As I warned, I have more to discuss on the newly released non-con for basketball. I’m going to compare it to last year’s non-con. This was last year’s non-con with the RPI of the teams from 2003-04 and how they ended in 2004-05
2003-04 RPI ————- Team ————–2004-05 RPI
322 ——————— Loyola-MD ————- 315
321 ———————– Howard ————— 322
249 ——————- St. Francis – PA ———– 203
234 ——————— Coppin St. ————— 151
217 ——————- Robert Morris ————- 224
216 ——————– Bucknell —————— 64
189 ——————— Penn St. —————- 227
162 ——————— Duquesne ————— 259
47 ———————– Richmond ————— 150
45 ——————— South Carolina ————– 90
32 ———————– Memphis —————– 109
————————————————————-
184.91 ——————– Avg. RPI —————– 192.18
Not only was it a bad schedule to before the season started, buy it looked even worse at the end. Readers who have endured by rants over the past season know how much I hated that schedule.
Here’s the 2005-06 Non-con with the RPI from the end of this past season:
Team —————– RPI
St. Peter ————— 164
Robert Morris ——— 224
Maine —————– 174
St. Francis (NY) ——- 261
Auburn —————- 137
Duquesne ————– 259
Penn St. ————— 227
Vermont ————— 26
Coppin St. ————- 151
South Carolina ——— 90
Wisconsin ————- 14
—————————–
Average RPI ———– 157
Obviously, the simple raw numbers suggest a better non-con. Other important features. No games against a team in the 300s. Image-wise alone, this is important. Last year, Pitt scheduled 6 of its 11 non-cons against teams with an RPI above 200. This year, only 4 and 3 of them — Duquesne, Robert Morris and Penn St. — are natural games for Pitt to play.
The variance between the best and worst has shrunk as well. Last year 32 to 322, a range of 290. This year, 14 to 261. A range of 247. No this is not Indiana’s non-con of last year.
It’s an improvement. Maybe not a vast improvement to where I would like, but it is progress. From a perception standpoint alone, it is much better. Pitt is getting more games against teams that may not be upper-tier but are teams that can play and occasionally surprise — Maine, Vermont, heck even Coppin St. was a lot better than expected last year.
On the issue of lack of away games, that is still a work. Pitt only plays away from the Pete twice, and one of those is just down the road at Duquesne. To some degree, the athletic department has been upfront about needing to play a lot of home games to help pay for the Pete. Consider, though, that the school will have at least 3 away games next year — Auburn, Wisconsin and Penn State. For most upper-tier schools, there are usually only 3-4 away games.
At least there are signs of finally understanding this.
