March Madness rant. Look, will all of you complaining about the RPI just cut it out? Obviously, the RPI doesn’t rule the NCAA Selection committee. Proof? How about TCU? 21-12 record, RPI of 32, which puts them ahead of ELEVEN other at-large bids in RPI rank–so go ahead, tell Tubby Smith (TCU’s coach) about how the NCAA is tied to the RPI. And all the Georgetown and USC fans better be *really* quiet about the RPI, since there were NINE teams ahead of USC in the RPI that didn’t get bids and TEN teams ahead of Georgetown (including a team from the Big East with an identical 19-9 record, West Virginia). So yeah, sure, bitch about selection, but don’t bitch about the use of the RPI–a team’s RPI is clearly not as important as everyone seems to think.
(original date: 1997.03.10)