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View Full Version : The UNC-G Effect



Klemnop
02-24-2011, 05:11 PM
I'm not starting another thread (or adding to my prior one) about Clemson's Bubble status again. Lesson learned. However, as I'm obsessing over all things Bubble related I have thought/question. Forgive me if this has been covered already.

UNC-Greensboro is KILLING us in the RPI. Us...as in the ACC. 7 of 12 ACC teams put UNC-G on the schedule this season, four of them (FSU, Miami, Duke and VaTech) clearly for the benefit of giving players a preview of playing a game in the Greensboro Coliseum. Three others (Clemson, Wake and Maryland) hosted the Spartans.

For starters, if UNC-G sacrifices itself to 7 opponents from a single high-major conference it is very likely to go 0-7 in just those games alone. Add on a couple of extra games against Richmond, VCU and ECU...that is UNC-Gs ENTIRE non-conference schedule.

As it turns out, UNC-G is horrible this year. 5-22 horrible. RPI horrible.

In Clemson's case UNC-G provides a drag on their RPI greater than any other single opponent by a factor of 25% (I'm not very good at stats but I think that's an accurate reflection.) The impact of the UNC-G game is 4th highest of ANY Clemson opponent this season (behind Duke, UNC and FSU.) And it's a terrible impact. Not only that it has the added negative drag of increasing the impact of other SoCon teams RPI on Clemson/ACC schedules. And, as a general rule, we don't want the SoCon to be our secondary weapon in the RPI battle against the Big East, B10, etc.

I don't fault the ACC teams that scheduled games against UNC-G for the benefit of playing in the coliseum - though I do question the marginal utility of an experienced team like Duke or FSU getting a November game there. But Clemson, Maryland and Wake have done themselves and the conference a disservice by playing home games against the Spartans.

I guess it's not such a point of contention in a different year when UNC-G might be competitive in the SoCon. But as I root around for what may be the cause of the RPI discrepancies between good ACC teams and either worse ACC teams or non-ACC teams...UNC-G seems to be a main culprit.

Is this something the league should get invovled in? Is it something that the Athletic Departments should at least get educated about? Clearly saavy mid-major teams have figured out how to game the RPI system. How could the ACC get it wrong - or be oblivious?

Maybe I'm reading too much into the situation. Perhaps the impact is really negligible and I'm grasping at straws. Anyone else have thoughts on this phenomenon?

Klem

rasputin
02-24-2011, 05:52 PM
I didn't look up other schools, but Duke has been playing UNC-G with some frequency in recent years, albeit usually in Cameron.