I’m not sure I’ve seen a more glaring example with a large sample size of why the RPI is no longer valid than the Sun Belt this season. The conference is loaded with quality clubs who’ve made a living feasting off of “major” conference foes this year yet- Coastal not withstanding- the RPIs don’t reflect the quality of the teams.
As for Coastal, they’ve obviously figured out a magic potion because their losses seem to impact them as much as the rest of the league. Obviously playing in college baseball rich Carolina’s helps a ton.
Louisiana, JMU, USM, Troy, all seem to be undervalued to me.
thoughts?
DSR baby.
One of the problems with RPI is that it isn't aimed at giving accurate midseason snapshots. It's aimed at being accurate after the CWS. So, to further your point, it's midseason use in terms of valued teams is meaningless regardless of conference.
If a sports rankings system only has value after the championship game is over, the sport is always going to be viewed as an organization that can't get its act together. Hence the importance of creating DSR, so that we can all stop talking about RPI's demerits and start talking about the game where it matters (on the field). Gotta get RPI out of the way with the committee so the game can continue to grow into the spotlight that it deserves.
I'm not just promoting DSR because it's something one of our partners (643 Charts) developed, but it's legitimately looking like a much more accurate ranking. Some teams that come to mind in the more accurate department include Louisiana and Louisville, for starters. The RPI has these two teams woefully under ranked.
UCSB is my team but they are not top 20. DSR has them more appropriately ranked
KR, Roons noted earlier this week that every metric has it's shortcomings and teams can game the system in any of them. I'll be honest, I haven't looked into DSR much at all yet, but what's the shortcomings of DSR? How do teams take advantage of it?I'm not just promoting DSR because it's something one of our partners (643 Charts) developed, but it's legitimately looking like a much more accurate ranking. Some teams that come to mind in the more accurate department include Louisiana and Louisville, for starters. The RPI has these two teams woefully under ranked.
True, but if you use multiple systems, it would be difficult to game them all.
