Wednesday night was a perfect storm of fecal matter for the Wildcats' RPI.
The lowlight of the night was Virginia Tech's failure to capitalize on home-court advantage, a depleted Purdue team and just plain desperation in order to seize a must-win game against the Boilermakers in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
Given a chance to win it outright, the Hokies instead pulled a Mizzou and let it go to overtime, where JaJuan Johnson — who had been destroying the Hokies single-handedly in the paint all night — put things to rest. So much for quality wins in a tougher schedule — VPI is 4-3 (0-3 in "statement games"), plays in a weak ACC and appears NIT-bound.
Follow that up with Florida's embarrassing flop in Orlando against Central Florida and determination to make Marcus Jordan — yes, Michael's son — look like a miniature version of the Jumpman himself, and you have the makings of an awful night.
But wait — it gets worse.
Loyola Chicago suffered its first loss of the season — at home, no less — to the hated Butler Bulldogs, while Iowa State also lost its first game of the year at Northern Iowa, proving once more that the Panthers are the preeminent program in the state. Cap it off with Oklahoma's fourth straight loss and you have a recipe for a night of heavy drinking.
At least Duke took care of Michigan State (albeit in ugly fashion), James Madison continued its post-Manhattan tear and UNLV won in dominating fashion on the road against a decent Missouri Valley opponent. Small consolation.
AP Ranking = 5
ESPN/USA Today Ranking = 5
Overall Record = 6-1
RPI = 14
SOS = 20
Signature Wins (RPI 1-30) = none
Quality Wins (RPI 31-100) = James Madison, Virginia Tech, Presbyterian
Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none
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James Madison (6-1) | RPI = 92: Win at Longwood (88-78)
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Virginia Tech (4-3) | RPI = 57: Loss to No. 18 Purdue (55-58 in overtime in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge)
- Presbyterian (2-4) | RPI = 85
- No. 24 Gonzaga (4-2) | RPI = 148
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No. 1 Duke (7-0) | RPI = 9: Win over No. 6 Michigan State (84-79 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge)
- Texas Southern (1-5) | RPI = 189
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Emporia State (4-3, 1-0 MIAA*): Win over Northwest Missouri* (70-65)
- Washington State (5-0) | RPI = 121
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Alcorn State (0-6) | RPI = 305: Loss at Southern Miss (71-100)
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Loyola Chicago (7-1, 0-1 Horizon League) | RPI = 132: Loss to Butler (63-65)
- No. 16 Florida (5-2) | RPI = 24: Loss at UCF (54-57)
- No. 23 UNLV (7-0) | RPI = 2: Win at Illinois State (82-51 in the Missouri Valley-Mountain West Challenge)
- UMKC (4-1) | RPI = 264
- North Florida (3-3) | RPI = 88
- Savannah State (1-7) | RPI = 335
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Oklahoma State (6-1) | RPI = 158: Win over Central Arkansas (69-57)
- Colorado (3-3) | RPI = 273
- Texas Tech (5-3) | RPI = 152
- No. 8 Missouri (5-1) | RPI = 54
- Texas A&M (5-1) | RPI = 178
- No. 10 Baylor (5-0) | RPI = 62
- No. 4 Kansas (6-0) | RPI = 10
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Nebraska (5-2) | RPI = 153: Win over Jackson State (76-57)
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Iowa State (6-1) | RPI = 61: Loss at Northern Iowa (54-60)
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Oklahoma (3-4) | RPI = 215: Loss at Arkansas (74-84)
- No. 20 Texas (6-1) | RPI = 12: Win over Lamar (76-55)
*Division II