Things that will effect Pitt this year in basketball:

Home win = 0.6

Road win = 1.4

Neutral win = 1.0

For a lot of us, this might be the only time we’ll be happy to be shown a math problem.

This is how the Ratings Percentage Index will factor game sites into its rankings. The basic formula still uses a ratio of a team’s winning percentage (25 percent), opponents’ winning percentage (50 percent) and opponents’ opponents winning percentage (25 percent). But now home victories will count 40 percent less than wins on a neutral court; road victories will count 40 percent more.

This will become an important step in changing the way college basketball teams establish their schedules. There will be more incentive for teams to play on the road in future years because road warriors will be more likely to gain NCAA Tournament bids and favorable seeding. The selection committee does not choose teams strictly based on the RPI, but it is an important factor.

And next season in football:

So college football doesn’t want to be like the NFL, huh? Well, the grand game will take a big step toward the pro game next season when all six BCS conferences use instant replay.

There still are a few hurdles to clear, but after the Big Ten’s success this season with the inaugural model, look for everyone to follow suit. The Big Ten used replay 43 times in 53 games and overturned nearly half (21) of the calls.
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Bottom line: It’s good for the game when bad calls can be corrected on the field. If you have the technology, why not use it? The Big East, SEC and ACC have been exploring the use of replay all season and likely will approve it at their respective spring meetings. The Big 12 considered using replay last year but didn’t have enough time to implement the system. And the Pac-10, which seems to drag its feet on every major decision, is exploring the possibility, too. Finally, some sense.

Not much of a problem to me with either. For the issue of replay, keep it simple and don’t worry about issues of the clock.

The RPI changes were coming, everybody knew the changes were going to reward road games more, and Pitt still went out and set up a very, very weak non-con. Only one road game (Penn St.) and a neutral site game (Memphis) the rest are all home games against mainly cupcakes. How sad is it when the tough part of the non-con will be home games with Richmond and South Carolina. Teams with a combined record of 9-5. Yes, the Memphis team was expected to be better, but it’s still no excuse for the rest of the schedule. Pitt may be ranked #10 in both polls, but its RPI is #56. Even more embarrassing is the Strength of Schedule (SOS) played so far is #240. Only NC St. (#256) has a lower SOS than Pitt for all top 25 teams.

When Pitt gets smacked come the seeding time for the NCAA Tournament, and the howling begins again, they will point to the non-con. Just like they did last year.