The NCAA has released its first RPI rankings of the 2017 men’s indoor volleyball season, and the Ohio State Buckeyes are on top. The rankings were compiled before the Buckeyes’ recent loss to #13 Penn State, however, so either BYU or Long Beach State could leap-frog them in next week’s results.
The RPI system, used in basketball, baseball, softball, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, and volleyball, is designed to help committees select teams for the 64-team NCAA tournament as well as the seeding of those teams once they get there.
The index comprises a team’s winning percentage (25%), its opponents’ winning percentage (50%), and the winning percentage of those opponents’ opponents (25%).
As compared to the AVCA polls, the RPI rankings are not voted on, but instead are calculated mathematically. The intent is to create a more objective ranking to juxtapose the subjectivity of the AVCA poll, though by their nature there is still some subjectivity as to which numbers matter more than others in their calculations.
The MPSF holds 5 of the top 6 spots in the latest RPI Rankings, which means that the 2 at-large slots available for the 6-team NCAA tournament will likely go their way. The only upset to that could be if someone other than Ohio State wins the MIVA.
So deep is the MPSF, with 11 teams in the top 19 in the RPI, that it’s likely at least one team ranked in the top 15 won’t even make their conference tournament. That bottle neck should be at least partially alleviated next season when the Big West begins sponsoring men’s volleyball, which will break up the MPSF a little bit.
The currrent top-ranked team in the EIVA is those Penn State Nittany Lions, who rank 13th with a 13-9 record. That will climb next week after their upset win. The top team in Conference Carolinas is 24-2 King at #23.
All 43 teams in the NCAA’s Divisions I and II are ranked, including the four non-affiliated independent teams – led by Concordia at #29.
The full RPI rankings are below:
| RANK | SCHOOL | CONFERENCE | RECORD | ROAD | NEUTRAL | HOME | NON DIV I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio St. | MIVA | 23-1 | 9-0 | 0-0 | 14-1 | 0-0 |
| 2 | BYU | Mountain Pacific | 21-3 | 8-1 | 0-0 | 13-2 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Long Beach St. | Mountain Pacific | 22-3 | 7-3 | 4-0 | 11-0 | 0-0 |
| 4 | Hawaii | Mountain Pacific | 22-4 | 5-4 | 0-0 | 15-0 | 2-0 |
| 5 | UC Irvine | Mountain Pacific | 16-6 | 9-3 | 1-0 | 6-3 | 0-0 |
| 6 | UCLA | Mountain Pacific | 15-7 | 4-5 | 1-0 | 10-2 | 0-0 |
| 7 | Lewis | MIVA | 19-6 | 8-4 | 0-0 | 11-2 | 0-0 |
| 8 | Stanford | Mountain Pacific | 11-10 | 3-5 | 4-0 | 4-5 | 0-0 |
| 9 | Southern California | Mountain Pacific | 11-12 | 3-8 | 0-1 | 8-3 | 0-0 |
| 10 | Loyola Chicago | MIVA | 14-8 | 3-4 | 1-0 | 10-4 | 0-0 |
| 11 | Ball St. | MIVA | 15-8 | 5-5 | 3-1 | 7-2 | 0-0 |
| 12 | Pepperdine | Mountain Pacific | 8-10 | 4-5 | 0-0 | 4-5 | 0-0 |
| 13 | Penn St. | EIVA | 13-9 | 5-5 | 1-1 | 7-3 | 0-0 |
| 14 | Grand Canyon | MIVA | 15-9 | 7-5 | 0-0 | 6-4 | 2-0 |
| 15 | UC Santa Barbara | Mountain Pacific | 10-12 | 1-7 | 1-0 | 8-5 | 0-0 |
| 16 | UC San Diego | Mountain Pacific | 7-15 | 2-8 | 0-1 | 4-6 | 1-0 |
| 17 | Princeton | EIVA | 10-10 | 2-8 | 1-1 | 7-1 | 0-0 |
| 18 | Saint Francis (PA) | EIVA | 9-14 | 4-7 | 2-2 | 3-5 | 0-0 |
| 19 | CSUN | Mountain Pacific | 12-14 | 2-6 | 3-2 | 4-6 | 3-0 |
| 20 | NJIT | EIVA | 13-7 | 5-6 | 0-0 | 5-1 | 3-0 |
| 21 | George Mason | EIVA | 10-11 | 4-8 | 1-0 | 5-3 | 0-0 |
| 22 | Sacred Heart | EIVA | 12-7 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 11-2 | 0-0 |
| 23 | King (TN) | Conference Carolinas | 24-2 | 9-1 | 0-0 | 11-1 | 4-0 |
| 24 | Harvard | EIVA | 7-10 | 1-7 | 0-0 | 6-3 | 0-0 |
| 25 | Barton | Conference Carolinas | 15-5 | 7-4 | 0-1 | 8-0 | 0-0 |
| 26 | McKendree | MIVA | 9-16 | 3-9 | 1-2 | 5-5 | 0-0 |
| 27 | Mount Olive | Conference Carolinas | 15-7 | 8-4 | 0-2 | 6-1 | 1-0 |
| 28 | Fort Wayne | MIVA | 5-19 | 2-12 | 0-2 | 3-4 | 0-1 |
| 29 | Concordia (CA) | Independent | 16-10 | 2-5 | 2-1 | 2-4 | 10-0 |
| 30 | Limestone | Conference Carolinas | 9-8 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 6-3 | 0-1 |
| 31 | Lindenwood (MO) | MIVA | 4-15 | 1-9 | 0-2 | 3-3 | 0-1 |
| 32 | California Baptist | Mountain Pacific | 6-18 | 2-11 | 1-0 | 3-7 | 0-0 |
| 33 | Quincy | MIVA | 5-18 | 1-6 | 1-3 | 2-6 | 1-3 |
| 34 | Coker | Independent | 10-8 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 3-2 | 3-0 |
| 35 | Charleston (WV) | EIVA | 11-13 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 1-7 | 6-0 |
| 36 | North Greenville | Conference Carolinas | 7-14 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 0-0 |
| 37 | Erskine | Conference Carolinas | 3-17 | 0-8 | 0-3 | 3-6 | 0-0 |
| 38 | Lees-McRae | Conference Carolinas | 9-13 | 3-5 | 0-2 | 6-6 | 0-0 |
| 39 | Alderson Broaddus | Independent | 4-14 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 1-2 |
| 40 | Belmont Abbey | Conference Carolinas | 4-16 | 2-7 | 0-1 | 2-8 | 0-0 |
| 41 | Lincoln Memorial | Independent | 9-15 | 0-7 | 0-0 | 4-5 | 5-3 |
| 42 | Emmanuel (GA) | Conference Carolinas | 5-17 | 1-9 | 0-0 | 3-7 | 1-1 |
| 43 | Pfeiffer | Conference Carolinas | 0-14 | 0-8 | 0-0 | 0-5 | 0-1 |
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