Northwestern @ Gophers -- by the (RPI) numbers

[SelectionSunday]

All RPI numbers courtesy of CollegeRPI.com.

Northwestern (14-5, 3-4)
RPI: 56
Record vs. Top 50: 1-4
Record vs. Top 100: 4-5
Worthless (Bottom 100) Wins: 4 (Central Connecticut, North Carolina A&T, Tennessee State, Texas-Pan American)
Bad Losses (#101+): none
Record vs. BCS Opponents: 7-4
Road/Neutral: 4-2
Overall SOS: 71
Average RPI of Nonconference Opponents: 187.666

Gophers (12-7, 3-4)
RPI: 64
Record vs. Top 50: 2-4
Record vs. Top 100: 2-6
Worthless (Bottom 100) Wins: 2 (Brown, Utah Valley)
Bad Losses (#101+): 1 (Indiana)
Record vs. BCS Opponents: 3-6
Record at Williams Arena: 10-1
Overall SOS: 31
Average RPI of Nonconference Opponents: 161.166

The Line: Gophers by 10.5
The Call: Gophers 70, Northwestern 65

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Gosh I hope you're right on the call. Gophers are favored by a little more than I thought they would be. The team should be anxious to get a W. I can't see why they wouldn't be ready. They HAVE to get this one. Thanks for the info.

 

[Section201]

Yipes

Yipes!

What sticks out to me is this:

Cats: Record vs. BCS Opponents: 7-4

Gophers: Record vs. BCS Opponents: 3-6

IMO we MUST beat the Cats twice this season as they will be one of the teams we are compared to in March. As of today it doesn't look very good.

Go Gophers!

 

[SelectionSunday]

When comparing the two teams, NW's record vs. BCS opponents did stand out. Iowa State, NC State, Notre Dame and Stanford aren't great nonconference wins, but as a group they're very solid. They're all in the top 120 of the RPI, and very importantly 3 of the 4 (Iowa State, NC State, Notre Dame) were on the road or a neutral court.

Not to mention, the Wildcats have a soft schedule on the backside of the season, getting Indiana, Iowa and Penn State twice apiece, as well as Michigan and Minnesota at home.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Looking at the rest of their schedule, they do have an oppurtunity for 11 Big Ten wins.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

I hope the gops can pull it out tonight, if they don't look out NIT, save a B10 tourney title.