By Sonny Jones
The East Bladen volleyball team is ranked fifth among 2-A East teams in the initial N.C. High School Athletic Association’s Ratings Percentage Index released Wednesday morning.
RPI is used to fill out state playoff brackets after automatic qualifiers are seeded. So, it can be a big deal.
The Southeastern Athletic Conference receives two automatic playoff berths in the 32-team East bracket. The rest of the bracket is filled based on RPI.
RPI also is used to seed conference champions and runners-up, if a conference gets more than one berth.
The state’s RPI will be updated each week until the end of the season when the playoff brackets are set.
Basically, RPI takes into account the team record, the winning percentage (WP) of a team’s opponent (OWP) and the opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage (OOWP). It’s a way to balance a team that may have a lesser record, but played a more difficult schedule against a team that has a better record, but played an easier schedule. In other words, not all 8-2 records are alike.
Here are the rankings for Bladen teams:
VOLLEYBALL
5. East Bladen: Record 6-4, WP .600, OWP .73539, OOWP .43456, RPI .60453
44. West Bladen: Record 3-9, WP .250, OWP .43133, OOWP .40142, RPI .36796
FOOTBALL
30. East Bladen: Record 1-4, WP .200, OWP .60000, OOWP .42167, RPI .42650
35. West Bladen: Record 1-4, WP .200, OWP .50000, OOWP .42750, RPI .38825
BOYS’ SOCCER
21. East Bladen: Record 5-5, WP .500, OWP .54450, OOWP .46700, RPI .50790
33. West Bladen: Record 5-4-1, WP .550, OWP .39217, OOWP .41791, RPI .44724
Here are the RPI rankings for SAC teams:
FOOTBALL
9. Clinton
11. St. Pauls
18. Midway
30. East Bladen
35. West Bladen
43. Fairmont
49. Red Springs
VOLLEYBALL
1. Midway
5. East Bladen
15. Clinton
27. St. Pauls
40. Fairmont
44. West Bladen
48. Red Springs
BOYS’ SOCCER
6. Clinton
17. Midway
18. St. Pauls
21. East Bladen
31. Red Springs
33. West Bladen
Couch Potato: Explaining — Or Trying To — The NCHSAA’s Ratings Percentage Index
WEDNESDAY’S PICK TO CLICK
This is as good of day as any to pick Aaron Judge to hit a home run and tie Roger Maris’ for the American League record. He hit No. 60 Tuesday against Pittsburgh. Why not go deep again against the Pirates for for No. 61 today.
TUESDAY’S PICK: Atlanta’s Michael Harris II hasn’t had a hit in five at-bats against Washington’s probable starting pitcher Patrick Corbin. Time for that to change as the Braves’ outfielder collects a couple of base knocks against the Nationals’ left-hander. RESULTS: Harris was 1-for-2 with a walk and didn’t face Corbin, who left the game in the first inning because of an injury.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 1994: The North Carolina women’s soccer team wins its 89th straight game, setting the unofficial record for the longest winning streak in college sports. The 5-1 victory over rival N.C. State broke the mark of 88 in a row set by the UCLA men’s basketball team during the early 1970s.
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY
• TENNIS: Metz, San Diego, 8 a.m., TENNIS
• MLB: Washington at Atlanta, noon, MLBN
• MLB: NY Mets at Milwaukee, 3:30 p.m., MLBN
• LEAGUES CUP: Chivas De Guadalajara at Cincinnati, 7 p.m., ESPN
• TENNIS: San Diego, Tokyo, Seoul, TENNIS
• LEAGUES CUP: Club America at Nashville, 9 p.m., ESPN
• MLB: St. Louis at San Diego or Seattle at Oakland, 9:30 p.m., MLBN
• NWSL: Washington at Angel City, 10:30 p.m., CBSSN
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com and follow on Twitter @FOSonnyJones.
About Author
