Lincoln Memorial moves into top 10 of new RPI rankings

Photo courtesy of Lincoln Memorial athletics

Hawai’i received an possible indirect boost to its bracketology resume thanks to Lincoln Memorial.

Lincoln Memorial jumped two spots to No. 10 in the latest RPI rankings that the NCAA released on Monday.

The Railsplitters climb in the rankings gives the Rainbow Warriors three more wins against teams in the top 10 of the RPI. Hawai’i swept a three-match home series versus Lincoln Memorial earlier this season and is now 9-4 against RPI top 10 teams.

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

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Record against RPI top 10 teams is not a standalone selection committee criteria category. It is, though, one of the data points the committee will have available when it determines the NCAA Tournament field on Sunday.

Lincoln Memorial is on a seven-match winning streak and will open the IVA Tournament against Alderson Broaddus on Friday. The Railsplitters are attempting to win their fourth consecutive IVA Tournament championship.

Lincoln Memorial is slightly more than two-thousandths of a percentage points ahead of Ohio State for the No. 10 ranking.

There was no change to the top eight teams in the newest RPI rankings.

A final RPI rankings will be released at the conclusion of the conference tournaments.

RPI rankings (April 18)

1. Long Beach State – .63035
2. Penn State – .62971
3. UCLA – .61227
4. Ball State – .60696
5. USC – .60247
6. Hawai’i – .59789
7. Loyola – .59257
8. UC Santa Barbara – .58733
9. Lewis – .56282
10. Lincoln Memorial – .56282
11. Ohio State – .56041
12. Grand Canyon
13. McKendree
14. Pepperdine
15. NJIT
16. Purdue Fort Wayne
17. Princeton
18. UC San Diego
19. BYU
20. Harvard
21. Saint Francis
22. King
23. Mount Olive
24. UC Irvine
25. North Greenville
26. George Mason
27. Queens
28. Lindenwood
29. Stanford
30. Charleston
31. CSUN
32. Concordia-Irvine
33. Limestone
34. Emmanuel
35. Belmont Abbey
36. St. Francis Brooklyn
37. Daemen
38. Quincy
39. Maryville
40. Erskine
41. Tusculum
42. Sacred Heart
43. Long Island
44. Lees-McRae
45. Central State
46. Barton
47. Fairleigh Dickinson
48. Fort Valley State
49. Alderson Broaddus
50. D’Youville
51. Benedict
52. American International
53. Kentucky State
54. Morehouse
Not listed: Edward Waters