Cover Photo: WVU Athletics
Morgantown, West Virginia – The West Virginia Mountaineers are off to a hot start to the 2022-2023 season with a current record of 8-2. The Mountaineers’ only losses this season were on a neutral court against the 10-0 Purdue Boilermakers and on the road against 7-3 Xavier.
Although West Virginia is not ranked in the AP Top 25 or the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Mountaineers are in the top ten in two computer models, which are far less biased rankings.
The Rating Percentage Index, commonly known as the RPI, is a quantity used to rank sports teams based upon a team’s wins and losses and its strength of schedule. Currently, West Virginia is ranked 6th in the nation overall. However, the RPI is no longer used during the selection process for the NCAA Tournament.
In 2018, the NCAA replaced the RPI with NET rankings to evaluate teams throughout the season, but mostly for the NCAA tournament.
The NET algorithm is composed of two parts: team value index (TVI) and an adjusted net efficiency rating. TVI is a result-based feature that rewards teams who beat quality opponents, especially on the road. Meanwhile, adjusted net efficiency accounts for strength of opponent, as well as game location (home, away, neutral).
West Virginia is ranked 9th in the nation in the NET Rankings.
Although it is very early in the season, West Virginia’s top ten rankings in both the RPI and the NET shows that the Mountaineers are getting it done to start the season.
West Virginia is back in action this Sunday, December 18th at 5:00 at home against Buffalo (5-5).
West Virginia is currently ranked 6th in the RPI and 9th overall in the NET rankings in the nation! Awesome start to the season! #WVU pic.twitter.com/53h3pxQ20T
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) December 13, 2022
