Tag: rpi

Florida baseball ranked inside RPI top 30 ahead of Stillwater Regional

Taking a look at the RPI rankings of the Stillwater Regional teams ahead of the NCAA Tournament.

Florida made the NCAA Baseball Tournament Field of 64 on Monday, in part thanks to a No. 30 ranking on the post-conference tournament RPI update.

Florida is the only team ranked inside the top 30 with less than 30 wins, and Auburn and Ole Miss are the only others inside the top 50. If it isn’t apparent by the numbers, playing the SEC schedule gives teams a huge advantage when it comes to RPI rankings.

The KPI and RPI ranking systems reward strong schedules by establishing what boils down to “quality losses.” It’s the same argument football fans have been dealing with for a while, and they only have four spots to work with. In total, a record 11 of the 14 SEC teams made the NCAA Tournament.

“One of the key aspects for Florida was that strength of schedule,” selection committee chair Matt Hogue said on ESPN. “I think No. 1 in overall strength of schedule, No. 13 in non-conference strength of schedule. That was something that mattered a lot and weaved through a lot of the conversations.

“But we did spend a great deal of time considering Florida and their overall résumé, and again, I think you bring up a great issue and a great question — when you do have teams that may be from different places, different conferences, it’s difficult. That underscores why it’s important to try to play as rigorous a schedule as you can, particularly in the non-conference.”

In the end, Florida made the field comfortably thanks to that top-30 RPI ranking. The Gators avoided the Last Four In, which shocked many expert prognosticators.

The rest of the region

Looking at the rest of the Stillwater Regional teams, Oklahoma State is ranked the highest according to RPI at No. 11, followed by Nebraska at No. 28 and No. 103 Niagara.

Florida is technically the underdog against Nebraska on Friday, according to those rankings, but the Huskers have only played four Quadrant 1 games all season. Florida is battled tested despite a 13-18 record against Q1 opponents this year.

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Gators baseball jumps 7 spots in RPI after series win over Georgia

Despite not being ranked in any of the major college baseball polls, Florida has one of the best RPI rankings in the country.

For a team that is well outside the top 25 in both the D1Baseball rankings and USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, the Florida Gators have one of the best resumes in the country for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Gators are ranked No. 22 overall on D1Baseball’s RPI report to close out the regular season. Florida enters the postseason with a 28-26 record, guaranteeing a win percentage greater than .500 no matter what happens in the upcoming SEC Tournament.

The Gators had the toughest regular season schedule in the country, ranking first overall in strength of schedule. There’s a lot of talent that goes to play college baseball in the state of Florida, and the Gators see most of those teams.

Breaking down Florida’s wins and losses

Similar to the NET rankings in college basketball, D1Baseball’s RPI Report features a quadrant system to better categorize each win and loss. Quadrant 1 wins can help a team win a tiebreaker when the Field of 64 is picked, but Quadrant 4 losses can have the reverse effect.

Florida played the majority of its games against Quadrant 1 opponents, going 13-17. The Gators struggled against Quadrant 2 opponents with a 2-6 record and split the four games it played against Quadrant 3 teams. Most importantly, Florida dropped just one of 12 games against Quadrant 4 opponents.

Up Next

Florida can still move up the RPI Report with a strong performance at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama. The Gators take on the Vanderbilt Commodores on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

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Florida baseball enters final regular season series just outside RPI top 25

Florida’s series loss to Kentucky has the Gators moving down the latest RPI rankings from D1Baseball.

Despite Florida being on a six-series losing streak that’s spanned a month and a half, the Gators are still well positioned to finish the 2024 regular season inside the top 25 of the RPI rankings.

According to D1Baseball’s latest update, Florida stands at No. 29, but that’s following a six-spot dip over the past seven days. The Gators tend to compete with the best teams in the sport only to come up short the next day. They solved their midweek problem, which means they’re beating the mid-major teams SEC elites are supposed to again but a 26-25 record hardly impresses.

Much the like college basketball’s NET rankings, the D1Baseball RPI rankings use a quadrant system. Quadrant 1 wins and Quadrant 4 losses are the biggest drivers of movement in a system like that, and Florida is 11-1 against Q4 opponents.

The 11-16 record against Q1 opponent is less impressive, but it’s not bad enough to drag Florida down to the 40s and 50s. Playing in the SEC is hard, and Florida is a sweep away from finishing the season with a decent conference record.

As expected, the top 25 is littered with SEC teams. Kentucky, Texas A&M, Georgia and Arkansas control the top four spots, and Tennessee checks in at No. 6 overall. Alabama is next up at No. 11, Mississippi State is at No. 15 and South Carolina is hanging on to a top-20 spot at No. 19.

No. 24 Ole Miss and No. 28 Vanderbilt are the other two SEC teams ahead of Florida on the list. Only No. 34 LSU, No. 45 Auburn and No. 106 Missouri are ranked lower than UF.

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Close series with Arkansas has Florida baseball moving up RPI report

Florida hasn’t done much winning on the weekend over the last month or so, but the Gators are still moving up the D1Baseball RPI report.

Florida has lost four weekend series in a row, but the Gators are somehow climbing the D1Baseball RPI report after a close three games with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

On Sunday, Florida landed in the No. 23 spot on the report, up seven spots in one day and 12 over the past week. Despite the way things played out, Florida had a chance to sweep the No. 3 ranked team on the list.

The first two games of the series were decided by one run, and Florida had scoring opportunities in timely situations during both. The Gators find new ways to lose games, including a botched sacrifice fly thanks to a brilliant deke from Arkansas’ centerfielder.

Still, Florida cruised to a win in the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday, securing the only win of the series with a run differential greater than one.

If Florida backs up its pitching when it needs to, this series plays out differently, but it’s hard to complain with a rise in the rankings after a series loss.

Here’s how Florida’s current win-loss breakdown plays out:

RPI Ranking Record
1-25 5-10
26-50 4-3
51-100 2-5
101-200 7-3
201+ 4-0

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Despite Struggles, Oklahoma Men’s Basketball team is far from the NCAA tournament bubble

Despite recent struggles, the Oklahoma Sooners are still in good shape to make the NCAA tournament.

The Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball team has had an up-and-down go of it during Big 12 play. As things stand right now ahead of Saturday’s final conference Bedlam matchup, the Sooners are 18-8 overall and 6-7 in Big 12 play.

They’ve had opportunities to be better than their sub-.500 record. But such is life in the Big 12. Up 11 on Kansas one minute, suffering another disappointing loss the next.

And yet, the Oklahoma Sooners are still an improved basketball team from a year ago when they finished 5-13 in conference play and in last place. And despite the roller coaster ride they’ve been on in the toughest basketball conference in the country, Oklahoma is still on solid footing for to make the NCAA tournament for the first time under Porter Moser.

Even if they finish the season on a sour note, their strength of schedule will be enough for the Oklahoma Sooners to make the tournament. But let’s check in with where Oklahoma’s at in the latest NET ratings, RPI, and bracketologies from around the world of college hoops.

Auburn softball’s RPI, postseason outlook ahead of Mississippi State series

The postseason outlook is great for the No. 17 Tigers ahead of the regular season finale at home with Mississippi State.

The final regular season series of the season is upon us, which means that the postseason picture is beginning to truly take shape.

As for the No. 17 Auburn Tigers, they are in great shape to earn a favorable postseason bid, with plenty of opportunities to boost their resume.

Ahead of this weekend’s final SEC series, Auburn is currently in 4th place in the SEC standings, with a chance to climb to the No. 3 spot by the weekend’s end. D1Softball appears to be in favor of Auburn’s chances to increase its stock in the NCAA Tournament seeding, which means that they could potentially host a regional.

Ahead of the final SEC series of the season, here’s a look at where Auburn ranks in the RPI, as well as their projected NCAA Regional destination.

Auburn baseball’s RPI ranking ahead of major series with LSU

After winning last weekend’s series at No. 4 South Carolina, Auburn is back in the postseason picture.

Auburn baseball’s series win over No. 4 South Carolina did wonders for their resume.

Following the series win in Columbia, Auburn climbed back into the top 40 of the RPI and has also resurfaced in the postseason picture according to D1Baseball.

A series win, on the road, against a top-five team is great. It is even better when you have a chance to keep the energy going the following week. Auburn has a chance to do just that this weekend when No. 1 LSU comes to town for a three-game set.

As the calendar turns toward the back end, Auburn will need to keep playing at a high level in order to get a favorable seed at the SEC Tournament, as well as the NCAA Tournament. Playing well against LSU will do just that.

Here’s a look at where Auburn falls in major categories measured by RPI ahead of this weekend’s series with the Bayou Bengals.

Auburn softball’s place in the RPI ahead of South Carolina series

Auburn is in a good position to continue its hot streak this weekend at South Carolina.

The No. 17 Auburn Tigers are getting hot at the right time, and they look to continue their streak of good fortune this weekend at South Carolina.

Winners of two straight series against top 25 teams within the SEC, Auburn travels to Columbia this weekend in hopes of winning its’ third-straight series against a challenging foe. South Carolina enters the weekend with a 7-11 record in conference play, but they have shown signs of great play this season by winning series’ over No. 14 Florida and No. 25 Texas A&M.

In a series that has the makings to be unpredictable, it is important for the Tigers to continue backing up pitchers [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] and [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] by playing great defense and recording timely hits.

Although history and numbers are not the most reliable indicator of how a series will shake out, it usually provides some clarity as to how each team has performed in several situations during a season. Ahead of this weekend’s series between Auburn and South Carolina, here is a look at the Tigers’ place in the RPI, provided by D1Softball.

Where Auburn stands in the RPI ahead of South Carolina series

A series win in Columbia over the RPI’s top team would do wonders for Auburn’s postseason chances.

Auburn baseball got back on the winning track last weekend by taking two of three games from Mississippi State in what turned out to be an amazing display of offensive skill.

Auburn, however, fell to in-state foe Troy on Tuesday, which caused the Tigers to stumble in the rating power index ahead of this weekend’s series at No. 3 South Carolina.

According to the latest projection from D1Baseball, Auburn is still included in the “first five out” cluster, but a successful weekend against the Gamecocks could change their path. It will be a challenge, as South Carolina has built an impressive resume to this point in the season.

Here’s a look at Auburn’s place in the RPI ahead of a laborious series at South Carolina.

Auburn softball surges in RPI following series win over LSU

The Tigers are heating up at the right time.

The No. 21 Auburn Tigers needed a series win over a top-25 team to pad their resume and did so last weekend by taking two-of-three games from No. 13 LSU at Jane B. Moore Field.

Auburn got the job done thanks to stellar pitching and defense. Auburn held LSU to just six runs on 15 hits over the weekend. Auburn pitchers [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag], [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag], and [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] also combined to strike out 21 batters.

The most impressive performance of the weekend from the Auburn pitching staff came Sunday in Auburn’s 1-0 extra-inning win. Penta allowed four hits while striking out seven batters in 8.2 innings of work. Lowe recorded the final out by striking out LSU’s Danieca Coffey on five pitches.

The series win over a top 25 team in LSU was impressive, which boosted their numbers in the latest Ratings Power Index from D1Softball. Auburn now sits in the top 25 and has a chance to improve their stock this weekend at No. 16 Alabama.

Here’s a look at where Auburn sits in the RPI ahead of this week’s games with Jacksonville State and Alabama.