ESPNW: Breaking down the bubble teams (MN: Out)

BleedGopher

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per ESPN:

Out

Minnesota: Rachel Banham has been the most dynamic offensive player in the country in the second half of the season. She has carried Minnesota. Yet it's now almost certain she will be finishing her career in the WNIT. Minnesota has been one of the country's most discussed teams in recent days, in part because of Banham's scoring that even grabbed Kobe Bryant's attention, but also partly because of a misleading Big Ten record.

The league mark sat at 10-4 heading into the week and had the Gophers in third place, but they had yet to play any of the other top-four teams in the league. Combined with a résumé-crippling weak nonconference schedule, that really made Minnesota's status as a bubble team generous. Then the Gophers began the toughest stretch of their schedule with losses to Indiana and Michigan State this week, despite Banham's 81 combined points. The scheduling trouble and no true signature win leaves Minnesota with an RPI of 80, well out of range for teams historically included as at-large selections. Nothing short of a sweep of Ohio State and Maryland will get Minnesota seriously into the mix.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/14822789/breaking-bubble-teams

Go Gophers!!
 



One down one to go :)


Sent from my keyboard using fingers.
 

B1G Women's RPI Stuff

Per Warren Nolan rankings.

B1G Teams in RPI Top 100
#5 Ohio State (6-3 vs. RPI top 50)
#11 Maryland (3-3 vs. RPI top 50)
#25 Michigan State (1-5 vs. RPI top 50)
#38 Indiana (1-6 vs. RPI top 50)
#53 Rutgers (1-9 vs. RPI top 50)
#57 Purdue (2-5 vs. RPI top 50)
#59 Iowa (1-6 vs. RPI top 50)
#62 Michigan (0-7 vs. RPI top 50)
#70 GOPHERS (2-2 vs. RPI top 50)
#88 Nebraska (3-5 vs. RPI top 50)
 


Per Warren Nolan rankings.

B1G Teams in RPI Top 100
#5 Ohio State (6-3 vs. RPI top 50)
#11 Maryland (3-3 vs. RPI top 50)
#25 Michigan State (1-5 vs. RPI top 50)
#38 Indiana (1-6 vs. RPI top 50)
#53 Rutgers (1-9 vs. RPI top 50)
#57 Purdue (2-5 vs. RPI top 50)
#59 Iowa (1-6 vs. RPI top 50)
#62 Michigan (0-7 vs. RPI top 50)
#70 GOPHERS (2-2 vs. RPI top 50)
#88 Nebraska (3-5 vs. RPI top 50)

Ohio st, Maryland and MN are the only teams with a 500 or better record vs RPI top 50.

A loss vs Maryland and 2 BTT wins gets them in.
 

Ohio st, Maryland and MN are the only teams with a 500 or better record vs RPI top 50.

A loss vs Maryland and 2 BTT wins gets them in.

That's a possibility, especially if that second win (in the quarterfinals) is over Michigan State. That likely would get Gophers RPI in the neighborhood of 50. Then they'd at least be able to make a reasonable case. ... they'd have wins over every team that finished ahead of them in the standings except for Maryland. Not a great argument, but one that could be good enough to offset the weak schedule.

Still think the most likely scenario, absent beating Maryland, is make it to the championship game. That means they've likely beaten two high-quality teams (the #4 and #1 seeds) as opposed to just making it to the semifinals (#12/#13 and #4).

Obviously, the records vs. the RPI top 50 could fluctuate after this week's results, as the B1G has several teams hangin' around #50 in the RPI.
 

Of course, if they beat Maryland, they are in the quarterfinals against Indiana or the 12th seed.
 




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