Oklahoma State University Athletics
Comparing Oklahoma State To The NCAA Bubble
March 13, 2015 | Cowboy Basketball
STILLWATER - The Oklahoma State men's basketball team wrapped up play at the 2015 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship Thursday and now awaits its NCAA Tournament fate. The Selection Show is at 5 p.m. CT Sunday on CBS.
Using the RPI system used on the NCAA's website, the Cowboys (18-13 overall) have three wins over teams ranked in the top 10, six wins over teams ranked in the top 50 and eight wins over teams ranked in the top 100, with four of those eight wins coming away from home. The Cowboys won eight games in the Big 12 Conference, which is the runaway leader as the nation's toughest conference, according to the conference RPI rankings used on RPIratings.com.
A closer look at OSU's résumé:
Oklahoma State
RPI: 47
Conference RPI: 1
Strength of Schedule: 15
Notable: Since 2004, no team from a major conference with a top 50 RPI and six wins over top-50 RPI teams has been left out of the NCAA Tournament.
Wins vs. RPI top 10:
No. 2 Kansas in Stillwater
No. 9 Baylor in Waco
No. 9 Baylor in Stillwater
Wins vs. RPI top 50:
No. 2 Kansas in Stillwater
No. 9 Baylor in Waco
No. 9 Baylor in Stillwater
No. 42 Tulsa on a neutral court in Las Vegas
No. 43 Texas in Austin
No. 43 Texas in Stillwater
Wins vs. RPI top 100
No. 2 Kansas in Stillwater
No. 9 Baylor in Waco
No. 9 Baylor in Stillwater
No. 42 Tulsa on a neutral court in Las Vegas
No. 43 Texas in Austin
No. 43 Texas in Stillwater
No. 81 Memphis in Memphis
No. 99 Kansas State in Stillwater
According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, the "Last Four In" on the NCAA bubble are BYU, Texas, Temple and Indiana and the "First Four Out" are Miami (Fla.), Old Dominion, Tulsa, and Texas A&M. Other teams close to the bubble, according to Lunardi are LSU, Ole Miss and Purdue.
A comparison of those 12 teams shows that Oklahoma State played the most difficult schedule (the Cowboys are No. 15 in strength of schedule, Texas is No. 17 and the next closest is Indiana at No. 32), has the most wins over RPI top-10 teams, the most wins over RPI top-25 teams and the most wins over RPI top-50 teams.
A closer look at how Oklahoma State stacks against those teams:
Oklahoma State (Big 12)
RPI: 47
Conference RPI: 1
Strength of Schedule: 15
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 3
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 3
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 6
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 8
BYU (West Coast)
RPI: 38
Conference RPI: 9
Strength of Schedule: 63
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 1
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 1
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 1
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 4
Texas (Big 12)
RPI: 43
Conference RPI: 1
Strength of Schedule: 17
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 1
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 2
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 3
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 8
Temple (American)
RPI: 33
Conference RPI: 8
Strength of Schedule: 61
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 1
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 1
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 2
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 7
Indiana (Big Ten)
RPI: 56
Conference RPI: 4
Strength of Schedule: 32
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 1
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 2
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 4
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 8
Miami, Fla. (ACC)
RPI: 62
Conference RPI: 3
Strength of Schedule: 74
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 1
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 1
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 2
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 6
Old Dominion (Conference USA)
RPI: 46
Conference RPI: 17
Strength of Schedule: 142
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 0
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 1
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 2
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 6
Tulsa (American)
RPI: 42
Conference RPI: 8
Strength of Schedule: 91
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 0
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 0
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 2
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 5
Texas A&M (SEC)
RPI: 64
Conference RPI: 5
Strength of Schedule: 90
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 0
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 0
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 2
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 7
LSU (SEC)
RPI: 48
Conference RPI: 5
Strength of Schedule: 89
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 0
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 2
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 3
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 13
Ole Miss (SEC)
RPI: 55
Conference RPI: 5
Strength of Schedule: 43
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 0
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 1
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 3
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 9
Purdue (Big Ten)
RPI: 59
Conference RPI: 4
Strength of Schedule: 77
Wins vs. RPI top 10: 0
Wins vs. RPI top 25: 0
Wins vs. RPI top 50: 4
Wins vs. RPI top 100: 9
