Davidson's shot at an NCAA Tournament at-large bid almost vanished with Wednesday's 64-46 loss to The Citadel. The Wildcats, who had hovered around No. 30 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), a spot that virtually guarantees an at-large spot, for weeks, have been slipping recently, and entered this week at No. 50.
While The Citadel has been hot over the past month, the Bulldogs entered the week ranked 175th in the RPI, which means that Davidson's 18-point loss at home to a team that far down the list could have disastrous consequences.
The Wildcats could make some amends by beating Butler Saturday at Belk Arena, but that won't help enough. The Bulldogs remain 21st in the RPI at the moment, but that doesn't count Wednesday's loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Butler's second straight defeat.
The Bottom line? The Southern Conference has never received an NCAA basketball tournament at-large bid, and Davidson's loss to The Citadel virtually assures that it won't happen this year, either. The Wildcats will need the automatic bid that comes with the tournament championship.
--Stan Olson
Friday, February 20, 2009
Davidson RPI slip-slidin' away
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7 comments:
Stan, it's worth noting, though, that the committee usually gives some credit to teams that lost with injuries to key players. Think Steph might qualify?
Michael, I think that's true to a point. If your RPI is in the 70s, that is probably too far down to get such consideration. But I have to think the committee would give Davidson the benefit of the doubt because Curry is such a brilliant player, although they always say they don't consider such things. I think winning the tournament--still likely with Steph--is the way they'll have to get there
Good thing Davidson decided not to play Charlotte this year because the Wildcats would have had another RPI killing loss.
Charlotte beating Davidson at Belk...lol. Funny how one upset makes people forget about a season of ineptitude
Interseting that Charlotte has more RPI Top 100 wins than Davidson.
But hey, when one Davidson player gets hurt roll out the excuses. When Charlotte has two season-ending injuries and another player leaves before the season even starts it's ineptitude.
Stephen Curry > any 4 Charlotte players combined.
Sure wasn't the case in Halton last year now, was it? That's why they play the game son.
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