Big Ten RPI's & potentially meaningful wins on the resume

First, let's take a look at updated RPI numbers from Jerry Palm at cbssports.com. The Big Ten currently ranks 4th behind the Big XII, Big East, and SEC.

Big Ten in the RPI
14. Wisconsin
25. Michigan State
37. Ohio State
39. Penn State
44. Maryland
65. Illinois
75. Minnesota
94. Rutgers
101. Iowa
104. Michigan
116. Nebraska
119. Purdue
143. Indiana
145. Northwestern


Second, listed below are wins that potentially will carry some weight at the end of the season. To this point of the season, Wisconsin is the clear leader of the pack

Likely/Potential Quality Wins at End of the Season (most impressive to least impressive)
Wisconsin (5) -- Oklahoma (neutral court), @ Marquette, Georgetown (neutral court), Boise State, Green Bay
Michigan (2) -- Oregon (neutral court), Syracuse
Iowa (1) -- @ North Carolina
Maryland (1) -- Iowa State (neutral court)
Purdue (2) -- BYU (neutral court), NC State
Illinois (1) -- Baylor (neutral court)
Indiana (2) -- SMU, Pitt
Michigan State (1) -- Marquette (neutral court)
Minnesota (1) -- Georgia (neutral court)
Ohio State (1) -- Marquette
Nebraska (1) -- Cincinnati
Penn State (1) -- George Washington
Rutgers (0)
Northwestern (0)

Good post, SS. Interesting stuff. You can also do a similar thing for bad losses, since those will have a big impact, too. There are a few that right now show up as bad losses, but probably won’t by the end of the year. For example, right now, Oregon, Notre Dame and Kansas State are all well outside of the top 100, but that probably doesn’t reflect reality going forward. In the same order, losses that will probably look bad:

Wisconsin: None
Michigan (Probably 2): Eastern Michigan (80, so not horrible, but not a good loss at home), NJIT (250, no sugarcoating this one, it’s absolutely horrible)
Iowa: None
Maryland: None
Purdue (2): North Florida (147), Vandy (138, and they lost to Rutgers, so they’re staying here)
Illinois: None
Indiana: None (E. Washington is #56, but that loss was at home …)
Michigan State: None
Minnesota: None
Ohio State: None
Nebraska (1): Incarnate Word (who, by the way, is #36 in Palm’s RPI right now), Rhode Island might end up looking bad, but it was true roadie, so Nebraska gets a pass just for scheduling a no-win game like that
Penn State (maybe 1ish): Charlotte (they’re 6-4, but mostly decent losses, and Penn State is 10-1, so more benefit of the doubt here)
Rutgers (1): St. Peter’s (at home, that’s truly a terrible loss -- #288)
Northwestern (1): Central Michigan (up until this one, there wasn’t looking that bad for the Wildcats, but this one is not good -- #163)

Good list.

Thanks & agree, bad losses are good to avoid. Key for the Gophers (if the bubble is their destination) is to make sure that ("no bad losses") doesn't become the main theme for their resume. No bad losses + 4-5 wins over the upper-tier of the Big Ten (Wis, OSU, MSU, Maryland, Iowa, Illinois) + Georgia (if Bulldogs pan out in SEC)? Then they'd be golden.

Losing at Vanderbilt is a bad loss for Purdue? Let's be honest, Purdue hasn't made the tourney in a few years and wasn't likely to do so this season to start with. I know Vandy isn't rated highly now but they have SEC athletes on that team and so it is not really a bad loss, just about what we should be expecting from Purdue. Vanderbilt will win some games in the SEC this year, especially at home which is where Purdue played them.

I'm surprised to hear the B1G ranks behind the SEC, but then again having almost no quality big men in the league does have an impact. The SEC has always been able to get talented bigs. I hated it when Jordan Mickey picked LSU (for basketball!!!) without ever visiting a much more successful program in OSU even though he said he would, but it happens. The SEC still gets a lot of athletic players but the coaches aren't as good at building good basketball teams as the B1G coaches are generally. Which is why it surprises me that they rate ahead of the B1G. The SEC did not fare well in the Challenge with the Big 12, as I recall. It seems to me that the B1G is getting penalized a bit for playing tougher teams as you aren't going to find many instances of an SEC team that is at the bottom of the league like a Rutgers taking on a Virginia in OOC play. Maryland is about to take some hits as well due to the Dez Wells loss, I just don't see how they can avoid bad losses without Wells.

When does Maryland expect Wells back?

He needs to make sure he's healed 100%. If I were Maryland I'd wait until at least after the Gopher game!

SelectionSunday said:

When does Maryland expect Wells back?

He needs to make sure he's healed 100%. If I were Maryland I'd wait until at least after the Gopher game!

Click to expand...

Wells is expected back for MD's next game (against Oakland) or the MSU game.

Didn't realize Wells was going to be back so soon. Thought he'd be out a couple more weeks.