Play Well, and Forget About DII Loss
And speaking of ESPN's Bracketology, it recently featured a question-and-answer section featuring a question about the Utes, and their season-opening loss to Division II Southwest Baptist.
One guy wanted to know, essentially, why the highly rated Utes should not suffer the consequences of losing to such a team when teams such as Boston College watch their Ratings Percentage Index rankings plunge after losses to low-Division I teams such as Harvard. (The RPI does not take into account games against non-Division I teams, win or lose.)
"I know the selection committee will see Utah's entire profile," the reader wrote, "but what they will also see is a computer profile that is vastly skewed by failing to take account of the DII loss. Isn't it time that someone came up with a way to quantify how bad it is to play (and especially to lose to) a DII team?"
Fans should be encouraged by Lunardi's response:
"The main way to quantify it is that Utah will have one less win than other bubble teams which played (and presumably defeated) a DI opponent. Ask Billy Tubbs, whose 30-ish RPI Oklahoma teams once missed the tourney because three of their wins were non-DI games. Having said that, I'd be more concerned with Utah's standing in the Mountain West than I would be about something that happened four months before Selection Sunday. If the Utes are at or near the top of a very good Mountain West this year, the DII loss won't be much of a factor."
One guy wanted to know, essentially, why the highly rated Utes should not suffer the consequences of losing to such a team when teams such as Boston College watch their Ratings Percentage Index rankings plunge after losses to low-Division I teams such as Harvard. (The RPI does not take into account games against non-Division I teams, win or lose.)
"I know the selection committee will see Utah's entire profile," the reader wrote, "but what they will also see is a computer profile that is vastly skewed by failing to take account of the DII loss. Isn't it time that someone came up with a way to quantify how bad it is to play (and especially to lose to) a DII team?"
Fans should be encouraged by Lunardi's response:
"The main way to quantify it is that Utah will have one less win than other bubble teams which played (and presumably defeated) a DI opponent. Ask Billy Tubbs, whose 30-ish RPI Oklahoma teams once missed the tourney because three of their wins were non-DI games. Having said that, I'd be more concerned with Utah's standing in the Mountain West than I would be about something that happened four months before Selection Sunday. If the Utes are at or near the top of a very good Mountain West this year, the DII loss won't be much of a factor."
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 2:14 PM |
1 Comments:
Remember a few years ago when UNC lost the opener to Santa Clara? Nobody cared at the end of the season because they won a lot of games after that. Not that Utah this year compares to that UNC team, but the committee has always been very willing to forgive early losses if you win late. Nothing matters as much as conference play. And that's how it should be. We shouldn't care about hiccups in Nov if a team really shows itself to be good later.
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