Minor RPI changes coming this year --

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espola

From gauchodan in bigsoccer.com college soccer forum --

http://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-inevitable-rpi-discussion.2105081/#post-38024704

In January, the Men's Soccer Committee decided to upgrade secondary criteria in the Tournament selection process to primary status.

Therefore, this is the criteria for the coming season:

Primary Selection Criteria (not necessarily in priority order):
  • Won-lost record;
  • Strength of schedule; and
  • Eligibility and availability of student-athletes for NCAA championships.
  • Adjusted Rating Percentage Index (RPI), which includes:
    • Won-lost-tied record (25 percent).
    • Opponents’ strength of schedule (50 percent).
    • Opponents’ opponents’ strength of schedule (25 percent).
    • Bonus/penalty system (see below).
  • Head-to-head competition.
  • Results versus common opponents.
  • Strength and results against nonconference opponents.
  • Results against teams already selected (including automatic qualifiers with an RPI of 1-75).
  • Late-season performance in last eight games (strength and results).
  • Strength and results against conference opponents.
Also, the Committee had a discussion about penalties being removed for conference matches:

The committee reviewed the RPI and discussed taking out the penalty (not bonus) for conference matches. The committee asked staff to provide what that model would look like and take action after reviewing. The committee also reviewed what other RPI formulas would look like. The committee also reviewed and approved the selections policies and procedures document for the upcoming season.
 
In
outside! said:
Does this only apply to men's soccer then?
Click to expand...

In principle yes, although the same stats-nerd staff people will probably be working on the women's soccer program. The NCAA already includes 64 teams compared to the 48 on the men's side, so they already have a lot more opportunity to include hopeless teams in the big dance.

What I found interesting was the inclusion of several categories that I was not aware they were considering before, such as common opponents. The NCAA ice hockey selection committees (for both men and women) have used a pair-wise comparison method in which every team is compared to every other in several categories (including RPI, head-to-head games, and record against common opponents, with RPI being the tiebreaker if needed). After the conference automatic entries are decided, the at-large entries are picked in order from those having won the most pair-wise comparisons (with minor things like eligibility or suspensions factored in). With only 60 or so teams in ice hockey, it is an easier task to accomplish and understand, but with a properly-programmed computer, it's just a matter of entering the game scores.
 
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