Monday games we care about:
Nicholls at North Texas (6:00)... not crazy to think Nicholls could get a D1 road win at 2-7 North Texas
That's all we've got going on. Eager to see the Top 25 polls and the RPI updates, though.
What do we need to crack the top 25 or at least get some votes? Win the event in Las Vegas?
If we beat SMU and PSU I expect top 20.Depends on where we are in the voting this week. If the Buffs are just outside the Top 25 in the "others" camp, then going 2-0 this week with the expected losses of teams above us just might push us in based on record, momentum and lazy slotting. Personally, I wouldn't vote CU into my Top 25 unless the Buffs beat Penn State and SMU (or Kent State) next week.
Didn't we already beat SMU in the closed scrimmage? I know scrimmages are different animals than real games but thats gotta give the team some serious confidence.
Here's how I approach it:
1. Analytically, CSU win is good for us. If it happens -- it would be shocking if it didn't -- I chalk it up as "good for the Buffs' resume".
2. Emotionally, I don't cheer in this game and if NoCo pulls the upset it makes me very happy.
As far as RPI goes, the UNC win actually helped our RPI by 1.48%. CSU went from a factor of +3.23% to +1.75% on our RPI and UNC improved their factor on our RPI from -7.59% to -4.63% (my possibly flawed iteration from rpiforecast.com)
We were probably kidding ourselves that CSU was going to be a top 100 win anyway.
Go Bears!
I think a bad loss is more than canceled out when you beat Kentucky and the Zags.Don't think csu egg in greeley hurts that badly-we've got plenty of chances to get good wins in conference, and a possible date with smu next week. I don't get how ucla is ranked ahead of us-isn't ooc about avoiding eyesore type losses like theirs to Monmouth?
Nicholls got crushed at Grand Canyon.
As an early scouting report for the upcoming game:
Frye is a decent player and they do have a couple 7 footers, but this is about the worst offensive team in the nation. It would take a monumentally bad effort on both ends of the floor for the Buffs to be challenged on Friday night.
I most certainly dont want to be that guy (And dont think it will happen to us) but last year, the road win CSU "earned" at coors they thought would help them out a bit come end of the year, and we tanked and most likely caused them to miss the NCAAs.
The way the post UNC presser went with shyatt, the state of the mtn west this year and the fact that they are csu all comes together (for me) to say that dont be shocked if at the end of the season, this win isnt worth much.
I think you guys split the opening 2, start 1-1, drop a random game in that 11, maybe to ****braska Omaha as they're on an uptick, start the year out 11-2.
The only person in ****braska with a Final Four ring is currently on UNO roster, transferred there from WSU.
Tuesday games we care about:
LA Lafayette at #22 UCLA (7:00, PACN)... Bruins should roll in this one.
Mercer at Auburn (7:00)... Mercer's 8-1, so no slouch. Keep an eye on this one.
DePaul at Stanford (8:00, FS1)... good little test for Furd. DePaul isn't good, but every now and then they do something like whip ASU on the road.
UC Irvine at Oregon (9:00, PACN)... UCI is a very good program. Dangerous game for the Ducks.
Remember, raw RPI is based on D1 record of opponent & opponent's opponents.
That win over Grand Canyon by Omaha was a solid bump.
Tuesday games we care about:
LA Lafayette at #22 UCLA (7:00, PACN)... Bruins should roll in this one.
Mercer at Auburn (7:00)... Mercer's 8-1, so no slouch. Keep an eye on this one.
DePaul at Stanford (8:00, FS1)... good little test for Furd. DePaul isn't good, but every now and then they do something like whip ASU on the road.
UC Irvine at Oregon (9:00, PACN)... UCI is a very good program. Dangerous game for the Ducks.
I was musing on the subject of RPI the other day (I have a long'ish commute and a wondering mind), specifically on CU's RPI (VT's is uninteresting this year). This caused me to spend a little time analyzing the Pac schedule (while my wife and I watch Gray's Anatomy "together").
As @Buffnik posted below and in the OP, RPI is 25% your opponent's opponent's (OO) record. This got me thinking about the next level of teams to root for, not just our opponents.
this is why, for RPI purposes, OOC wins by Pac12 teams should be the number one thing we root for. Not only are all of those teams are CU's opponents for ~50% of our schedule, they are also our opponents' opponents' for ~50% of the teams on our schedule.
After Pac 12 teams, rooting for our non-conf opponents makes the most sense. but not all non-conf opponents are created equal.
Weighted heaviest in RPI calculations, are teams we play that are also played by other Pac teams. My analysis says BYU is the only team that falls in that category by playing Utah as well. Actually, since CU plays UU twice in regular season, we can count BYU as showing up twice as our OO.
After our own opponents, the Buffs RPI is most helped by teams that show up multiple times on Pac12 schedules. My quick analysis shows:
4x:
UNLV - UCLA, Oregon, ASU, AU
Gonzaga - UW, WSU, AU, UCLA
UCSB - Cal, OSU, ASU, UW
3x
Long Beach St - UCLA, OU, AU
Boise St - AU (twice?), OU
2x
Kansas, Cal State LA, Witchita, SDSU, NW Christian, Monmouth, Rice, Savannah St, Idaho St, Valporiso, St Mary's (Cal), Cal State Northridge, Fresno St, Kentucky, Cal State Fullerton, Idaho, N. Arizona, Cal Poly, Texas, Sacramento St, Seattle
Realistically, if any of those Pac 12 teams show up on CU's schedule twice, those OO's count an additional time.
I should also note that all of this is about raw RPI; none of this applies to "wins over top 50/100/150 RPI teams", which is a different criteria for NCAA selection and seeding.
The money goes to paying for my membership. Thanks.I love this this thread, in particular the daily posts from Buffnik and Cvillebuff. In fact those posts just motivated me to get off my butt and pay $20 for the a membership upgrade. I really appreciate both of your succinct daily posts/takes on the games du jour. It is precisely what my college-hoops-loving-brain-dead-ADD-ridden mind needs. Not sure where the $20 goes, but seems like I should be paying for this service in some way, shape or form. Tis way more valuable than most the other crap I subscribe to and never use (looking at you gym membership).
Don't know who you dudes are, but if I'm ever at the Dark Horse bar and hear someone refer to themselves a "Buffnick or Cvillebuff", drinks are on me.
Next up: The Eiffel Tower.