There are currently 348 teams in Division 1 and most teams have played 10 games plus now and the RPIs are starting to take form. The season so far is full of great journeys for programs reaching new heights, with new Head Coaches and players that have taken huge steps in the collegiate ranks. Reviewing Power 5 Conferences so far is a challenging task and where to start is even tougher to say the least.

 

I’m going to start with the ACC that currently has 11 teams in the top 50 RPI with 5 teams in the Top 10. The biggest change in the conference and not so much a surprise if you know the coaching pedigree of Head Coach Waldrum is the Pittsburgh Panthers RPI 7 have done so far. They are currently 10-1-0 with two strong road wins and one over his old home Notre Dame where he won two National Championships. Some of the usual suspects are in top 10 RPI North Carolina RPI 2, Duke RPI 3, Virginia RPI 6 and Notre Dame is off to a stronger start this year with a 4 RPI. Defending National Champs Florida St 7-0-2 is currently with a 14 RPI with a lot of top programs still to play and have been scoring for fun in September with 29 goals in 6 games and are the only undefeated team in the ACC. The ever competitive ACC 92-32-18 currently overall where anyone can beat anyone on any given day will be looking at the potential of getting 10 + teams into the NCAA Tournament and will be a great watch down stretch with the remainder of ACC Conference.

 

ACC Record + RPI
North Carolina 9-2-0 RPI 2
Duke 8-2-0 RPI 3
Notre Dame 8-2-0 RPI 4
Pittsburg 10-1-0 RPI 7
Virginia 9-1-1 RPI 6
Florida St 7-0-2 RPI 14
North Carolina St RPI 19
Clemson 5-3-2 RPI 22
Virginia Tech 8-2-1 RPI 30
Wake Forest 7-2-2 RPI 34
Miami 3-4-2 RPI 47
Louisville 4-3-2 RPI 66
Syracuse 8-3-0 RPI 78
Boston College 3-4-2 RPI 114

 

SEC is having an outstanding season so far with such great parity all over the conference and currently with 10 teams in the Top 50 RPI with 3 teams in the Top 10 which is extremely healthy. It’s hard to know where to start but we will go with Alabama RPI 8 who have already won 10 games are 3-0 in SEC and in Non-Conference they beat Clemson and pretty much became residents of Utah for 5 days going 2-0-1 in elevation not a simple task. The state of Mississippi is bizarre not because of their success, but the fact that Mississippi St RPI 21 and Ole Miss RPI 35 are both the only teams that are undefeated in the SEC and have identical records of 9-0-2. With all that being said Arkansas RPI 5, South Carolina RPI 10 are still in the Top 10 and the SEC overall currently 92-38-20 and is looking similar to ACC that could have 10+ teams in the NCAA Tournament.

 

SEC 92-38-20 Record + RPI
Arkansas 7-2-1 RPI 5
Alabama 10-1-1 RPI 8
South Carolina 6-2-3 RPI 10
Mississippi ST 9-0-2 RPI 21
LSU 7-2-2 RPI 30
Ole Miss 9-0-2 RPI 35
Tennessee 6-3-1 RPI 43
Texas A+M 5-4-2 RPI 44
Georgia 8-3-0 RPI 45
Vanderbilt 8-1-1 RPI 50
Auburn 4-3-4 RPI 63
Kentucky RPI 73
Missouri 4-5-1 RPI 87
Florida 2-8-0 RPI 177

 

PAC 12 starts with new Head Coach Margueritte who has instilled a strong competitive culture at UCLA. They are the only team in the country that has one every game at 9-0-0 and are number 1 in every poll out there, but most importantly is their RPI 1. The Bruins embarked during Non-Conference on the toughest road trip in the country to play Duke and North Carolina winning both 2-1 that sent a statement across the nation. After that the PAC 12 has every team in the top 100 which is impressive and 8 teams in Top 51 yes 51 because that is Stanford’s current RPI. Anything can happen with the last 10 games in PAC 12, but it all starts with UCLA right now and with everything to play for in the PAC 12 and is one of three conferences that does not have a post season conference tournament.

 

PAC 12 Record + RPI
UCLA 9-0-0 RPI 1
Arizona St 5-0-2 RPI 18
Washington St 7-1-1 RPI 25
Utah 5-2-2 RPI 33
USC 5-1-1 RPI 39
Oregon 3-2-4 RPI 40
CAL 5-2-3 RPI 49
Stanford 7-2-1 RPI 51
Washington 6-1-2 RPI 58
Colorado 6-2-2 RPI 77
Arizona 3-3-2 RPI 88
Oregon St 4-3-2 RPI 89

 

Big Ten is off to a strong start with 6 teams in Top 50 and the reemergence of Northwestern who is off to a 9-1-1 start and has only strengthened the conference. Penn St RPI 9, Rutgers RPI 11, Ohio St RPI 23 and Wisconsin RPI 26 all are doing their usual competitive level of performance. Michigan St RPI 36 and Nebraska RPI 54 are creepy around. Purdue RPI 62 4 games below 500 need to get some Ws. Michigan is a team that many would expect to be up there but have been inconsistent so far this season and it will be extremely difficult to read whether they can back in the NCAA Tournament picture with 7 games left and a Big Ten Tournament. The Big Ten currently overall is 76-41-31 and is looking like they will have the potential of receiving 7 to 8 berths to the Tournament and with a lot of games left it will be very interesting to watch.

 

Big Ten Record + RPI
Penn St 7-1-2 RPI 9
Rutgers 10-1-0 RPI 11
Ohio ST 6-2-2 RPI 23
Northwestern 9-1-1 RPI 24
Wisconsin 8-1-2 RPI 26
Michigan St 7-1-3 RPI 36
Nebraska 4-4-3 RPI 54
Purdue 3-7-0 RPI 62
Illinois 6-4-1 RPI 92
Indiana 1-2-6 RPI 96
Michigan 5-4-2 RPI 123
Minnesota 5-5-1 RPI 124
Iowa 3-5-3 RPI 128
Maryland 2-3-5 RPI 136

 

The Big 12 Conference played a competitive non-conference schedule with TCU RPI 13 leading the way which is no surprise. Oklahoma St is back to winning ways at 9-1-1 with RPI 32 and already matched last season’s win total. Texas RPI 37 is off to a good start at 7-1-3 with their only loss to North Carolina. All three programs control their own destiny with Oklahoma RPI 65 and Kansas RPI 81 on the outside looking in. The rest of the conference will need a run of Ws or a win in the Big 12 Conference Tournament to get into NCAAs. The Big 12 currently overall is 52-31-24 and looks likely they will get three teams into dance with the possibility of a couple more should be exciting down the stretch.

 

Big 12 Record + RPI
TCU 6-2-3 RPI 13
Oklahoma St 9-1-1 RPI 32
Texas 7-1-3 RPI 37
Oklahoma 6-2-2 RPI 67
Kansas 7-5-0 RPI 81
West Virginia 4-3-4 RPI 97
Texas Tech 4-3-4 RPI 107
Baylor 2-5-2 RPI 134
Kansas St 4-5-2 RPI 147
Iowa St 3-4-3 RPI 189