January 2 Big Ten & Top 25 RPI Update

[SelectionSunday]

Michigan State and to a lesser extent Ohio State were the Big 10's big RPI winners during the mid-week games, as both picked up top-50 RPI wins. After seeing the Hawkeyes take OSU to the wire in Columbus, it's not safe to assume the Gophers will win in Iowa City next Thursday, making Saturday's game vs. the Buckeyes all the more important.

And don't look now, but Purdue (0-1) would be well advised not to slip up in Happy Valley in its next Big 10 game (Tuesday) or there could be some early season unrest surrounding the Boilers. Much like the Gophers (but not quite as dire), the Boilers' nonconference schedule likely won't give them much bounce at the end of the season, if need be. That said, it's still early.

Rankings courtesy of CollegeRPI.com.

Big Ten RPI Rankings
12. Michigan State
13. Illinois
15. Ohio State
22. Northwestern
28. Wisconsin
47. GOPHERS
49. Iowa
54. Michigan
76. Purdue
109. Penn State
197. Indiana

Big Ten Nonconference SOS Rankings (out of 343 D-I teams)
34. Northwestern
44. Wisconsin
54. Indiana
60. Ohio State
65. Michigan State
95. Illinois
108. Michigan
134. Iowa
214. Purdue
244. GOPHERS (bottom 28.9%)
316. Penn State

Big Ten Wins vs. Top-50 RPI (12)
Ohio State 3 -- Butler (2), at Miami-Florida (34), Iowa (49)
Michigan State 3 -- vs. Texas (20), vs. Oklahoma State (31), at Gophers (47)
Purdue 2 -- vs. Davidson (18), vs. Boston College (40)
Michigan 1 -- Duke (7)
Northwestern 1 -- Florida State (10)
Penn State 1 -- Northwestern (22)
GOPHERS 1 -- vs. Louisville (46)

National RPI Top 25 Rankings
1. Pitt
2. Butler
3. Oklahoma
4. Clemson
5. North Carolina
6. Xavier
7. Duke
8. Georgetown
9. UConn
10. Florida State
11. St. Mary's
12. Michigan State
13. Illinois
14. Syracuse
15. Ohio State
16. West Virginia
17. Miami-Ohio
18. Davidson
19. Evansville
20. Texas
21. Memphis
22. Northwestern
23. Tennessee
24. Stanford
25. Temple

 

[GVBadger]

Interesting numbers. The Badgers moved from in the 40's to 28 with the win over Michigan. They also have a very good schedule rating.

The Gophers schedule is not only bad for the ticket buying public, but as you have pointed out, it gives them a razor thin margin for making the tournament, even with the conference being stronger. The Gophers are going to have to get some marquee Big Ten wins, even if they are only at home and they have already lost the opportunity for one of them.

If there is such a thing as a must win game on the first weekend in January, I think this would be it for the Gophers. It should be very disheartening if the Buckeyes come in here and dominate the Gophers on the boards like the Spartans did.

I wonder if the lack of competition really hurt the Gophers when the real bullets started flying in the Big 10. I am guessing it helped the Badgers when they went to Michigan because they had already played at Virginia Tech, at Marquette and UCONN on a neutral court.

Thanks as always for the updates.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Gophers & Michigan in same boat this weekend

"If there is such a thing as a must win game on the first weekend in January, I think this would be it for the Gophers."

No argument here. Both the Gophers and Michigan already have huge games this weekend. Neither wants to start 0-2 at home, while at the same time (as you pointed out) missing out on a pair of opportunities to garner quality wins.