At one time I religiously kept up with the college basketball RPI ratings. I would check several (4 IIRC) sites each Monday morning to see where we were. I quit checking frequently when McDevitt's first teams were so bad and also because the new NET ratings (which I haven't tried to follow) were implemented by and for the NCAA selection committee.
From when I first started keeping up with RPI my fervent wish was for MT to be in double digits (1 - 99) and I hoped we could become (because of size, D-1 FB, etc.) one of the in-state Big 4 along with the two $EC schools and Memphis. If my memory is correct we languished in the upper half of college basketball during Davis' first years, usually in the 120-160 RPI range. Davis only became a top 100 team with the arrival of Dendy and the three JUCO guards several years into his tenure. After that year we stayed consistently in the 30-80 range IIRC.
This morning I took a look at RealTimeRPI and Warren Nolan (2 I remembered - most were consistent regardless). I had only checked a couple of time during McDevitt's time at MT and found us somewhere in the bottom 20% of all teams - why bother?
This morning we are at 85 (let me repeat that - Eighty-five) out of 350+ D-1 teams in both rankings. Only UNT (who we lost to on the road by 7) and UAB are listed above us in conference. In the state we are behind UT-K, Chattanooga, and Belmont. We are ahead of both Memphis and the Team on West End!!!
Readers, the RPI is not the end all and be all of college basketball and yes, there is a lot of season yet to play. The first half of this season could be an anomaly. But here we sit, rated higher in McDevitt's 4th year than Davis or anyone else achieved in such a short time.
It's a good time to be a Blue Raider basketball fan!!!
From when I first started keeping up with RPI my fervent wish was for MT to be in double digits (1 - 99) and I hoped we could become (because of size, D-1 FB, etc.) one of the in-state Big 4 along with the two $EC schools and Memphis. If my memory is correct we languished in the upper half of college basketball during Davis' first years, usually in the 120-160 RPI range. Davis only became a top 100 team with the arrival of Dendy and the three JUCO guards several years into his tenure. After that year we stayed consistently in the 30-80 range IIRC.
This morning I took a look at RealTimeRPI and Warren Nolan (2 I remembered - most were consistent regardless). I had only checked a couple of time during McDevitt's time at MT and found us somewhere in the bottom 20% of all teams - why bother?
This morning we are at 85 (let me repeat that - Eighty-five) out of 350+ D-1 teams in both rankings. Only UNT (who we lost to on the road by 7) and UAB are listed above us in conference. In the state we are behind UT-K, Chattanooga, and Belmont. We are ahead of both Memphis and the Team on West End!!!
Readers, the RPI is not the end all and be all of college basketball and yes, there is a lot of season yet to play. The first half of this season could be an anomaly. But here we sit, rated higher in McDevitt's 4th year than Davis or anyone else achieved in such a short time.
It's a good time to be a Blue Raider basketball fan!!!
