked down the stretch (lost 3 straight to finish the season, right?) and got beat by McNamara's incredible 3pointer at the buzzer. Oh yeah, make the free throws at the end and his shot only ties it up! Agony!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alum1

[Loggerfield]

I don't think we even need to look at the RPI to determine if our Bearcats are going to the big dance. In my mind its all a numbers game. If we can get to 10 wins in conference play and win 20 games overall, were in. Regardless of what our RPI is. Just my opinion.

[Loggerfield]

What was our RPI the 2005-06 year? I bet you it was around that 45 number and we didn't get in...so I wouldn't bet on saying 45 is a lock and we are in...nothing is a lock when it comes to being on the Bubble. Here is an easy solution to this problem...win games.

LETS GO CATS!


I actually think it was higher than that. I want to say it was in 30's. That was the biggest travesty done unto our program ever.

[GoCats1994]

As of this morning (from Jerry Palm)

Rank School W-L RPI SOS Rank
2 Pittsburgh 20-2 0.6791 14
4 Connecticut 22-1 0.6649 31
11 Louisville 18-4 0.6398 11
12 Villanova 19-4 0.6386 22
16 West Virginia 16-7 0.6277 8
23 Syracuse 17-6 0.6156 20
24 Marquette 20-3 0.6143 96
37 Georgetown 13-9 0.6015 1
51 Cincinnati 15-8 0.5871 30
67 Providence 14-9 0.5671 32
78 Notre Dame 11-10 0.5583 36
94 Seton Hall 12-9 0.5427 61
138 South Florida 8-14 0.512 26
141 St. John's 12-11 0.5097 75
162 Rutgers 10-14 0.5005 68
199 DePaul 8-16 0.4828 59

[bearcated]

I actually think it was higher than that. I want to say it was in 30's. That was the biggest travesty done unto our program ever. Go to Kenpom.com and you can see the RPIs for past years. Kenpom had them as 42 that season. The reality was they were 8th in the regular season. Had they beaten Syracuse in the tourney they might have managed to sneak in.

A similar formula probably works this season too. If they win 3 more to go 9-9 they will probably be around 8th in the league. That means they would likely need a win in the BE tourney to get in to the NCAA. If they can win 4 more and go 10-8, that's a pretty strong case, as they probably would be 6th or 7th in the league.

Either way, we are playing with house money now. Realisticly, this team, given youth and the spotty play of the Sophs, can be considered a success if they make the NIT.

[Bearcat Cafe]

It was in the mid 30's. Final RPI after losing in the NIT was 42.

Committee chairman said that the game against Syracuse would have had no bearing. They made their mind up after the Seton Hall game.

[Loggerfield]

Go to Kenpom.com and you can see the RPIs for past years. Kenpom had them as 42 that season. The reality was they were 8th in the regular season. Had they beaten Syracuse in the tourney they might have managed to sneak in.

A similar formula probably works this season too. If they win 3 more to go 9-9 they will probably be around 8th in the league. That means they would likely need a win in the BE tourney to get in to the NCAA. If they can win 4 more and go 10-8, that's a pretty strong case, as they probably would be 6th or 7th in the league.

Either way, we are playing with house money now. Realisticly, this team, given youth and the spotty play of the Sophs, can be considered a success if they make the NIT.



Thanks, I'll check that out. I agree that an NIT berth would be viewed as a success. Don't get me wrong, I still think that we have a pretty good shot at getting into the big dance, but the NIT would be fine with me. The one thing this team needs to do in preparation for next year is to learn how to play in a tournament setting. Hopefully we can win a couple of games in the Big East tourny and which ever tournament we end up playing in at the end of the year.

[catscratchfever]

I think that every year it is becoming more and more evident how little the RPI means anymore on selection sunday. Number of wins seems to be much more important.

[levydl]

I still think that was one of the biggest snuffs of the last 5-10 years. However, they choked down the stretch (lost 3 straight to finish the season, right?) and got beat by McNamara's incredible 3pointer at the buzzer. Oh yeah, make the free throws at the end and his shot only ties it up! Agony!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alum1

How could you forget the WVU game at home to end the season?!? Huggs came back and was sitting courtside. It was Senior Day and Hicks, Moore, White, Kirkland, and Jihad all went over and gave him a hug. The Shoe was packed and rocking. UC beat the then ranked and Sweet 16 bound Mountaineers led by Gansey and Pittsnogle. A great game. Everyone thought we'd looked up our NCAA bid.

[ralph1950]

Being # 50 puts you in the discussion stage, if you want to feel comfortable on selection Sunday get it to the Top # 40.

[bearcated]

It was in the mid 30's. Final RPI after losing in the NIT was 42.

Committee chairman said that the game against Syracuse would have had no bearing. They made their mind up after the Seton Hall game. They won 2 games in the NIT before they lost to South Carolina. One loss dropped them 7 or 8 spots?

[Loggerfield]

It was in the mid 30's. Final RPI after losing in the NIT was 42.

Committee chairman said that the game against Syracuse would have had no bearing. They made their mind up after the Seton Hall game.



So if we would have beaten Syracuse and then won the next game we wouldn't have gotten in?

[Joe C.]

We need to beat the top teams in the conference to move up. And road wins help as much as anything.

Yes. We need some top 25 wins. Was G'town or ND ranked when we beat them?

[jbreeds1]

Yes. We need some top 25 wins. Was G'town or ND ranked when we beat them?

Georgetown was 23 or 25 depending on the poll and Notre Dame had just fallen out a couple of weeks prior.

How about Florida State beating up on Clemson??? That loss is looking better and better.

[BearcatAlum1]

How could you forget the WVU game at home to end the season?!? Huggs came back and was sitting courtside. It was Senior Day and Hicks, Moore, White, Kirkland, and Jihad all went over and gave him a hug. The Shoe was packed and rocking. UC beat the then ranked and Sweet 16 bound Mountaineers led by Gansey and Pittsnogle. A great game. Everyone thought we'd looked up our NCAA bid.

Very true, I did forget about that game. In fact, I was in attendance, LOL. I am right about losing down the stretch, right? I mean, we did fumble away our chance to solidify our entry, right? Serious question, no sarcasim.

Alum1

[Bp4thebest]

It was in the mid 30's. Final RPI after losing in the NIT was 42.

Committee chairman said that the game against Syracuse would have had no bearing. They made their mind up after the Seton Hall game.

which is really dumb ya know? lol

[Joe C.]

Here is what USA Today has to say about the current state of the NCAA tourney. They agree that the Bearcats need a big win (or 2) down the stretch.


http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2009-bubble.htm