NCAA | Washington volleyball among the leaders in season’s first RPI

Complicated formula used to help determine postseason eligibility and seeds

The first RPI—Rating Percentage Index—of the 2013 D1 Volleyball season is out, and Washington starts off in a comfortable position.

Washington's Cassie Strickland
-photo by Shutter Geeks Photography

The Huskies are 11^th in an index which will be updated each week until the end of November. At the conclusion of the regular season, the NCAA selection committee uses the RPI as one factor in determining which 64 (out of 328) teams qualify for the 2013 tournament, and which 16 of those teams host the first two rounds of competition. (Hosts for the third and fourth rounds are already predetermined—USC, Kentucky, Illinois and Nebraska—while the Final Four will be at Seattle’s Key Arena.)

The RPI is a formula calculated from three elements:

• A team’s D1 winning percentage (25% of the RPI score)
• A team’s opponents’ strength of schedule (50%)
• A team’s opponents’ opponents’ strength of schedule (25%)

Washington has one of the nation’s highest winning percentages (.917). One of its opponents, Illinois (22 RPI), has played one of the toughest schedules in the nation, including Texas(1), Nebraska(7), San Diego(8), Michigan State(9), and Kentucky(23). In turn, several of those teams have also played tough early matches. Washington also played a few poorly-ranked teams, however, including Loyola-Chicago (166 RPI), Seattle (222) and Coppin State (281 RPI.) Besides Illinois, its highest-ranked nonconference opponent was Cal State Northridge (53). UW’s ranking got a boost from playing (and defeating) Utah (18) on Saturday.

The NCAA uses RPI for several team sports, and is careful to point out that it is just one tool for determining postseason seedings. In recent years, the selection committee has been criticized for following the RPI too closely, as most of the top 16 are usually given a seed.

Sometimes, however, the formula creates some headscratchers. This week, its number 16 Arkansas, a team with an 11-5 record, including 3 losses already at home. Other than a loss to undefeated Missouri, and a two-match split with Kansas, the Razorbacks haven’t played a particularly noteworthy schedule. Michigan State, however, is down at number 9, despite just one loss and wins against Penn State, Ohio State, Illinois and Oregon.

The only RPI that really matters is the one the Selection Committee sees in November. For now, it’s simply fun to debate. Teams are ranked 1 through 328 ... here are this week's top 25:

WOMEN’S D1 VOLLEYBALL RPI 10/7/2013

RPI	SCHOOL	CONFERENCE	W-L	ROAD	NEUTRAL	HOME
1	Texas	Big 12	10-2	4-1	2- 1	4-0
2	Southern Cal	Pac-12	14-1	4-1	5- 0	5-0
3	Hawaii	Big West	15-1	3-0	2- 0	10-1
4	Florida	SEC	15-1	5-0	2- 1	8-0
5	Penn St.	Big Ten	12-2	3-1	3- 0	6-1
6	Stanford	Pac-12	10-3	3-2	3- 1	4-0
7	Nebraska	Big Ten	11-2	3-1	1- 1	7-0
8	San Diego	West Coast	11-3	3-1	2- 1	6-1
9	Michigan St.	Big Ten	15-1	5-0	3- 1	7-0
10	Creighton	Big East	10-4	4-1	3- 2	3-1
11	Washington	Pac-12	11-1	6-1	2- 0	3-0
12	Missouri	SEC	18-0	4-0	4- 0	10-0
13	Wisconsin	Big Ten	14-2	4-1	6- 0	4-1
14	Kansas	Big 12	13-3	6-1	3- 1	4-1
15	Marquette	Big East	10-4	6-0	1- 2	3-2
16	Arkansas	SEC	11-5	5-1	1- 1	5-3
17	BYU	West Coast	12-3	5-1	2- 2	5-0
18	Utah	Pac-12	13-3	3-0	5- 0	5-3
19	Oklahoma	Big 12	14-3	4-1	5- 1	5-1
20	Duke	ACC	13-2	1-2	4- 0	8-0
21	Ohio St.	Big Ten	14-2	4-1	6- 0	4-1
22	Illinois	Big Ten	6-8	2-4	2- 1	2-3
23	Kentucky	SEC	12-3	4-0	0- 2	8-1
24	Minnesota	Big Ten	15-2	4-2	6- 0	5-0
25	Colorado St.	Mountain West	13-0	5-0	2- 0	6-0

	PAC-12			BIG TEN
2	Southern Cal		5	Penn State
6	Stanford		7	Nebraska
11	Washington		9	Michigan St
18	Utah		13	Wisconsin
31	UCLA		21	Ohio St
33	Arizona		22	Illinois
35	Colorado		24	Minnesota
36	California		27	Michigan
37	Arizona St		43	Purdue
47	Oregon		61	Northwestern
55	Washington St		80	Indiana
68	Oregon St		104	Iowa

• Full list of this week’s RPI
• NCAA RPI FAQ

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Photos courtesy Shutter Geeks Photography