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RPI: Impartial arbiter or fuzzy math?

(03/07/01 9:00am)

Every year, you turn on ESPN and listen to bald-headed analysts talk about the proverbial "bubble teams." They talk about quality wins, non-conference opponents and other tangible concepts. Then they always seem to mention a team's RPI ranking. You know what? The RPI is America's worst invention since those damn scooter things. Why does everyone put so much stock in the RPI? Answer: So mid-major teams that choke in their conference tournaments have a leg to stand on when begging for an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. Despite losing to Indiana State in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) semifinals, Creighton thinks its 23rd RPI ranking is enough for it to get a bid. Creighton points to its strength of schedule, a ranking of 68th, better than Florida's, Georgetown's and Oklahoma's. But somehow, they got their ranking without even so much as competing against an AP top-25 team all year. How in the world could that be true? Simple. The strength of schedule, a factor that comprises 75 percent of a team's RPI ranking, is based on a team's opponents' collective winning percentage and its opponents' opponents' winning percentage. One problem though. The average value for that statistic is going to be .500, regardless of what conference you're talking about, assuming that each team plays each other team the same number of times. That means that Creighton gets to beat up on MVC giants like Drake and Northern Iowa, while a team like Clemson-the RPI says that Clemson's 106th-ranked schedule is easier than Creighton's-gets to compete against Duke and North Carolina. Seems fair to me. Non-conference games come into play, but every team faces the same problem of having too few matches to schedule against quality opponents. The bottom line here is that human reasoning needs to come into play. There is no reason Georgia State should be ranked ahead of Georgetown. Similarly, you'd have a hard time convincing anyone that Creighton is a better team than Maryland. But the RPI would have you believe otherwise. College football uses the BCS system, a process that is equally as complex as the RPI but with one main difference: It factors in human polling. It takes into account the fact that a chimpanzee can recognize that some teams are better than others, no matter what a mathematical formula spits out. March Madness is the greatest postseason of any sport, collegiate or professional. We're fortunate to have competent human beings selecting the 65 teams that will make the tournament. Let's just hope that they don't let this RPI nonsense mess things up.

https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2001/03/rpi-impartial-arbiter-or-fuzzy-math-2002

Duke's offensive line faces tall task of stopping North Carolina's Julius Peppers

(11/17/00 9:00am)

Just two weeks ago, Duke fans should have been thanking their lucky stars that there was Louisiana-Monroe, the nation's other football program struggling to put double-digits up on the scoreboard. But that was before Duke's performance the past two games. The Blue Devils turned heads by scoring 26 points in a loss to Wake Forest and then 31 against N.C. State. With sophomore D. Bryant and a reignited offensive line, Duke put up a Florida State-like 474 yards of total offense and 23 first downs to put to rest any disputes about its offense. "We hit some big plays early," coach Carl Franks said. "That was the big difference. We got some momentum going. We've had some chances earlier in the year, and we weren't able to make them." Bryant, who has passed for 596 yards in his past two starts, attributed the success in last week's game to the guys doing all the dirty work in the trenches: the offensive line. "Our offensive line played great," Bryant said. "They gave me a lot of time. It was probably their best game of the season. I got sacked twice. That's the least amount of sacks we've given up all season." The offensive line, anchored by seniors Troy Andrew and Wes White, has stepped up lately. After a below-average effort in the early portion of the season, Andrew said it took an intrastate rivalry to renew the passion. "We knew we had to establish the run to set up the pass," Andrew said. "We started the season doing a sub-par job. We really had to improve our output, and that's what we did in the past three weeks. "There's a little extra incentive going against N.C. State. They were a beatable team. I think we proved that. A lot of their guys are in-state, and a lot of our guys are in-state. I think that was a big factor. We just upped our intensity." Against a stingy N.C. State secondary that had been giving up just under 180 yards per game coming into last weekend, Bryant passed for 319 yards and 3 TDs. "I guess I was in a zone," Bryant said. "I didn't really know I had completed 16 passes in a row. Everything just felt so easy. I just felt so comfortable out there." It is no coincidence that as Bryant's maturity level has risen throughout the year, so has the offensive line's ability to block for him. As the second quarterback to step into Franks' offense this season, it has taken some time for the linemen to adjust to Bryant's play-calling and athletic ability. "It was kind of tough in the Clemson game bringing D. in because we were so used to [senior Spencer Romine]," Andrew said. "The initial reaction was kind of hard. Every season, we play with a couple QBs. It's not new. But we have a good rhythm with D. now." Bryant's first two starts were against a pair of seventh-ranked teams, Florida State and Clemson. He felt those two games helped him learn quickly what the college game was about. With his scrambling ability and confidence as a leader from his days playing basketball in high school, Bryant has finally secured the confidence of his coach, fans and his line. "When we scored that first touchdown, that gave the offensive line confidence all through the game, and it just carried all the way through," Bryant said. "They're coming along, and I'm coming along. We're coming along as a team."

https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2000/11/dukes-offensive-line-faces-tall-task-stopping-north-carolinas-julius-peppers-2001