Pitt v Marquette

[BD80]

Who do we root for? Which helps our SOS or RPI more, having a team we beat win or having a team we lost to win?

[juise]

Good question. I'm not sure how the numbers play out. I have been cheering for both teams this season, to lend credibility to Duke's schedule. I tend to think that quality wins are weighted more heavily than bad losses, but I have no data to back that up.

[Troublemaker]

I'm pretty sure according to the RPI formula, either outcome would count the same, since the RPI doesn't distinguish between opponents you have beaten and opponents you have lost to. Either way, it's 1 win and 1 loss for Duke's opponent winning percentage.

[houstondukie]

I didn't see Marquette play Notre Dame last night, but I did see the Pitt-Louisville game, and I have to say that Pitt really looks good and will be a scary team in the tourney. No shame losing to them earlier in the season (should have and almost did win).

As far as the RPI/SOS, it really doesn't matter at this point since we pretty much have no shot for a 1 seed and a 3 seed is unlikely unless we lose to GT today. If I had to pick, I would say we should be rooting for Marquette because our win would mean more. Plus, I think the fans/media are sold more on Pitt as a top team than Marquette, even though Pitt is not ranked (will be soon) largely due to their injuries.

[JasonEvans]

I'm pretty sure according to the RPI formula, either outcome would count the same, since the RPI doesn't distinguish between opponents you have beaten and opponents you have lost to. Either way, it's 1 win and 1 loss for Duke's opponent winning percentage.

Yup, it does not affect our RPI at all, though I think I would rather see Pitt win as I would like our lone non-conf loss to look as good as possible. In the grand scheme of things it really does not matter. Duke has about an 75% chance at a 2 seed and about a 20% chance at a 1 seed and the remaining 5% is for us being a #3 seed.

--Jason "RPI does not matter much to teams ranked as highly as we are anyway" Evans

[hurleyfor3]

My dad went to Pitt, and an annoying co-worker went to Marquette, so Pitt it is. (er, Pitt is It.)