College Basketball RPI Ratings: NCAA Ratings Percentage Index
The NCAA developed the college basketball RPI ratings back in 1981 as an additional piece of reference material when selecting and seeding teams for the men's basketball tournament. Each year when March Madness rolls around the importance of the RPI(Ratings Index Percentage) seems to get over-hyped by the media and by many college basketball gurus across the internet. The NCAA actually considers several factors when evaluating teams for the tournament. College basketball RPI ratings are just one piece of the puzzle that the tournament committee contends with.
The formula for the college basketball RPI ratings is quite simple. It's based on wins, who you have played, and who your opponents have played. Road wins are weighted heavier than home wins. Home losses are weighted heavier than road losses.
The formula for the college basketball RPI ratings is quite simple. It's based on wins, who you have played, and who your opponents have played. Road wins are weighted heavier than home wins. Home losses are weighted heavier than road losses.
Here is the actual formula for the college basketball RPI rankings:
Wins: 1.4*road wins + 0.6*home wins
Losses: 0.6*road losses + 1.4*home losses
Winning Percentage: Wins/(Wins + Losses)
Overall RPI Formula: 0.25*Winning Percentage + 0.50*Opponents' Average Winning Percentage + 0.25*Opponents' Opponents' Average Winning Percentage
So your own weighted winning percentage accounts for 25% of the formula, the average of your opponents' winning percentages accounts for 50% of the formula, and the average of your opponents' opponents' winning percentages accounts for 25% of the formula. Please note that only your own home and road wins/losses get weighted. When averaging your opponents' or opponents' opponents' winning percentages, the road and home weights are not used in the calculations nor are any games against your team.
The NCAA maintains the official college basketball RPI ratings. They do not reveal the actual figures resulting from the calculations, however they do release the rankings 1 through 341 starting in late-January of each season. The fact that the NCAA does not release the actual figures is not a big deal as the difference between 1 and 100 is typically around 0.15.
As you can see from the RPI formula, strength of schedule plays a large role in the outcome of the rankings. That's what the NCAA tournament committee had in mind when the RPI ratings were created back in 1981. Weighting home and road wins/losses was added to the formula for the 2004-2005 college basketball season.
Final College basketball RPI ratings - Top 75 thru games of March 16:
1 North Carolina - ranked number 2 in the CBR top 25 rankings
2 Tennessee - ranked number 5 in the CBR top 25 rankings
3 Memphis - ranked number 3 in the CBR top 25 rankings
4 UCLA - ranked number 1 in the CBR top 25 rankings
5 Kansas - ranked number 4 in the CBR top 25 rankings
6 Texas - ranked number 6 in the CBR top 25 rankings
7 Duke - ranked number 9 in the CBR top 25 rankings
8 Georgetown - ranked number 8 in the CBR top 25 rankings
9 Xavier - ranked number 16 in the CBR top 25 rankings
10 Drake - ranked number 22 in the CBR top 25 rankings
11 Wisconsin - ranked number 7 in the CBR top 25 rankings
12 Vanderbilt
13 Louisville - ranked number 13 in the CBR top 25 rankings
14 Stanford - ranked number 10 in the CBR top 25 rankings
15 Pittsburgh - ranked number 12 in the CBR top 25 rankings
16 Michigan St. - ranked number 14 in the CBR top 25 rankings
17 Butler - ranked number 11 in the CBR top 25 rankings
18 Connecticut - ranked number 17 in the CBR top 25 rankings
19 Clemson - ranked number 20 in the CBR top 25 rankings
20 Marquette - ranked number 18 in the CBR top 25 rankings
21 Washington St. - ranked number 23 in the CBR top 25 rankings
22 Kent St.
23 Indiana
24 UNLV
25 BYU
26 Notre Dame - ranked number 19 in the CBR top 25 rankings
27 West Virginia
28 USC - ranked number 21 in the CBR top 25 rankings
29 Oklahoma
30 Gonzaga - ranked number 25 in the CBR top 25 rankings
31 Arkansas
32 Dayton
33 Illinois St.
34 Miami Fla
35 Davidson
36 St. Mary's
37 South Alabama
38 Arizona
39 Western Kentucky
40 Mississippi St. - ranked number 24 in the CBR top 25 rankings
41 Texas A&M
42 Massachusetts
43 Baylor
44 Saint Joseph's
45 Purdue - ranked number 15 in the CBR top 25 rankings
46 Creighton
47 Temple
48 Mississippi
49 Ohio St.
50 Kansas St.
51 Villanova
52 Virginia Tech
53 Oral Roberts
54 VCU
55 Syracuse
56 UAB
57 Kentucky
58 Oregon
59 New Mexico
60 Florida St.
61 George Mason
62 Southern Illinois
63 Cleveland St.
64 Stephen F. Austin
65 Cornell
66 Siena
67 Georgia Tech
68 Texas Tech
69 Charlotte
70 IUPUI
71 Utah St.
72 Florida
73 Miami Ohio
74 Nevada
75 Akron
Back to NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings
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Wins: 1.4*road wins + 0.6*home wins
Losses: 0.6*road losses + 1.4*home losses
Winning Percentage: Wins/(Wins + Losses)
Overall RPI Formula: 0.25*Winning Percentage + 0.50*Opponents' Average Winning Percentage + 0.25*Opponents' Opponents' Average Winning Percentage
So your own weighted winning percentage accounts for 25% of the formula, the average of your opponents' winning percentages accounts for 50% of the formula, and the average of your opponents' opponents' winning percentages accounts for 25% of the formula. Please note that only your own home and road wins/losses get weighted. When averaging your opponents' or opponents' opponents' winning percentages, the road and home weights are not used in the calculations nor are any games against your team.
The NCAA maintains the official college basketball RPI ratings. They do not reveal the actual figures resulting from the calculations, however they do release the rankings 1 through 341 starting in late-January of each season. The fact that the NCAA does not release the actual figures is not a big deal as the difference between 1 and 100 is typically around 0.15.
As you can see from the RPI formula, strength of schedule plays a large role in the outcome of the rankings. That's what the NCAA tournament committee had in mind when the RPI ratings were created back in 1981. Weighting home and road wins/losses was added to the formula for the 2004-2005 college basketball season.
Final College basketball RPI ratings - Top 75 thru games of March 16:
1 North Carolina - ranked number 2 in the CBR top 25 rankings
2 Tennessee - ranked number 5 in the CBR top 25 rankings
3 Memphis - ranked number 3 in the CBR top 25 rankings
4 UCLA - ranked number 1 in the CBR top 25 rankings
5 Kansas - ranked number 4 in the CBR top 25 rankings
6 Texas - ranked number 6 in the CBR top 25 rankings
7 Duke - ranked number 9 in the CBR top 25 rankings
8 Georgetown - ranked number 8 in the CBR top 25 rankings
9 Xavier - ranked number 16 in the CBR top 25 rankings
10 Drake - ranked number 22 in the CBR top 25 rankings
11 Wisconsin - ranked number 7 in the CBR top 25 rankings
12 Vanderbilt
13 Louisville - ranked number 13 in the CBR top 25 rankings
14 Stanford - ranked number 10 in the CBR top 25 rankings
15 Pittsburgh - ranked number 12 in the CBR top 25 rankings
16 Michigan St. - ranked number 14 in the CBR top 25 rankings
17 Butler - ranked number 11 in the CBR top 25 rankings
18 Connecticut - ranked number 17 in the CBR top 25 rankings
19 Clemson - ranked number 20 in the CBR top 25 rankings
20 Marquette - ranked number 18 in the CBR top 25 rankings
21 Washington St. - ranked number 23 in the CBR top 25 rankings
22 Kent St.
23 Indiana
24 UNLV
25 BYU
26 Notre Dame - ranked number 19 in the CBR top 25 rankings
27 West Virginia
28 USC - ranked number 21 in the CBR top 25 rankings
29 Oklahoma
30 Gonzaga - ranked number 25 in the CBR top 25 rankings
31 Arkansas
32 Dayton
33 Illinois St.
34 Miami Fla
35 Davidson
36 St. Mary's
37 South Alabama
38 Arizona
39 Western Kentucky
40 Mississippi St. - ranked number 24 in the CBR top 25 rankings
41 Texas A&M
42 Massachusetts
43 Baylor
44 Saint Joseph's
45 Purdue - ranked number 15 in the CBR top 25 rankings
46 Creighton
47 Temple
48 Mississippi
49 Ohio St.
50 Kansas St.
51 Villanova
52 Virginia Tech
53 Oral Roberts
54 VCU
55 Syracuse
56 UAB
57 Kentucky
58 Oregon
59 New Mexico
60 Florida St.
61 George Mason
62 Southern Illinois
63 Cleveland St.
64 Stephen F. Austin
65 Cornell
66 Siena
67 Georgia Tech
68 Texas Tech
69 Charlotte
70 IUPUI
71 Utah St.
72 Florida
73 Miami Ohio
74 Nevada
75 Akron
Back to NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings
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Check out NCAA women's basketball RPI ratings
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