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Heading into conference play: 37 RPI, 50 SOS

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OnceAhawk

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Jan 29, 2015
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With its 9-3 nonconference record, unranked Iowa headed into conference play with a very respectable 37 RPI. Its Strength of Schedule was 50.

Compare this with the last 2 years, when we made the NCAA Tournament:

........................2013.....2014.....2015.......

RPI.....................37........98..........37.............
SOS..................112........93..........50
AP rank...............22.......NR.........NR
Coaches poll........23.......NR.........NR


http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/sort/RPI
 
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Yep #21 in RPI now. A win at Purdue would be very big.

#13 in Kenpom. In the top 30 for both offensive and defensive efficiency, which surprised me.
 
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Barring any major collapses this team should finish with a top 30 RPI. If the Hawks can match last year's BIG win total, I think a 5 seed is very possible.
 
srams21 said:
Barring any major collapses this team should finish with a top 30 RPI. If the Hawks can match last year's BIG win total, I think a 5 seed is very possible.
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whoa, easy there. Or as George Costanza would say, "Beep, Beep, Beep."

I love the optimism, but I think any talk of a 5 seed is not even on the horizon. This team has a lot of improving to do. Last night was a great step, and I take nothing away from the accomplishment.....but it says a lot about the state of State that the Hawks were a 3 point favorite in this game. Missed free throws and soft turnovers still plague this team.

Huge step for MG last night......maybe he can have a senior year surge like Whitey did. Man it feels good to beat Sparty.
 
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OnceAhawk said:
its interesting how our strength of schedule has improved dramatically over the last several years
Click to expand...

The big difference this year is in the reduced number of teams 300 or below in the RPI. Iowa's non-con schedule was a bump up, but Iowa has played good teams in the non-con in seasons past. The difference is the "bad" teams are fewer and a notch better. Those incremental improvements make a huge bump in the RPI. For example, UMKC isn't all that good, but currently have an RPI in the 140's since they played some good teams. Their RPI will drop in their weak conference, but not into the 300+ range most likely. Same for Western Illinois and Tennessee Tech and Gardner Webb. It helps Iowa's RPI (or doesn't hurt it as much) to have those teams in the 200-250 range, and not in the 300+ range. Right now Iowa has only 1 300+ RPI opponent, Coppin State. In previous years, there have been more in the 300+ range.

I applaud Iowa for doing this, as Iowa has paid the price for not playing the RPI game a bit better. The RPI is a highly flawed metric, but the committee pays huge attention to it. Power conference teams have to schedule with the RPI in mind.
 
We could just be dual B1G Champs riding a huge win streak into the tournament. I'd be happy with whatever draw and seeding that results in.
 
jhawkinaz said:
whoa, easy there. Or as George Costanza would say, "Beep, Beep, Beep."

I love the optimism, but I think any talk of a 5 seed is not even on the horizon. This team has a lot of improving to do. Last night was a great step, and I take nothing away from the accomplishment.....but it says a lot about the state of State that the Hawks were a 3 point favorite in this game. Missed free throws and soft turnovers still plague this team.

Huge step for MG last night......maybe he can have a senior year surge like Whitey did. Man it feels good to beat Sparty.
Click to expand...
Lots of work to do. But definitely agree about MG. The way he took charge with drives to the hoop and FTs in the second half is something he needs to carry forward for this team to reach it's potential. I think he may be ready to do that.

On other fronts, Uthoff needs to learn to score a bit more (not as many TOs) with the defensive focus on him and I think will. Really happy with Jok's play as well. Not only 3s, but his A/T ratio was darned good as well.

Rebounding: don't know if Woody can do much more. I think the needed improvements there will have to come from Uhl, Baer, and Wagner as they mature this season.
 
CanadaHawk said:
Lots of work to do. But definitely agree about MG. The way he took charge with drives to the hoop and FTs in the second half is something he needs to carry forward for this team to reach it's potential. I think he may be ready to do that.

On other fronts, Uthoff needs to learn to score a bit more (not as many TOs) with the defensive focus on him and I think will. Really happy with Jok's play as well. Not only 3s, but his A/T ratio was darned good as well.

Rebounding: don't know if Woody can do much more. I think the needed improvements there will have to come from Uhl, Baer, and Wagner as they mature this season.
Click to expand...

I think Uthoff just had an off game. He is averaging 17 ppg while shooting over 50%. Im not sure learning to score is his issue.
 
srams21 said:
I think Uthoff just had an off game. He is averaging 17 ppg while shooting over 50%. Im not sure learning to score is his issue.
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Learning to handle the pressure of being the focus of the high-level opposition defenses without turning it over will lead to more scoring from Uthoff in such games. It's hard to deny that if JU hadn't turned the ball over 8 times, and still been aggressive, he would have scored more.
 
DodgerHawki said:
The big difference this year is in the reduced number of teams 300 or below in the RPI. Iowa's non-con schedule was a bump up, but Iowa has played good teams in the non-con in seasons past. The difference is the "bad" teams are fewer and a notch better. Those incremental improvements make a huge bump in the RPI. For example, UMKC isn't all that good, but currently have an RPI in the 140's since they played some good teams. Their RPI will drop in their weak conference, but not into the 300+ range most likely. Same for Western Illinois and Tennessee Tech and Gardner Webb. It helps Iowa's RPI (or doesn't hurt it as much) to have those teams in the 200-250 range, and not in the 300+ range. Right now Iowa has only 1 300+ RPI opponent, Coppin State. In previous years, there have been more in the 300+ range.

I applaud Iowa for doing this, as Iowa has paid the price for not playing the RPI game a bit better. The RPI is a highly flawed metric, but the committee pays huge attention to it. Power conference teams have to schedule with the RPI in mind.
Click to expand...
This has been the biggest thing for me. Everyone keeps complaining about not replacing the likes of Alcorn St, Brown, Savannah St and the like with AZ, KY, etc. They haven't needed to do that. Replace bad low majors with decent mid majors (not the top MM, just mid level MM) and you have a huge impact in SOS without impacting their record. Plus, it should be much easier in basketball where the schedules are set at much closer intervals, unlike football where they are set 5/8/10 years out OOC.
 
AuroraHawk said:
According to this site, Iowa's win over MSU resulted in a jump from #36 RPI to #21 RPI. http://www.rpiforecast.com/live-rpi.html

Projects Iowa to finish at #23. http://www.rpiforecast.com/index2.html
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RPI Forecast has updated its dynamic year-end projections (assuming that all games play out as expected - which we know is fallacious). Projects Iowa to finish at #16 ... just ahead of a certain team in Ames. Not arguing that Iowa is better than ISU or looking to spark a RPI debate. Simply pointing out projections at this particular time with a comment that Iowa has the opportunity to put together a very nice season and, perhaps (as noted by others), receive a decent seed in the tournament.

http://www.rpiforecast.com/index2.html
 
And after today's win, the Hawks jump to #16 on LiveRPI.com: http://www.rpiforecast.com/live-rpi.html

NCAA tournament resume checklist:
1. OOC "solid win": Maybe Wichita State (#64 RPI)? Florida State (#58 RPI)?
2. "Signature" home win: #1 Michigan State (now #6 RPI)
3. "Signature" road win: #14 Purdue (now #28 RPI)
4. Avoid bad losses. Check. ISU (#13 RPI) Dayton (#8 RPI) are excellent teams. "Worst" loss is to ND (#65 RPI).

Looking good right now. Just imagine if they didn't crap themselves in Ames while trying to in bounds the freaking basketball.
 
Iowa win over Nebraska + Marquette win over Providence = Iowa now sits at #14 on live-rip.com: http://www.rpiforecast.com/live-rpi.html

Wichita State (down 10 spots) and Florida State's (down 31 spots) RPI have taken a huge hit since Saturday night. Marquette is now up to #101.
 
AuroraHawk said:
Iowa win over Nebraska + Marquette win over Providence = Iowa now sits at #14 on live-rip.com: http://www.rpiforecast.com/live-rpi.html

Wichita State (down 10 spots) and Florida State's (down 31 spots) RPI have taken a huge hit since Saturday night. Marquette is now up to #101.
Click to expand...


boy,i hope they can keep this up

the espn site in my orig post has them at 15 (Iowa State is 14, MD 11,Dayton 9, Mich State 7)
 
HeRKeYHoPeFuL said:
We could just be dual B1G Champs riding a huge win streak into the tournament. I'd be happy with whatever draw and seeding that results in.
Click to expand...

I'm just going to leave this here guys...

I'll admit, the 9 day layoff scared me. I was worried we would lose our edge. However, as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
 
As I mentioned on another thread, last time we won at MSU was after a nine day layoff. Shit happens! What a great win. MSU in the rear view mirror and we are 4-0. Wow. Come on home crowd! Michigan next
 
OnceAhawk said:
With its 9-3 nonconference record, unranked Iowa headed into conference play with a very respectable 37 RPI. Its Strength of Schedule was 50.

Compare this with the last 2 years, when we made the NCAA Tournament:

........................2013.....2014.....2015.......

RPI.....................37........98..........37.............
SOS..................112........93..........50
AP rank...............22.......NR.........NR
Coaches poll........23.......NR.........NR


http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/sort/RPI
Click to expand...

After sweeping #1 (first win) / #4 (second win) Michigan State:

10 RPI
13 SOS
 
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