The Spartans have the lowest RPI of the four, the lowest strength of schedule of the four -- and a nonconference strength of schedule in the 200s, by far the worst of the four. While they do own wins over Purdue and North Carolina, they have just three Quadrant 1 wins and seven Quadrant 1 and 2 wins. For comparison, Virginia has seven Quadrant 1 wins and 13 Quadrant 1 and 2 wins; Villanova has eight Quadrant 1 wins and 13 Quadrant 1 and 2 wins; and Xavier has seven Quadrant 1 wins and 14 Quadrant 1 and 2 wins. Virginia, Villanova and Xavier also are No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 in ESPN's strength of record metric.
It's definitely not a big deal I totally agree with that. College basketball rankings are totally just a convo thing. Especially for the top 10.
I don't disagree with any of this, but, man, I hate that RPI gets quoted. I understand that it's still heavily used but KenPom has MSU's schedule at No. 70 in the country (obviously not elite but above-average), No. 62 by Sagarin, and No. 60 by ESPN.
I got stuck in the middle of a discussion between my friend and one of his friends where his friend was making it out like OTL was perpetrating a vendetta against MSU athletics. There wasn't enough alcohol in the bar for me to drink to have his view point make any sense to me. I cannot understand that view point.
it's the same "fake news" mentality that trump has given people as an excuse to ignore news that they don't want to hear, it's truly sick to see so many people just totally doubt legitimate reporting
looking at some numbers today and found some interesting stuff...here are the top 50 wins by some of the notable teams Virginia 9 Villanova 9 Xavier 8 Kansas 8 Michigan State 2 Duke 3 UNC 7 Cincy 5 Purdue 5 Gonzaga 4 Texas Tech 6 AUburn 5