Loyola narrowly jumps ahead of BYU in new RPI rankings

Photo courtesy of Loyola athletics.

Even with a conference road loss last week, Loyola still was able to move up the RPI rankings.

Loyola surpassed BYU by a ten-thousandth percentage point for the No. 3 spot in the latest RPI rankings that the NCAA released on Monday.

This one-spot rise in the RPI rankings comes after Loyola lost to Ohio State on Thursday to drop into a tie with the Buckeyes for first place in the MIVA. Loyola, though, rebounded to defeat McKendree on Saturday.

The RPI is one of the criteria categories the selection committee uses to determine the NCAA Tournament field. A team’s RPI ranking is calculated using a mathematical formula that includes its winning percentage, strength of schedule and opponents’ strength of schedule.

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The Cougars, similar to the Ramblers, went 1-1 last week. BYU blew a two-game home lead in an upset loss to Concordia-Irvine and then defeated Grand Canyon in its home regular season finale on Saturday.

Despite dropping in the rankings, the Cougars still have a chance to move ahead of the Ramblers in part of because of their remaining schedule.

BYU will conclude its regular season this week with matches against Pepperdine and UCLA, which are a combined 33-12 against NCAA Division I-II teams this season. Loyola will play its final two regular season matches versus Lindenwood and Quincy — two teams that are a combined 9-26 versus NCAA Division I-II teams.

Ohio State had the biggest improvement for any top-10 team in the new RPI rankings.

The Buckeyes jumped two spots to No. 7. Along with its victory against Loyola, Ohio State swept Lewis on Saturday to improve to 8-2 in its last 10 matches.

An updated RPI rankings will be released each Monday throughout the regular season and conference tournaments. The final RPI rankings before the NCAA Tournament will be unveiled on Selection Sunday, April 22.

RPI rankings (April 2)

1. Long Beach State — .6681
2. UCLA — .6291
3. Loyola — .6273
4. BYU — .6272
5. UC Irvine — .6167
6. Pepperdine — .5593
7. Ohio State — .5970
8. Lewis — .5875
9. Hawai’i — .5809
10. UC Santa Barbara — .5681
11. CSUN — .5618
12. George Mason — .5579
13. Grand Canyon — .5487
14. Concordia-Irvine — .5331
15. Barton — .5290
16. Penn State — .5276
17. Ball State — .5212
18. McKendree — .5117
19. King — .5116
20. Fort Wayne — .5089
21. USC — .5024
22. Stanford — .4860
23. Harvard — .4858
24. Mount Olive — .4832
25. Charleston — .4733
26. UC San Diego — .4678
27. Princeton — .4676
28. NJIT — .4611
29. St. Francis — .4587
30. Lindenwood — .4485
31. North Greenville — .4374
32. Quincy — .4191
33. Coker — .4157
34. Lincoln Memorial — .4113
35. Belmont Abbey — .4072
36. Limestone — .4068
37. Emmanuel — .4027
38. Sacred Heart — .3915
39. Erskine — .3749
40. Queens — .3496
41. Alderson Broaddus — .3359
42. Lees-McRae — .3273