Boys Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) Rankings through 12/31/21

Below are our initial Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) ratings of public schools as we begin 2022 play. The RPI is a method once used by the NCAA to determine tournament teams. Now, that organization uses the NET rankings as an aide to help decide who makes the NCAA Tournament.

We’re not even sure what the NET formula is, but we know the RPI. It’s not a perfect tool but it remains a useful one that some states presently use to determine playoff teams. For example, the state of Kentucky uses it. (Kudos to Kentucky, they even weight football wins based on how big a school you beat!)

RPI takes into account teams’ strength of schedule, and even teams’ opponents’ strength of schedule (SOS), if you can follow that. Fortunately we have a “master statistician” that does follow it, a gentleman we know who actually majored in something useful in college. Our model also weights road wins (1.4x) more than neutral site (1.0x) and home wins (0.6x), and thus conversely “penalizes” home losses more than road ones.

For this model we ONLY use games with the schools included in this chart. If you played an out-of-town team, or a private school, that result is NOT included in this model. There is no way to really include those games based on the strength of schedule metrics.

These rankings are not perfect, especially because some teams haven’t played enough games yet. But RPI and computer rankings are a useful tool and we’ll update them a few more times this season for your enjoyment.