If it were up to Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, the much-quoted RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) would RIP (Rest in Peace).
The always honest Boeheim lit into the statistical rankings after Monday night’s overtime victory at Providence. The Orangemen are on the NCAA tournament bubble, and Boeheim has had it with his team’s postseason fate being partly determined by some egghead with a statistical formula and a microprocessor.
“This power rating, you can take it and shove it,” Boeheim told reporters. “We’ve played UConn twice this year and I think we won both times. I look at the power ratings and they’re rated ahead of us. Doesn’t anybody understand that’s all subjective? It’s what you’re rated at the beginning of the year.
“The Big Ten has been overrated (in the RPI) for years. They all get high ratings and now when they lose a game, they’re losing to a team with a high power rating. Power ratings mean nothing. You have to look at who you play, who you beat and that’s it, period. The rest is nonsense.”
Boeheim wasn’t finished.
“Power ratings . . . what a bunch of crap,” he said. “If we get in (the tournament), fine. If we don’t, that’s the way life is. All the nonsense about seven Big Ten teams . . . you watch that on TV, you want to throw up.”
Reached in his office a day later, Boeheim stood by his remarks, but wanted to make sure the exact context of the postgame statements was understood. His checklist:
– He was criticizing the subjectivity of the RPI rankings. If the ratings are flawed at the beginning, how can you depend on them at the end, when it comes time to choose at-large teams?
“You’ve got to go by the games you win, who you play,” he said. “You can’t go by this (ratings) nonsense.”
– He thinks the selection committee is smart enough to consider all factors, rather than base picks on what he considers skewed numbers.
“I think it’s a factor, but not a big factor,” he said of the RPI.
– He wasn’t picking on the Big Ten, or any conference, for that matter.
“I’m not against the Big Ten,” he said. “I’m not against anybody.”
– And finally, he thinks the number of quality teams left out of the tournament will continue to grow. Last year it was Minnesota, Providence, St. Joseph’s, Fresno State and Tulane who were among the bubble teams left behind. And this year?
“It’s going to be 12 teams,” Boeheim said. “Next year it’s going to be 15 or 20. The bubble’s getting too big. That’s because of the scholarship limitations and players leaving early.
“There’s parity. Now everybody’s 10-8 in their conference.”
RPI, Part II: For what it’s worth, Monday’s RPI top league rankings listed the Atlantic Coast Conference first, followed by the Big 12, the Big Ten, the Southeastern, the Big East, the Pacific-10, the Atlantic 10, Conference USA and the Western Athletic.
In individual rankings, Kansas was No. 1, followed by Kentucky, Minnesota, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Villanova, Cincinnati and Utah. Seven Big Ten schools were listed in the top 35 (Minnesota, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa), compared to one for the Big East.
And Syracuse? The Orangemen were ranked No. 58, some 15 spots behind Nevada-Las Vegas, a team Syracuse beat by 25 points earlier this season. Go figure.
More Top Picks Screens Patios
NCAA tournament guesses: It’s still early, so take these seeding hunches with a shovel full of salt.
– East–1) Wake Forest or Duke. 2) South Carolina. 3) Indiana. 4) Louisville.
Top seed will be whoever finishes higher in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. . . . South Carolina is solid No. 2 and could possibly challenge for a No. 1 if it wins Southeastern Conference tournament. . . . Indiana, for all its inconsistencies, deserves a No. 3 seed. . . . Louisville is the pick for No. 4, but we’re not married to it.
– Midwest–1) Minnesota. 2) Wake Forest or Duke. 3) New Mexico. 4) Clemson.
Nobody could have predicted Golden Gophers would go from no NCAA bid in 1996 to a No. 1 seed in 1997. . . . No. 2 ACC ends up in No. 2 seed. . . . If Lobos do well in tournament, does coach Dave Bliss look to make a move? . . . Clemson has struggled in recent weeks, but remember, the Tigers beat Kentucky when the Wildcats were at full strength.
– Southeast–1) Kansas. 2) Cincinnati. 3) North Carolina. 4) Villanova.
No. 1 Jayhawks are lobbying for Southeast Regional, not Midwest, for geographical reasons. Memphis, site of the first two rounds of the Southeast, is closer than the Midwest’s Auburn Hills. . . . Bearcats will impress selection committee with strength of schedule and quality wins. . . . Tar Heels could move up to No. 2 before it’s over. . . . Villanova honks think Wildcats deserve better, but No. 4 sounds about right.
– West–1) Kentucky or Utah. 2) Kentucky or Utah. 3) UCLA. 4) Maryland.
Wildcats and Runnin’ Utes are the logical No. 1 and 2 choices here, depending on what happens in their respective conference tournaments. . . .The selection committee has shipped UCLA out of its natural geographical region two out of the last three years. They won’t do it again. . . . Terrapins just sneak into a No. 4 spot.
Bedtime for Benson: The Western Athletic Conference, which never met a TV paycheck it didn’t like, somehow forgot the stuff about student-athletes when it devised its regular-season schedule.
Starved for attention, WAC Commissioner Karl Benson OK’d a deal with ESPN that called for an 11 p.m. (local time) tipoff for Monday’s Utah-Rice game in Houston. Memo to Karl: You don’t start games at 11, you finish them.
Rice officials tried to make the best of a crummy situation. They packaged the game as a pajama party and encouraged students (those who could stay awake) to come to cozy Autry Court in their jammies. Prizes were given to winners of a cookies-and-milk-eating contest, a four-person sleeping bag race, and a best-dressed pajama competition.
And when everyone wasn’t stifling yawns, an actual basketball game was played.
Benson may have meant well, but in the future he needs to remember about the big hand being on 6 and the little hand being on 7 for future TV games. It works better for everybody, especially the poor saps with homework.
Around the country: Kansas’ Roy Williams, as sentimental as they come on the Jayhawks’ annual Senior Day game, sent seven players onto the court for the opening tipoff against Kansas State last Saturday. Four were scholarship seniors (Jacque Vaughn, Scot Pollard, B.J. Williams and Jerod Haase), two were walk-on seniors (Steve Ransom and Joel Brantstrom), one was junior Raef LaFrentz. Williams always starts his seniors for the last game of the regular season, but had to settle for the next-best thing against K-State. He pulled Ransom and Branstrom from the floor, but later inserted the walk-ons into the game. Both scored.
Shortly before Maryland’s game against North Carolina, Terrapins assistant Billy Hahn approached the Tar Heels’ Dean Smith. “It’s amazing how much people expect out of a freshman point guard,” Hahn said, referring to Carolina’s Ed Cota. Cota has taken his share of heat, but that was before the Tar Heels began their traditional late-season surge. After beating Clemson on Wednesday night, Carolina has won eight consecutive games. Cota has been part of the renaissance, but improved shot selection and better defense have been the real keys to the turnaround. “(They’ve) even surpassed my high expectations,” Smith said. . . . First it was Tim Floyd from Iowa State to LSU. Then Texas Tech’s James Dickey was rumored to be next in line. Now Dave Bliss of New Mexico is supposedly on LSU’s short list.
Kentucky sophomore forward Ron Mercer is gone at season’s end, meaning Rick Pitino will have lost five players to the NBA in two years. Seniors Tony Delk, Walter McCarty and Mark Pope were drafted last season, as was sophomore Antoine Walker. Mercer, according to Pitino, will be a top-10 pick this year. And depending on senior Derek Anderson’s recovery from ACL surgery, the Wildcats could send another player to the NBA. Pitino, who himself is expected to be wooed by the Orlando Magic, urged Mercer to decide before the NCAA tournament began. Carolina’s Smith didn’t agree with the timetable. “This is way too premature,” he said. “I’m surprised anyone would make a definitive decision at this point.” Smith may lose sophomore Antawn Jamison to the NBA.
Steamed about losing Sunday’s game at Pittsburgh, Boston College star forward Danya Abrams guaranteed a victory against Notre Dame Saturday. . . . Victor Page leads the Big East in scoring (22.8) and the Hoyas’ Ya-Ya Dia leads it in rebounding (9.9). If it stays that way, Page and Dia will become only the second set of players from the same team to lead both Big East categories. The last time it happened: 1979-80–Syracuse’s Louis Orr, a future NBA player who is now an Orangemen assistant, and 6-foot-11-inch center Roosevelt Bouie.
The only thing Notre Dame was fighting for a month ago was control of the Big East basement. Fans were starting to talk about coach John MacLeod in the past tense. Now the Irish are on a roll, winners of five of their last seven. And fans are asking MacLeod about the NCAA tournament, not his job. OK, so the NCAA is a stretch. But the NIT is a possibility. A victory Tuesday over Miami guaranteed Notre Dame (14-11, 8-9 Big East) its first winning season since 1994-95. “We haven’t talked about (the NIT) much,” MacLeod said. “We’ve just talked about finishing strong, protecting our home court and getting into the top 50. If we get into the top 50, then we’ve begun to do something.”