Tuesday, September 12, 2017

2017 Simulated RPI Ranks 9.12.2017

This week my full-season simulation system makes a change in how it simulates the results of future games.  Instead of using assigned pre-season ratings as a basis for simulating results, it now uses teams' actual ARPI ratings based on games played through Sunday, September 10.  I make the change at this point in the season because the actual ARPI ratings now match better than the assigned pre-season ratings with actual game results.

There are some things to bear in mind, which make the simulations at this stage of the season very speculative and likely to have some odd results:

  • The RPI formula has three main elements.  Element 1 is a team's winning percentage.  Element 2 is the average of its opponents' winning percentages.  Element 3 is the average of its opponents' opponents' winning percentages.  The design of the formula is such that the effective weights of these three elements, at the end of the season, are roughly 50% winning percentage, 40% opponents' winning percentages, and 10% opponents' opponents' winning percentages.  If you combine Elements 2 and 3, you get strength of schedule, so the end-of-season effective weights are roughly 50% winning percentage and 50% strength of schedule.
  • Early in the season, however, the effective weights are different and emphasize strength of schedule more than winning percentage.  Thus for teams' ratings based on games played through Sunday, September 10, the effective weights are 37% winning percentage, 50% opponents' winning percentages, and 13% opponents' opponents' winning percentages -- in other words, 37% winning percentage and 63% strength of schedule.  Over the course of the season, these numbers will migrate towards the desired 50-50 weights.
  • Teams have not yet played enough games to create all of the cross connections needed among teams in order for the rating system to be able to rate them all together in a single system.  In statistical lingo, there is not yet enough "correspondence" among the teams.  The correspondence among teams will improve as the season progresses.  This will result in significant movement of teams in the rankings.
  • Hurricanes Harvey and Irma may have a significant effect on this year's rankings, due to the need for teams to cancel games.  A prime example of this is Florida State.  Florida State has played what's so far turned out to be a weak non-conference schedule, with its opponents having current records (excluding their result against Florida State, which is what the RPI does in computing its strength of schedule) as follows:  UNC Greensboro 2-4-1, South Alabama 2-3-1, Samford 2-4-1, Alabama 6-1-0, and Kentucky 4-3-0.  And, tomorrow it will have a game against Troy 2-4-2, which will be its last non-conference opponent.  Florida State's record against the teams it's played is 4-1.  Combined with its strength of schedule, and with the current RPI's effective weights of winning percentage as compared to strength of schedule, this puts Florida State at #56 in the ARPI rankings.  Florida State was scheduled to play Florida, at Florida, last Friday, but lost the game to Hurricane Irma and it appears likely the game will not be re-scheduled.  If they had played Florida and lost, their current ranking would be #59; if they tied it would be #53; and if they won it would be #41.  Thus not being able to play that game will hurt Florida State on the strength of schedule side of the RPI equation.  In addition, my studies have indicated that the Women's Soccer Committee, in making NCAA Tournament decisions, places a high value on good results -- wins or ties -- against highly ranked teams.  At present, with the loss of the Florida game, none of Florida State's non-conference opponents are in the Top 50 teams, so it currently has no good results in its record.  What this means for Florida State -- and for teams in a similar position that have had to cancel games against their good quality non-conference opponents -- is that there will be a greater than usual need for it to do well in its conference games, including gaining some high quality wins and/or ties.
With those thoughts in mind, here are the simulated end-of-season (including conference tournaments) ARPI ranks of the teams:


Team ARPI Rank Conference
SouthCarolinaU 1 SEC
Stanford 2 PacTwelve
TexasU 3 BigTwelve
Princeton 4 Ivy
LSU 5 SEC
Memphis 6 American
Rutgers 7 BigTen
UCF 8 American
TexasA&M 9 SEC
WakeForest 10 ACC
UCLA 11 PacTwelve
Clemson 12 ACC
WisconsinU 13 BigTen
MurrayState 14 OhioValley
Duke 15 ACC
Marquette 16 BigEast
FloridaU 17 SEC
NCState 18 ACC
FloridaGulfCoast 19 AtlanticSun
Rice 20 ConferenceUSA
WashingtonU 21 PacTwelve
MississippiU 22 SEC
KansasU 23 BigTwelve
TennesseeU 24 SEC
Purdue 25 BigTen
LoyolaMarymount 26 WestCoast
AlabamaU 27 SEC
MichiganU 28 BigTen
WashingtonState 29 PacTwelve
WestVirginiaU 30 BigTwelve
Butler 31 BigEast
UALR 32 SunBelt
VirginiaTech 33 ACC
Drexel 34 Colonial
OhioState 35 BigTen
VirginiaU 36 ACC
CollegeofCharleston 37 Colonial
MississippiState 38 SEC
LongBeachState 39 BigWest
Yale 40 Ivy
StJosephs 41 AtlanticTen
CaliforniaU 42 PacTwelve
Cincinnati 43 American
SMU 44 American
Pepperdine 45 WestCoast
UNLV 46 MountainWest
AustinPeay 47 OhioValley
Monmouth 48 MetroAtlantic
StLouis 49 AtlanticTen
KennesawState 50 AtlanticSun
UAB 51 ConferenceUSA
ColoradoU 52 PacTwelve
NorthCarolinaU 53 ACC
GeorgiaU 54 SEC
FresnoState 55 MountainWest
FloridaState 56 ACC
Milwaukee 57 Horizon
Radford 58 BigSouth
Lamar 59 Southland
SacramentoState 60 BigSky
Bryant 61 Northeast
Northeastern 62 Colonial
PennState 63 BigTen
Georgetown 64 BigEast
KentState 65 MidAmerican
Harvard 66 Ivy
SouthFlorida 67 American
NewHampshireU 68 AmericaEast
UNCAsheville 69 BigSouth
Charlotte 70 ConferenceUSA
IndianaU 71 BigTen
Valparaiso 72 MissouriValley
CoastalCarolina 73 SunBelt
NorthFlorida 74 AtlanticSun
CalStateNorthridge 75 BigWest
CalStateFullerton 76 BigWest
UtahU 77 PacTwelve
CentralMichigan 78 MidAmerican
VCU 79 AtlanticTen
SantaClara 80 WestCoast
Belmont 81 OhioValley
Samford 82 Southern
MichiganState 83 BigTen
Houston 84 American
MontanaU 85 BigSky
UtahState 86 MountainWest
Colgate 87 Patriot
Navy 88 Patriot
Villanova 89 BigEast
Dartmouth 90 Ivy
TennesseeTech 91 OhioValley
OklahomaState 92 BigTwelve
LouisianaTech 93 ConferenceUSA
NotreDame 94 ACC
Quinnipiac 95 MetroAtlantic
Liberty 96 BigSouth
BYU 97 WestCoast
LoyolaChicago 98 MissouriValley
Baylor 99 BigTwelve
William&Mary 100 Colonial
IndianaState 101 MissouriValley
NorthernColorado 102 BigSky
Vanderbilt 103 SEC
Louisville 104 ACC
NebraskaU 105 BigTen
Stetson 106 AtlanticSun
Syracuse 107 ACC
DelawareU 108 Colonial
Gonzaga 109 WestCoast
Columbia 110 Ivy
GeorgiaSouthern 111 SunBelt
MarylandU 112 BigTen
RhodeIslandU 113 AtlanticTen
TexasRGV 114 WAC
NorthwesternU 115 BigTen
ConnecticutU 116 American
ColoradoCollege 117 MountainWest
Seattle 118 WAC
SouthAlabama 119 SunBelt
LaSalle 120 AtlanticTen
StephenFAustin 121 Southland
TexasCorpusChristi 122 Southland
SamHoustonState 123 Southland
BostonCollege 124 ACC
BowlingGreen 125 MidAmerican
KentuckyU 126 SEC
WesternMichigan 127 MidAmerican
Binghamton 128 AmericaEast
ArizonaU 129 PacTwelve
DePaul 130 BigEast
OldDominion 131 ConferenceUSA
ArizonaState 132 PacTwelve
ClevelandState 133 Horizon
MississippiValley 134 Southwestern
Auburn 135 SEC
NorthernArizona 136 BigSky
Lehigh 137 Patriot
VermontU 138 AmericaEast
Hofstra 139 Colonial
Furman 140 Southern
TCU 141 BigTwelve
Winthrop 142 BigSouth
UCSantaBarbara 143 BigWest
StJohns 144 BigEast
SouthernMississippi 145 ConferenceUSA
Brown 146 Ivy
MissouriState 147 MissouriValley
NorthernKentucky 148 Horizon
Niagara 149 MetroAtlantic
UNCGreensboro 150 Southern
UNI 151 MissouriValley
GeorgeWashington 152 AtlanticTen
SouthernCalifornia 153 PacTwelve
IUPUI 154 Horizon
NorthernIllinois 155 MidAmerican
TexasTech 156 BigTwelve
EastCarolina 157 American
WesternKentucky 158 ConferenceUSA
OregonU 159 PacTwelve
Elon 160 Colonial
UMassLowell 161 AmericaEast
FloridaAtlantic 162 ConferenceUSA
EastTennesseeState 163 Southern
UCIrvine 164 BigWest
BostonU 165 Patriot
EasternIllinois 166 OhioValley
MiamiFL 167 ACC
NorthTexas 168 ConferenceUSA
CentralConnecticut 169 Northeast
MinnesotaU 170 BigTen
SoutheastMissouriState 171 OhioValley
ArkansasState 172 SunBelt
Fairfield 173 MetroAtlantic
Xavier 174 BigEast
IowaU 175 BigTen
SanDiegoState 176 MountainWest
GeorgeMason 177 AtlanticTen
OregonState 178 PacTwelve
Mercer 179 Southern
Troy 180 SunBelt
Pacific 181 WestCoast
WyomingU 182 MountainWest
Drake 183 MissouriValley
AirForce 184 MountainWest
NewMexicoState 185 WAC
EasternMichigan 186 MidAmerican
SacredHeart 187 Northeast
EasternWashington 188 BigSky
ArkansasU 189 SEC
Bucknell 190 Patriot
WrightState 191 Horizon
McNeeseState 192 Southland
Pittsburgh 193 ACC
HighPoint 194 BigSouth
CharlestonSouthern 195 BigSouth
CalStateBakersfield 196 WAC
JacksonvilleState 197 OhioValley
RobertMorris 198 Northeast
AlabamaState 199 Southwestern
UNCWilmington 200 Colonial
Cornell 201 Ivy
TexasSouthern 202 Southwestern
StMarys 203 WestCoast
Providence 204 BigEast
Duquesne 205 AtlanticTen
Siena 206 MetroAtlantic
Lipscomb 207 AtlanticSun
IllinoisState 208 MissouriValley
SanFrancisco 209 WestCoast
Dayton 210 AtlanticTen
IncarnateWord 211 Southland
OhioU 212 MidAmerican
MissouriU 213 SEC
OklahomaU 214 BigTwelve
Canisius 215 MetroAtlantic
Tulsa 216 American
AlcornState 217 Southwestern
FIU 218 ConferenceUSA
Denver 219 Summit
Longwood 220 BigSouth
GeorgiaState 221 SunBelt
JacksonvilleU 222 AtlanticSun
StonyBrook 223 AmericaEast
Toledo 224 MidAmerican
Presbyterian 225 BigSouth
TexasState 226 SunBelt
LouisianaLafayette 227 SunBelt
KansasState 228 BigTwelve
IdahoU 229 BigSky
MiddleTennessee 230 ConferenceUSA
Lafayette 231 Patriot
EasternKentucky 232 OhioValley
ColoradoState 233 MountainWest
Temple 234 American
WesternCarolina 235 Southern
UNOmaha 236 Summit
JamesMadison 237 Colonial
SanJoseState 238 MountainWest
NewMexicoU 239 MountainWest
NorthwesternState 240 Southland
SanDiegoU 241 WestCoast
UCDavis 242 BigWest
Army 243 Patriot
Towson 244 Colonial
Oakland 245 Horizon
UtahValley 246 WAC
CalPoly 247 BigWest
CentralArkansas 248 Southland
Marist 249 MetroAtlantic
IllinoisU 250 BigTen
StFrancis 251 Northeast
Wofford 252 Southern
UTSA 253 ConferenceUSA
PennsylvaniaU 254 Ivy
SIUEdwardsville 255 OhioValley
MassachusettsU 256 AtlanticTen
NJIT 257 AtlanticSun
Howard 258 Southwestern
SouthDakotaState 259 Summit
Chattanooga 260 Southern
BoiseState 261 MountainWest
Buffalo 262 MidAmerican
HawaiiU 263 BigWest
Albany 264 AmericaEast
HoustonBaptist 265 Southland
Richmond 266 AtlanticTen
Akron 267 MidAmerican
SouthernUtah 268 BigSky
Morehead 269 OhioValley
IowaState 270 BigTwelve
MaineU 271 AmericaEast
PortlandU 272 WestCoast
FairleighDickinson 273 Northeast
Wagner 274 Northeast
Campbell 275 BigSouth
SouthDakotaU 276 Summit
Manhattan 277 MetroAtlantic
StBonaventure 278 AtlanticTen
Detroit 279 Horizon
UCRiverside 280 BigWest
Davidson 281 AtlanticTen
Creighton 282 BigEast
American 283 Patriot
Evansville 284 MissouriValley
MountStMary 285 Northeast
SetonHall 286 BigEast
Marshall 287 ConferenceUSA
GrandCanyon 288 WAC
Grambling 289 Southwestern
WeberState 290 BigSky
UTEP 291 ConferenceUSA
UMBC 292 AmericaEast
USCUpstate 293 AtlanticSun
YoungstownState 294 Horizon
PrairieViewA&M 295 Southwestern
TennesseeMartin 296 OhioValley
Fordham 297 AtlanticTen
ArkansasPineBluff 298 Southwestern
GardnerWebb 299 BigSouth
PortlandState 300 BigSky
Citadel 301 Southern
BallState 302 MidAmerican
AppalachianState 303 SunBelt
SouthCarolinaState 304 Independent
LongIsland 305 Northeast
NichollsState 306 Southland
IllinoisChicago 307 Horizon
NorthDakotaU 308 BigSky
Rider 309 MetroAtlantic
AbileneChristian 310 Southland
LoyolaMD 311 Patriot
OralRoberts 312 Summit
UMKC 313 WAC
NevadaU 314 MountainWest
LouisianaMonroe 315 SunBelt
HolyCross 316 Patriot
MiamiOH 317 MidAmerican
VMI 318 Southern
GreenBay 319 Horizon
Iona 320 MetroAtlantic
SELouisiana 321 Southland
IdahoState 322 BigSky
WesternIllinois 323 Summit
SouthernU 324 Southwestern
Hartford 325 AmericaEast
StPeters 326 MetroAtlantic
IPFW 327 Summit
ChicagoState 328 WAC
NorthDakotaState 329 Summit
AlabamaA&M 330 Southwestern
JacksonState 331 Southwestern
DelawareState 332 Independent
Hampton 333 Independent

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