RealTime RPI has MVC 5th right now

[Khan4Cats]

Thanks for adding those. I think the ? marks were more denoting that the opponent is borderline good-RPI.

Yes, those are potentials based on decent starts so far or expected improvement once they hit conference (i.e. I think Oral Roberts may be able to do damage in the Southland)

I think a lot of us were hoping for this, but unfortunately ORU has lost their top scorer for the year to an ACL injury.

Wasn't aware of that. They still ought to do well in the Southland (which is slightly above SWAC, MEAC quality) but probably could be scratched from the 'decent' win category then.

[TheAsianSensation]

It's awful early to cite RPI.

But not to speculate

Here's my roadmap to MVC RPI success:

Wichita still has BYU, St Louis, Alabama, and Tennessee. 4 teams that are at least bubble teams. My gut feeling is they get 3 of 4 and exit the non-con with 1 loss.
Indiana St has a MTT, although to get real value out of it, they've gotta win it. Also St Louis. Good news is the Notre Dame win has a lot of built-in equity. If Indiana St can lose just once more in the non-con, they're in good shape.
Northern Iowa has 3 losses, but none are bad, and more importantly: they beat LaSalle and have N-Iowa St, @Virginia, and VCU all looming as legitimate quality win chances. Win 1 of 3 and you're in decent shape, 2 of 3 and you're in really good shape.
Missouri St gets a chance at a quality win. I think both SMU and Virginia could supply it, but might as well beat A&M while you're in the MTT. @Louisville is unlikely for them. @Oral Bob might be mandatory, because other teams on their schedule are underachieving. I'm rooting for MSU to get out of the non-con with no more than 2 losses.
Evansville has the meat of their schedule coming. @Indiana, @Xavier, Butler, among others. Get one of those 3 and win the rest and you're cooking with gas.
Bradley has nothing quality left on the schedule, unless you count N-Pacific and South Florida (you could, your mileage may vary). This is the one team that needs to hoard wins. Almost any loss is damaging.
Drake does get Iowa on a neutral and New Mexico St at home. @Fresno too. Can Drake get 1 win out of those 3 and get the rest too? I think it's reasonable.
SIU doesn't have much quality left on their schedule either. I think they could manage 4-2 the rest of their non-con.
I have no idea what to think of Loyola. The only thing I ask: they hold home court in their upcoming 3 game homestand against marginal competition (UIC, Campbell, N. Illinois). Anything else would be gravy.
I have no idea what to do with Illinois St, either. Can they get a roadie at San Fran or Oakland? Do that, beat cupcakes at home, and anything else is a bonus.


The 2 big steps are getting quality wins and avoiding bad losses. UNI is going to go a long way towards the former, and Bradley is going to go a long way towards the latter. They're the two RPI lynchpins. And Wichita and InSU too, but they're the obvious ones.

[pafan]

Up to this moment (including SIU's loss earlier today) the MVC is still 5th. Six schools are in the top 75 -- INSU, DU, WSU, BU, UE and UNI

But it falls fast from there.
7 in top 150 (ILSU)
8 in top 200 (MSU)
9 in top 250 (SIU)
10 in top 300 (LU-C)

The site I use (BBState.com) doesn't give a list of all the conferences by RPI, I don't think.

[Aargh]

Try Warren Nolan's site:

http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2014/conference/Missouri%20Valley

This is the same late November RPI that has InSU at #8 and Drake at #19. That should give you an idea of the value of RPI in November.