RPI WATCH: 1/16/2011

Tonight's BIG 12 OUTLOOK will discuss in depth the six conference games played Saturday, so this installment of RPI WATCH will focus solely on yesterday's non-conference action, which featured everyone except Savannah State.

James Madison advanced to 5-1 in conference play, proving once again that the Dukes probably were our toughest opening-game opponent in a long time, while surprising Texas Southern is off to a 4-0 conference start.

Both UNLV and Virginia Tech improved to 2-2 in league play with wins at Air Force and over woeful Wake Forest, respectively. Meanwhile, Gonzaga continued its post-Notre Dame winning streak with its ninth straight win.

Duke bounced back from its first loss of the season by dispatching Virginia and Washington State finally won a Pac-10 road game on its fourth try.

All it took, surprisingly, was the suspension of Reggie Moore for a marijuana infraction more than a month ago, which freed up Faisal Aden to score 20 points against upset-minded Stanford.

And just when you thought Florida had rounded the corner, having just secured an overtime road win in Knoxville, the Gators disappointed once more.

They followed their upset of the Cats with an embarrassing home loss to Jacksonville and they similarly followed the Tennessee win with a head-scratching home loss to South Carolina.

Additional less-than-encouraging developments included Alcorn State's fourth conference loss (and 14th overall loss in 15 games), Emporia State's home loss to Washburn, Presbyterian's lopsided home loss to Coastal Carolina and UMKC's overtime loss at Oral Roberts.

But those were balanced out somewhat by Loyola's second conference win of the year (which came in Milwaukee, where Butler shockingly lost by 26 earlier this month) and North Florida's third league victory.

Associated Press Ranking = 21

ESPN/USA Today Ranking = 20

Overall Record = 13-5

Big 12 Record = 1-2

RPI = 49

SOS = 30

Signature Wins (RPI 1-30) = none

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

Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none

• James Madison (15-3, 5-1 CAA) | RPI = 61: Win over UNC Wilmington (63-54)
  
• Virginia Tech (11-5, 2-2 ACC) | RPI = 71: Win over Wake Forest (94-65)
  
• Presbyterian (8-11, 2-5 Big South) | RPI = 133: Loss at Coastal Carolina (42-60)
  
• Gonzaga (13-5, 3-0 WCC) | RPI = 45: Win over Loyola Marymount (79-59)
  
• No. 1 Duke (16-1, 3-1 ACC) | RPI = 9: Win over Virginia (76-60)
  
• Texas Southern (6-9, 4-0 SWAC) | RPI = 158: Win over Jackson State (66-62)
  
• Emporia State (9-7, 6-4 MIAA*): Loss to Washburn* (56-69)
  
• Washington State (13-5, 3-3 Pac-10) | RPI = 55: Win at Stanford (61-58)
  
• Alcorn State (1-14, 1-4 SWAC) | RPI = 291: Loss to Mississippi Valley State (70-87)
  
• Loyola-Chicago (11-8, 2-6 Horizon League) | RPI = 188: Win at Wisconsin-Milwaukee (71-65)
  
• Florida (13-4, 2-1 SEC) | RPI = 16: Loss to South Carolina (69-72)
  
• UNLV (14-4, 2-2 Mountain West) | RPI = 23: Win at Air Force (64-52)
  
• UMKC (10-8, 3-4 Summit League) | RPI = 233: Loss at Oral Roberts (63-69 in overtime)
  
• North Florida (6-12, 3-4 Atlantic Sun) | RPI = 146: Win over South Carolina-Upstate (65-59)
  
• Savannah State (2-17) | RPI = 296
  
• Oklahoma State (13-4, 1-2 Big 12) | RPI = 43: Loss at Colorado (71-75)
  
• Colorado (14-4, 3-0 Big 12) | RPI = 72: Win over Oklahoma State (75-71)
  
• Texas Tech (8-10, 0-3 Big 12) | RPI = 206: Loss at No. 21 Kansas State (60-94)
  
• No. 15 Missouri (15-3, 1-2 Big 12) | RPI = 40: Loss at No. 14 Texas A&M (89-91 in overtime)
  
• No. 14 Texas A&M (16-1, 3-0 Big 12) | RPI = 17: Win over No. 15 Missouri (91-89 in overtime)
  
• Baylor (12-4, 2-1 Big 12) | RPI = 99: Loss at Iowa State (57-72)
  
• No. 3 Kansas (17-0, 2-0 Big 12) | RPI = 1: Win over Nebraska (63-60)
  
• Nebraska (13-4, 1-2 Big 12) | RPI = 105: Loss at No. 3 Kansas (60-63)
  
• Iowa State (14-4, 1-2 Big 12) | RPI = 84: Win over Baylor (72-57)
  
• Oklahoma (8-9, 0-3 Big 12) | RPI = 193: Loss at No. 12 Texas (46-66)
  
• No. 12 Texas (14-3, 2-0 Big 12) | RPI = 38: Win over Oklahoma (66-46)
  

*Division II