Long Beach State climbs into strength of schedule top 10

Two matches against BYU can do wonders for a strength of schedule rankings.

Long Beach State after splitting a two-match weekend series against BYU jumped 11 spots to No. 9 in the latest strength of schedule rankings that the NCAA released earlier this week.

The 49ers now have the fifth highest strength of schedule among teams under NCAA Tournament consideration, according to Off the Block bracketology projections.

BYU moved up four spots to No. 5 to have the best strength of schedule among teams under consideration. Among the other strength of schedule rankings for under consideration teams includes UCLA at No. 6, UC Irvine at No. 7, Ohio State at No. 8 and Hawai’i at No. 11.

Strength of schedule is part of the mathematical formula used to determine a team’s RPI. The other RPI components include a team’s winning percentage and a team’s opponent strength of schedule.

BYU and Pepperdine have the nation’s top two opponents’ strength of schedule ranking.

The strength of schedule rankings will continue to be updated throughout the postseason and through Selection Sunday on April 23.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (March 26)
1. UC San Diego
2. USC
3. Pepperdine
4. Stanford
5. BYU
6. UCLA
7. UC Irvine
8. Ohio State
9. Long Beach State
10. St. Francis
11. Hawai’i
12. Penn State
13. Fort Wayne
14. CSUN
15. UC Santa Barbara
16. Lewis
17. Loyola
18. Lindenwood
19. George Mason
20. Harvard
21. Ball State
22. Grand Canyon
23. McKendree
24. Princeton
25. Quincy
26. Pfeiffer
27. Erskine
28. Cal Baptist
29. NJIT
30. Charleston
31. Belmont Abbey
32. Alderson Broaddus
33. Concordia-Irvine
34. North Greenville
35. Sacred Heart
36. Emmanuel
37. Lincoln Memorial
38. Limestone
39. Mount Olive
40. Barton
41. Coker
42. Lees-McRae
43. King

OPPONENT STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (March 26)
1. BYU
2. Pepperdine
3. UC Irvine
4. Long Beach State
5. Hawai’i
6. Concordia-Irvine
7. UCLA
8. CSUN
9. USC
10. UC San Diego
11. Ohio State
12. Cal Baptist
13. Loyola
14. Stanford
15. UC Santa Barbara
16. Lewis
17. Grand Canyon
18. Ball State
19. McKendree
20. Fort Wayne
21. Penn State
22. St. Francis
23. Harvard
24. Quincy
25. Princeton
26. Lindenwood
27. Sacred Heart
28. George Mason
29. NJIT
30. Coker
31. Mount Olive
32. Charleston
33. Barton
34. Lees-McRae
35. King
36. Limestone
37. North Greenville
38. Alderson Broaddus
39. Erskine
40. Belmont Abbey
41. Lincoln Memorial
42. Emmanuel
43. Pfeiffer