Things got a bit sideways for the conference this year in terms of individual teams, but what about the whole? They're still 6th in conference RPI (meh), and the RPIs read: 4, 11, 30, 54, 58, 81, 84, 95, 113, 120, 138, and 178. Not awful. The real issue is the bottom third or so of the conference has picked off enough games against the middle of the pack, and these are the same teams with very marginal non-con SoSs and results that drag down the conference. That, and Colorado and Cal have cratered.
The Lockbox
Arizona (20-2) (8-1) RPI 4 SoS 14
Vital signs: 7-2 R/N, non-con SoS 45, 4-0 vs. Top 50, 11-1 vs. Top 100
Signature wins: Gonzaga, Utah, N-SDSU
Bad losses: @Oregon St, @UNLV
Man, those losses. It's looking more and more like marginal losses will cost them the 1 line; I think they'll be fine with the 2 line.
Utah (17-4) (7-2) RPI 11 SoS 32
Vital signs: 4-4 R/N, non-con SoS 26, 1-3 vs. Top 50, 5-4 vs. Top 100
Signature wins: Wichita, @BYU? UCLA?
Bad losses: @UCLA is the worst
They might be light on signature wins (and they're in a conference that won't supply a lot of chances), but their vital signs are all good enough, and they did beat Wichita. All 4 losses are road losses, to Kansas/Zona/SDSU. That'll hurt in seeding a bit, perhaps.
Bubble
Stanford (15-6) (6-3) RPI 30 SoS 58
Vital signs: 5-5 R/N, non-con SoS 88, 2-2 vs. Top 50, 4-4 vs. Top 100
Signature wins: @Texas...Wofford? swept Washington?
Bad losses: @Wazzu, @DePaul
The teams fall off a cliff after the top two. Texas tanking isn't helping Stanford right now. The fact there's not a lot of access to signature wins hurts some. But if they hold their serve in the games they're supposed to win, I can't imagine this profile getting left out.
UCLA (13-9) (5-4) RPI 57 SoS 27
Vital signs: 2-7 R/N, non-con SoS 52, 2-5 vs. Top 50, 4-9 vs. Top 100
Signature wins: Utah, Stanford
Bad losses: @everywhere...Colorado, Oregon St, Alabama
Look at the road/neutral record, and the vs. Top 100 record. I found issues. Ok, you can't beat Kentucky and Gonzaga and UNC. Fine. Don't blow every attainable road game. It's tough to see this profile making it without significant road wins.
Oregon (15-7) (6-4) RPI 54 SoS 56
Vital signs: 2-5 R/N, non-con SoS 123, 0-4 vs. Top 50, 5-6 vs. Top 100
Signature wins: UCLA, N-Illinois?
Bad losses: @Wazzu, @Washington...
Need some signature win, boys. Simple as that. Even the amateur bracketologist can spot the hole in this resume.
Washington (14-8) (3-7) RPI 81 SoS 87
Vital signs: 6-4 R/N, non-con SoS 203, 2-3 vs. Top 50, 8-4 vs. Top 100
Signature wins: N-Oklahoma, SDSU
Bad losses: home to Wazzu...swept by Cal...Stony Brook at home...
Ye gods, too many bad losses. Those two signature wins in the non-con are the only thing keeping them alive at the moment. They need to get back to .500 in this conference, and stat. The problem they've already blown both chances versus Stanford, so getting quality wins is going to be extraordinarily tough now. Life support.
NIT watch
Oregon St (13-7) (5-4) RPI 84 SoS 111 - Too far away from the bubble to make the win over Arizona count. Too many obvious flaws, starting with the non-con SoS hovering around 300.
Colorado (11-10) (4-5) RPI 95 SoS 46 - Man, they cratered hard, and frankly being listed here is generous.
CBI/CIT watch
California (13-9) (3-6) RPI 113 SoS 84
No postseason
Washington St is somehow at 4-5 in this conference despite still being below .500 overall. Look at the profile above and see the damage they're doing to the conference. Arizona St and USC at least appear to be cooperating a bit more than them.
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