SPOKANE, Wash. (Jan. 2, 2012 – http://www.gozags.com) – Gonzaga University is sixth in the first RPI men’s basketball rankings of the season released by the NCAA Monday.
RPI stands for Ratings Percentage Index and rates every men’s college basketball squad on a weighted scale taking into factors such things as a team’s winning percentage, its opponents’ winning percentage and the winning percentage of those opponents’ opponents. In 2004 the RPI was modified to account for differences in home and away games.
Eight teams on Gonzaga’s schedule have a RPI in the top 100 – Michigan State University (8), fellow West Coast Conference foe Saint Mary’s College (24), University of Illinois (25), University of Arizona (56), Oral Roberts University (64), Butler University (89), Xavier University (58) and WCC first-year member BYU (66).
The Bulldogs defeated Arizona, Oral Roberts, Butler and Xavier; lost to Illinois and Michigan State, and have yet to play Saint Mary’s and BYU.
The Bulldogs are behind Syracuse University, Duke University, University of Connecticut, Seton Hall University and Baylor University. Trailing Gonzaga are the University of Kentucky, MSU, Ohio State University and Georgetown University to round out the top 10. There are 344 teams in NCAA Division I basketball.
For the complete rankings click here.