RPI WATCH: 11/27/2010

I wore out my remote control and my DVR yesterday, but I managed to catch key parts of tournament games involving our opponents during the commercial breaks of various football games.

Primarily, I was interested in the Oklahoma State-Virginia Tech semifinal, for obvious reasons. Although the Hokies won as expected, they had to come from behind in a game that was more of a struggle than I anticipated. Either way, the result was positive for us, if not for the conference's reputation.

Marshall Moses continued his strong play with a double-double, while Matt Pilgrim continued his thug play with a mandatory ejection for throwing an elbow — the second time he did that in two games.

While Texas A&M took care of business in a consolation game against an over-matched opponent, Texas Tech was the over-matched opponent.

Unsurprisingly, a Saint Mary's team that reached the Sweet Sixteen last year absolutely dismantled a Red Raiders team that looks like an early candidate to replace Colorado and Nebraska as the Big 12 bottom-feeder next year.

Meanwhile, UNLV dispatched Murray State to set up another fascinating game, Sunday night's 76 Classic title match-up against Virginia Tech. Forget Sunday Night Football — I'll be watching ESPN with great interest.

And don't look now, but the Jayhawks are beating their (so far extremely weak) opponents by an average of about 90 points to 50. I'm concerned that being the hunter and not the hunted has made this year's KU team looser than last year's now that the pressure of expectations has been removed. Frankly, if we played them right now, they'd kill us.

Luckily, we don't play them for several months. It will be interesting to see how they fare against Arizona tonight, but I fully expect them to win by double digits.

AP Ranking = 4

ESPN/USA Today Ranking = 4

Overall Record = 5-1

RPI = 14

SOS = 23

Signature Wins (RPI 1-30) = none

Quality Wins (RPI 31-100) = James Madison, Virginia Tech

Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none

• James Madison (4-1) | RPI = 72
  
• Virginia Tech (4-1) | RPI = 45: Win over Oklahoma State (56-51 in the 76 Classic)
  
• Presbyterian (2-4) | RPI = 118
  
• No. 22 Gonzaga (3-2) | RPI = 109
  
• No. 1 Duke (5-0) | RPI = 29
  
• Texas Southern (1-5) | RPI = 159: Loss at No. 4 Kansas State (60-84)
  
• Emporia State (3-2*)
  
• Washington State (4-0) | RPI = 168: Win at Fresno State (66-55)
  
• Alcorn State (0-5) | RPI = 306
  
• Loyola Chicago (6-0) | RPI = 69
  
• No. 16 Florida (4-1) | RPI = 92
  
• UNLV (5-0) | RPI = 3: Win over Murray State (69-55 in the 76 Classic)
  
• UMKC (4-0) | RPI = 249
  
• North Florida (3-3) | RPI = 57
  
• Savannah State (1-6) | RPI = 319
  
• Oklahoma State (4-1) | RPI = 154: Loss to Virginia Tech (51-56 in the 76 Classic)
  
• Colorado (2-2) | RPI = 284
  
• Texas Tech (4-2) | RPI = 121: Loss to Saint Mary's (68-88 in the South Padre Island Invitational)
  
• No. 11 Missouri (4-0) | RPI = 32
  
• Texas A&M (4-1) | RPI = 185: Win over Manhattan (74-45 in the Old Spice Classic)
  
• No. 12 Baylor (4-0) | RPI = 51
  
• No. 6 Kansas (5-0) | RPI = 13: Win over Ohio (98-41 in the Las Vegas Invitational)
  
• Nebraska (3-2) | RPI = 244
  
• Iowa State (5-0) | RPI = 23
  
• Oklahoma (3-3) | RPI = 238
  
• No. 20 Texas (4-1) | RPI = 41
  

*Division II