February 15 RPI Updates

For the first time since beating Louisville, the Gophers are officially on watch (the bubble). They're still on the right side of the bubble, but their margin for error remains razor thin after Saturday's loss to Penn State. If Michigan beats the Gophers on Thursday, the Wolverines will move ahead of the Gophers in my bubble pecking order.

A note. College Hoops Notebook is done for the season. Time to concentrate on the Gophers, the bubble and more frequent "Field of 65" projections.

All rankings courtesy of CollegeRPI.com.

Big Ten RPI Rankings
6. Michigan State
15. Illinois
26. Ohio State
27. Wisconsin
28. Purdue
35. GOPHERS
57. Michigan
72. Penn State
74. Northwestern
108. Iowa
186. Indiana

Big Ten Nonconference SOS Rankings (out of 343 D-I teams)
25. Wisconsin
39. Michigan State
46. Indiana
71. Michigan
95. Ohio State
128. Illinois
173. Iowa
190. Northwestern
204. Purdue
230. GOPHERS
325. Penn State

Big Ten Overall SOS Rankings
3. Wisconsin
7. Michigan State
10. Indiana
14. Michigan
25. Ohio State
32. Illinois
38. Northwestern
42. Purdue
47. GOPHERS
53. Iowa
93. Penn State

Wins vs. RPI Top 50 (39)
Michigan State 8: Kansas (13), Illinois (15), at Ohio State (26), Ohio State (26), at Gophers (35), Gophers (35), vs. Oklahoma State (38), vs. Texas (43)

Illinois 5: vs. Mizzou (17), Ohio State (26), Wisconsin (27), at Purdue (28), Purdue (28)

Northwestern 4: at Michigan State (6), Florida State (20), Wisconsin (27), Gophers (35)

Ohio State 4: Butler (12), Purdue (28), Gophers (35), at Miami-Florida (41)

GOPHERS 4: Illinois (15), vs. Louisville (18), Ohio State (26), at Wisconsin (27)

Purdue 4: at Wisconsin (27), Wisconsin (27), at Gophers (35), vs. Davidson (49)

Michigan 3: Duke (4), Illinois (15), vs. UCLA (31)

Penn State 3: at Michigan State (6), Purdue (28), Gophers (35)

Wisconsin 3: Illinois (15), Ohio State (26), at Virginia Tech (48)

Iowa 1: Wisconsin (27)

Big Ten Out of Conference Top-50 Wins = 12

National RPI Top 25 Rankings
1. Pitt
2. Oklahoma
3. UConn
4. Duke
5. North Carolina
6. Michigan State
7. Clemson
8. Memphis
9. Xavier
10. Villanova
11. Utah
12. Butler
13. Kansas
14. Wake Forest
15. Illinois
16. West Virginia
17. Mizzou
18. Louisville
19. Tennessee
20. Florida State
21. Syracuse
22. Washington
23. Cal
24. Marquette
25. Dayton

As poorly as the Gophers have played of late... if they take care of home court the rest of the way we should be in the tourney. That would imply a split with Michigan and a season sweep of Wisky. 10-8 in BT puts us in the NCAA tourney.

After Saturday, I'm no longer sure of anything Gopher BB. It's not that we lost, that happens on the road, it's how poorly we had to play to lose. There's enough talent to turn it around, but it better find a formation to fly in quickly, 'cause this mess won't cut it.