Grand Canyon jumps to No. 2 in new RPI rankings

Photo courtesy of Grand Canyon athletics

The rise of Grand Canyon continues.

The Antelopes moved up one spot to No. 2 in the latest men’s volleyball RPI that the NCAA released on Monday.

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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Grand Canyon following two non-conference victories against Princeton last week moved ahead of Penn State in the rankings. Penn State despite a home victory against Saint Francis during the weekend dropped two spots to No. 4 in the RPI.

UCLA for the second straight week remains No. 1, which Long Beach State and Hawai’i both remain in the top five of the RPI.

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

RPI rankings (March 20)

1. UCLA – 0.67669
2. Grand Canyon – 0.66805
3. Long Beach State – 0.66648
4. Penn State – 0.66078
5. Hawai’i – 0.65828
6. UC Irvine – 0.60383
7. Loyola – 0.59635
8. BYU – 0.59569
9. Pepperdine – 0.59372
10. Charleston – 0.58917
11. Ball State
12. Ohio State
13. Concordia
14. Purdue Fort Wayne
15. Lindenwood
16. George Mason
17. Stanford
18. Princeton
19. Daemen
20. USC
21. CSUN
22. Lincoln Memorial
23. Lewis
24. Long Island
25. NJIT
26. UC Santa Barbara
27. McKendree
28. Limestone
29. UC San Diego
30. Harvard
31. North Greenville
32. Queens
33. King
34. Quincy
35. Saint Francis
36. Erskine
37. Edward Waters
38. Central State
39. Lees-McRae
40. St. Francis Brooklyn
41. Mount Olive
42. Belmont Abbey
43. Tusculum
44. D’Youville
45. Missouri S&T
46. Sacred Heart
47 Merrimack
48. Barton
49. Emmanuel
50. Maryville
51. Fairleigh Dickinson
52. Fort Valley State
53. Benedict
54. Alderson Broaddus
55. American International
56. Kentucky State
57. Morehouse