Helena Frye
RPI rankings, or Ratings Percentage Index rankings, are a system that was previously used by the NCAA to rank college basketball teams and determine their tournament seeding. While the NCAA no longer uses RPI rankings for this purpose, having replaced them with NET Ratings, RPI rankings are still considered a useful point of comparison. RPI rankings take into account a team's win-loss record, their strength of schedule, and their opponents' strength of schedule.
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What You'll Learn
RPI vs NET Rating
The NCAA Men's Basketball Committee uses rankings to evaluate Division I men's basketball teams. In 2018, the NCAA introduced the NET Ranking System to replace the Rating Percentage Index (RPI) as its primary evaluation tool. The NCAA Evaluation Tool, or NET, will rely on game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses.
The RPI formula has been criticised for its heavy weighting of opponents' winning percentages. Beating a team with a bad RPI rating may actually hurt a team's RPI, whereas losing to a good RPI-ranked team can boost a team's RPI. The RPI also lacks theoretical justification from a statistical standpoint. Ranking systems that include the margin of victory of games played or other statistics in addition to win/loss results have been shown to be better predictors of future game outcomes.
The NET model was designed to "ensure fairness" by omitting game dates and the order in which contests are placed, making early- and late-season games equal in importance. The model also caps winning margins at 10 points to account for blowout scores. The five factors that NET includes in its calculations are team value index, net efficiency, winning percentage, adjusted win percentage, and scoring margin.
Despite the NCAA no longer using the RPI in its tournament selection and seeding process, it still reportedly displays a Strength of Schedule ranking derived from the RPI on the team sheets used during the selection process.
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RPI and Strength of Schedule
The Rating Percentage Index, commonly known as RPI, is a system used to rank sports teams based on their wins and losses and their strength of schedule. The strength of schedule (SOS) accounts for 75% of the RPI calculation and is calculated using the opponent's winning percentage and the winning percentage of the opponent's opponents. A team's winning percentage accounts for the remaining 25% of the RPI calculation. For example, a home win counts as 0.6 of a win, while a road win counts as 1.4 wins. Conversely, a home loss equals 1.4 losses, while a road loss counts as 0.6 of a loss. A neutral game counts as one win or loss.
The RPI was used from 1981 through 2018 to aid in selecting and seeding teams for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. However, in 2018, the NCAA announced that it would replace the RPI with the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) for the Division I men's basketball tournament. The NET rankings take into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses. The NET also includes a Team Value Index (TVI), which rewards teams for beating quality opponents, particularly away from home.
The updated NET rankings are consistent with the women's basketball NET rankings, which were developed in collaboration with Google Cloud to evaluate a decade's worth of women's basketball statistical data. The overall and non-conference strength of schedule has been modernized to reflect a more accurate measure of how challenging it is to defeat opponents. The strength of schedule in the NET rankings is based on rating each game on a team's schedule according to how difficult it would be for an NCAA tournament-level team to win. Each game is given a difficulty score based on the opponent's strength and the game's location, and these scores are aggregated to determine an overall expected winning percentage that can be ranked to assess the strength of a team's schedule.
Although the NCAA no longer uses the RPI for its selection and seeding process, it reportedly still displays a Strength of Schedule ranking derived from the RPI during the selection process. Some believe that the heavy emphasis on strength of schedule in the RPI gives an unfair advantage to teams from major conferences. However, the RPI can be useful for mitigating the manipulation of scores by teams or individuals in the context of gambling, as other ranking systems that include the margin of victory have been manipulated in the past.
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RPI Delta
The NCAA no longer uses the RPI system for its tournament selection and seeding process, having replaced it with the NET Rating. However, RPI Delta is still a relevant metric for college basketball teams.
The RPI formula is:
Team's Winning Percentage x 0.25) + (Opponents' Average Winning Percentage x 0.50) + (Opponents' Opponents' Average Winning Percentage x 0.25)
While the NCAA has moved away from RPI, it still displays a Strength of Schedule ranking derived from RPI on the team sheets used during the selection process. The RPI Delta, therefore, gives an indication of how a team's strength of schedule and performance against that schedule has changed over time. This can be useful for coaches and analysts when evaluating a team's progress and making comparisons to other teams.
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RPI and Non-Conference Record
The Rating Percentage Index, commonly known as RPI, is a ranking system that takes into account a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule. The RPI formula comprises a team's winning percentage (25%), its opponents' winning percentage (50%), and the winning percentage of those opponents' opponents (25%).
The RPI system was used by the NCAA from 1981 through 2018 to aid in the selection and seeding of teams for Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments. In 2018, the NCAA announced that it would be replacing the RPI with the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) for the Division I men's basketball tournament, and in 2020 for the women's tournament. The NCAA no longer uses RPI in its tournament selection and seeding process, but it does display a Strength of Schedule ranking derived from the RPI on the team sheets used during the selection process.
The RPI has been criticized for giving an unfair advantage to teams from major conferences due to its heavy emphasis on strength of schedule. Teams from major conferences have more flexibility in choosing their non-conference opponents and can select weaker teams, while teams from minor conferences may have fewer options and may be compelled to schedule stronger opponents. This can impact their RPI ranking and, consequently, their tournament seeding.
To address this criticism and improve the fairness of the ranking system, the NCAA made adjustments to the RPI formula for Division I NCAA Men's basketball in 2004 to account for differences in home, away, and neutral games. A home win is valued at 0.6 or 0.7, while a road win counts as 1.4 or 1.3. Conversely, a home loss is equal to 1.4 or 1.3 losses, and a road loss is 0.6 or 0.7 losses. Neutral-site games have a value of 1.0. These adjustments were made based on statistical data showing that home teams consistently won a higher percentage of games.
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RPI Team Sheets
RPI, or the Ratings Percentage Index, is a quantitative measure that has traditionally been used to rank collegiate sports teams, including basketball teams, in the United States. While the NCAA no longer uses the RPI in its tournament selection and seeding process, opting instead for the NET Rating, RPI is still used in team sheets during the selection process to display a Strength of Schedule ranking.
The sheets typically include a range of statistical information, such as win-loss records, strength of schedule rankings, and performance against Division I opponents. This data is carefully analysed to determine a team's overall RPI ranking, which can then be compared to other teams in the league. By examining these sheets, users can identify trends, track progress, and make strategic decisions or predictions about the outcome of games.
Additionally, RPI Team Sheets may also provide insights into a team's performance over time, highlighting areas of improvement or decline. This information can be crucial for coaches when developing game strategies, scouting opponents, or evaluating their team's progress throughout the season. For fans, these sheets offer a deeper understanding of the game, allowing them to engage in informed discussions and predictions about their favourite teams and players.
Overall, RPI Team Sheets serve as a valuable tool for anyone closely following collegiate basketball. By offering a comprehensive overview of team performances and rankings, these sheets enhance the strategic aspects of the game and provide a basis for comparisons, predictions, and informed decision-making. While the NCAA may have transitioned to the NET Rating, the RPI still holds value, especially in assessing the strength of a team's schedule.
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Frequently asked questions
RPI rankings refer to the Ratings Percentage Index, a measure formerly used by the NCAA to rank college basketball teams.
No, the NCAA no longer uses RPI rankings in its tournament selection and seeding process. Instead, it now uses the NET Rating.
Yes, RPI rankings are still published by some outlets as a useful point of comparison to the newer NET Rating.
RPI rankings take into account a team's winning percentage, their opponents' winning percentage, and their opponents' opponents' winning percentage.
