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.
College basketball RPI ratings - Top 75 thru games of March 8, 2009:
1 Pittsburgh
Duke
North Carolina
Connecticut
Oklahoma
Michigan State
Memphis
Kansas
Louisville
Wake Forest
Utah
Missouri
Washington
Villanova
Xavier
Florida State
Syracuse
Butler
Clemson
Illinois
Siena
BYU
Tennessee
Dayton
Oklahoma State
West Virginia
Utah State
Gonzaga
Texas A&M
UCLA
Marquette
Arizona State
Purdue
California
Texas
Ohio State
LSU
Wisconsin
Temple
Creighton
Minnesota
Michigan
UAB
San Diego State
Western Kentucky
St. Mary's
Georgetown
Florida
Illinois State
VCU
South Carolina
Niagara
Arizona
Miami (FL)
George Mason
UNLV
Boston College
New Mexico
Northern Iowa
USC
Tulsa
Virginia Tech
Penn State
Auburn
Rhode Island
Cleveland State
Maryland
Nebraska
Davidson
Northwestern
Providence
Cincinnati
Notre Dame
Wisconsin Green Bay
75 Baylor
Back to NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings
Back to College Basketball Rankings home page
Check out NCAA women's basketball RPI ratings
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.
College basketball RPI ratings - Top 75 thru games of March 8, 2009:
1 Pittsburgh
Duke
North Carolina
Connecticut
Oklahoma
Michigan State
Memphis
Kansas
Louisville
Wake Forest
Utah
Missouri
Washington
Villanova
Xavier
Florida State
Syracuse
Butler
Clemson
Illinois
Siena
BYU
Tennessee
Dayton
Oklahoma State
West Virginia
Utah State
Gonzaga
Texas A&M
UCLA
Marquette
Arizona State
Purdue
California
Texas
Ohio State
LSU
Wisconsin
Temple
Creighton
Minnesota
Michigan
UAB
San Diego State
Western Kentucky
St. Mary's
Georgetown
Florida
Illinois State
VCU
South Carolina
Niagara
Arizona
Miami (FL)
George Mason
UNLV
Boston College
New Mexico
Northern Iowa
USC
Tulsa
Virginia Tech
Penn State
Auburn
Rhode Island
Cleveland State
Maryland
Nebraska
Davidson
Northwestern
Providence
Cincinnati
Notre Dame
Wisconsin Green Bay
75 Baylor
Back to NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings
Back to College Basketball Rankings home page
Check out NCAA women's basketball RPI ratings
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