RPI WATCH: 12/22/2010

His shots — how they fell! His jumpers, how sharp!
His 3s were like rainbows, they swished like a harp!
His shooting motion was as taut as a bow,
Nor was he afraid to dribble down low;
The whole of his game was efficient and sleek,
Guaranteed to make lesser teams meek;
He had a broad range that looks great on the telly,
And despite the time off, his game wasn't smelly.

To be continued...

So, what caused our strength of schedule to vault into the top 10 (which, by the way, I predicted weeks ago)?

It was a combination of our quality wins gaining in strength, and the addition of quality (by the numbers, anyway) losses to RPI Top 25 teams Florida and UNLV.

As you can see, Presbyterian's second win in a week (and second of all time) over a BCS team catapulted the Blue Hose back into the RPI Top 100, giving the Cats five quality wins for the first time this season. (And how bad is Wake Forest, anyway? Way to fire a coach who got you to the NCAAs and then tank with the new guy...)

Unfortunately, four of them came in November before this latest slide began, and we just failed, for the second time this week, to add another.

Also, kudos to Oklahoma State for closing out the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series in style. The final count this year was 8-4, and I believe we amassed a 28-20 overall record against our Western foes in the four-year series.

Associated Press Ranking = 11

ESPN/USA Today Ranking = 11

Overall Record = 9-3

RPI = 17

SOS = 8

Signature Wins (RPI 1-30) = none

Quality Wins (RPI 31-100) = James Madison, Virginia Tech, Presbyterian, Gonzaga, Washington State

Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none

• James Madison (8-3, 0-1 CAA) | RPI = 91
  
• Virginia Tech (6-4, 0-1 ACC) | RPI = 54
  
• Presbyterian (6-6, 1-1 Big South) | RPI = 90: Win at Wake Forest (66-64)
  
• Gonzaga (6-5) | RPI = 77
  
• No. 1 Duke (11-0) | RPI = 5
  
• Texas Southern (2-7) | RPI = 207
  
• Emporia State (7-4, 4-1 MIAA*)
  
• Washington State (8-1) | RPI = 89
  
• Alcorn State (0-9) | RPI = 256: Loss at South Alabama (76-86)
  
• Loyola-Chicago (8-4, 0-2 Horizon League) | RPI = 235
  
• No. 20 Florida (8-3) | RPI = 10
  
• UNLV (11-2) | RPI = 18: Win over No. 11 Kansas State (63-59 in the Hy-Vee Wildcat Classic)
  
• UMKC (7-4, 0-2 Summit League) | RPI = 277: Win over Houston Baptist (73-51)
  
• North Florida (4-7, 1-1 Atlantic Sun) | RPI = 136
  
• Savannah State (1-13) | RPI = 332
  
• Oklahoma State (11-1) | RPI = 43: Win over Stanford (79-68 in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series)
  
• Colorado (7-3) | RPI = 201
  
• Texas Tech (5-6) | RPI = 206
  
• No. 9 Missouri (10-1) | RPI = 46
  
• No. 25 Texas A&M (11-1) | RPI = 30: Win over Wagner (86-51)
  
• No. 15 Baylor (7-1) | RPI = 101
  
• No. 3 Kansas (10-0) | RPI = 1
  
• Nebraska (10-2) | RPI = 111: Win over Grambling State (79-39)
  
• Iowa State (11-2) | RPI = 126: Win over Chicago State (104-63)
  
• Oklahoma (6-6) | RPI = 169: Win over Sacramento State (66-53)
  
• No. 18 Texas (9-2) | RPI = 37
  

*Division II