Olympic Fan
01-20-2008, 11:52 AM
Just did my weekly check and it's amazing what a 3-0 ACC start can do for you. As of Sunday morning, Duke is now:
No. 5 in the RPI (just behind No. 4 UNC)
No. 3 in the Pomeroy rankings (1st in the ACC)
No. 3 in Sagarin (1st in the ACC)
The RPI rates Duke's schedule as No. 29 nationally (it will climb as Duke plays more ACC teams). It sees the team's best wins as over No. 18 Wisconsin. No. 20 Marquette and No. 29 Clemson. The worst wins were over No. 313 Princeton, No. 298 NCCU and No. 282 Eastern Kentucky -- everybody else is in the top 200.
A couple of ACC opponents are doing pretty well in their conference races. Wisconsin is unbeaten and No. 1 in the Big Ten (a half game ahead of Indiana, which is also unbeaten). Davidson is 8-0 in the Southern Conference and Albany is tied for first in America East.
The ACC remains the No. 1 conference in the RPI and its 29-18 record against the other BCS leagues is a good bit better than the second-place Big 12 (26-21) and the third place Pac 10 (15-14). The other three leagues are under .500.
Just thought I'd throw this out there, in view of the debate last week about whether Duke was a "second-tier team". It will be interesting to see where the Devils rank when the polls come out Monday -- obviously Kansas and Memphis will hold the top two spots, but after that Duke could be anywhere from 3-5.
PS Good call by Jason (I think it was Jason, if not, I apologize), who pointed out to a poster who was overly impressed with Texas A&M that their gaudy 15-1 record was the product of a schedule that had them play 15 of their first 16 at home (and only one of those against a top 100 opponent). Jason pointed out that the Aggies were 0-1 on the road ... and are now 0-3 on the road after losing this week 68-53 at Texas Tech and 75-54 at K State (and 1-4 against top 100 competition).
Now THAT is my definition of a second-tier team.
No. 5 in the RPI (just behind No. 4 UNC)
No. 3 in the Pomeroy rankings (1st in the ACC)
No. 3 in Sagarin (1st in the ACC)
The RPI rates Duke's schedule as No. 29 nationally (it will climb as Duke plays more ACC teams). It sees the team's best wins as over No. 18 Wisconsin. No. 20 Marquette and No. 29 Clemson. The worst wins were over No. 313 Princeton, No. 298 NCCU and No. 282 Eastern Kentucky -- everybody else is in the top 200.
A couple of ACC opponents are doing pretty well in their conference races. Wisconsin is unbeaten and No. 1 in the Big Ten (a half game ahead of Indiana, which is also unbeaten). Davidson is 8-0 in the Southern Conference and Albany is tied for first in America East.
The ACC remains the No. 1 conference in the RPI and its 29-18 record against the other BCS leagues is a good bit better than the second-place Big 12 (26-21) and the third place Pac 10 (15-14). The other three leagues are under .500.
Just thought I'd throw this out there, in view of the debate last week about whether Duke was a "second-tier team". It will be interesting to see where the Devils rank when the polls come out Monday -- obviously Kansas and Memphis will hold the top two spots, but after that Duke could be anywhere from 3-5.
PS Good call by Jason (I think it was Jason, if not, I apologize), who pointed out to a poster who was overly impressed with Texas A&M that their gaudy 15-1 record was the product of a schedule that had them play 15 of their first 16 at home (and only one of those against a top 100 opponent). Jason pointed out that the Aggies were 0-1 on the road ... and are now 0-3 on the road after losing this week 68-53 at Texas Tech and 75-54 at K State (and 1-4 against top 100 competition).
Now THAT is my definition of a second-tier team.