Our RPI after last evening's win is now at 65 according to CBS--Good for us !! Maybe we are FINALLY getting noticed !! Porter and MOST of the team are rolling !!

YAY !!

Good News ......ahead of everyone in Chicago.... and the Valley ..if I was reading correct......just gotta keep it going ..and do not see any reason why we cant if we stay healthy. All those years talking about "Hey if we only had a center" and we were RIGHT......who knew!

Missouri State is still ahead of us at 57.

Reality is, it’s nice to look at, and good for grabbing media attention, but the only RPI number that will matter for any postseason or future scheduling weight is the final number. And one bad loss can tank it pretty quick. So let’s keep winning.

Getting that RPI up can lead to a lot of good results at the end of the regular season. Here they are, in order of desirability:

1. Win the NCAA auto bid by winning the Arch Madness final. If we win out (one prediction site is currently giving us a 1.0% chance to win out), we could have an RPI in the low 40s or even the high 30s if things break right. With an auto bid and a RPI from 34-40, we might get a 10 seed or an 11 seed. In the 40-50 range, it's probably a 12. From 50-57 is a 13, 58-70 would likely get us a 14, and higher than 70 would be a 15.

An NCAA at-large bid probably died on December 17 in Milwaukee-- if we'd won that game and everything else remained the same, we'd still have an outside chance if we finished very strong.

2. Win the regular season conference title and get an auto NIT bid. If we win the conference regular season, we've got an auto NIT bid in our back pockets, regardless of the outcome at Arch Madness.

3. Receive an at-large NIT bid. If we miss out on the league title by a game or two, and we don't win Arch Madness but perform reasonably well (say, one or two wins before bouncing out), we still have a chance at an NIT at-large bid. My guess is we'd probably have to get 23 wins and have an RPI at 75 or better to make it. To get a home game (a top 4 seeding in one of the four regional groups), we'd probably have to have an RPI better than 62.

As of now, all these outcomes are still on the table. To keep all three of them a possibility, at MINIMUM we probably have to win 7 of the remaining 11 conference games.

Over the past two NCAA Tournaments, here are the RPI ranges by seeding:

12 seeds ranged from an RPI of 33 (UNCW in 2017) to a high of 56 (Chattanooga in 2016)
13 seeds ranged from 45 (Vermont in 2017) to 85 (Iona in 2016)
14 seeds ranged from 55 (NM State in 2017) to 135 (Kent State in 2017)
15 seeds ranged from 77 (Middle TN in 2016) to 154 (Jacksonville State in 2017)

For the NIT, the worst RPI at large bid I saw was Georgia Tech at 106-- Tech was a 6 seed and the last at-large into the field, but they got to the final in MSG, and by that time their RPI improved to 79. Most of the at large teams were in the 50s, 60s and 70s, and they started to thin out in the 80s. Last year, ISU was a #1 seed in the NIT, and their RPI was in the mid 30s; Iowa was a #1 seed with an RPI of 81, $yracuse had an 84, and Cal was a #1 seed with a 53. The #2 seeds were Illinois (64), Houston (54), Georgia (52) and Clemson (68). You get the idea-- RPI matters, but top 100 wins, ability to draw a crowd, being above .500 overall against D1 schools, regional considerations, and potential for getting to NYC and packing the place play a role.

PS to the above post-- contrary to rumors that it has become a key metric, the KenPom rankings of teams (I examined KenPom numbers along with all the RPI number) had almost no bearing whatsoever in NIT seeds, at large selections, or NCAA seedings. The numbers were all over the place and overlapped every category, from seedings to NCAA vs NIT teams, to total non-selections.

Guys,

I suggest we focus on one game at a time, as the players should do.
It is fun to ponder the possibilities, but we are putting the cart in front of the horse.
We have Valpo and Drake on the road.... That's way more than enough for me to dwell on for the time being.

I subscribe to KenPom and they have awesome data. They predict most of our games remaining could be wins, but all scores are soon close that
we need to play up to our potential in each. No gimmes. Fun to watch.
I was happy to see Satterwhite stay on the floor and contribute. Shows me that PM and him are working together. The more players involved down the stretch, the better we will come out.
Go Ramblers.

This is how I feel about the "who will be our point guard next year" discussion.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Guy !! I am convinced that our team --or MOST of it IS focused only on each upcoming game only--PM is doing the Leadership needed on that --BUT WE on the other hand can focus on anything we desire to dwell upon-- That is what makes this so much fun for u--I do believe

We win the next two games and we are firmly in the driver seat in the valley. I think it’s great that we have two buses charter to go to Velpoe this weekend. That’s awesome. It goes to show you how important Porter thinks these games are and how important the students are. These next few days are huge for our season. I sure hope they are ready.

You guys are talking like we are going to suit up....I do have some eligibility left....Speculate,prognosticate, debate mentally masturbate (stolen form Woody Allen) live and die with every piece of news and fake news, over-analyze, and out right over worry......that's what fans do........I am speculating on a line up with no point guard and Satterwhite at center!