Days before Selection Sunday and nothing is settled in the race for the possible final at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament
Both Lindenwood and USC remain in contention for the last spot in the NCAA Tournament with the Lions, according to the latest Off the Block bracketology.
Off the Block conducted a comparison analysis of Lindenwood and USC using the 25 public data points currently available to the NCAA men’s volleyball selection committee
There are 11 criteria categories the selection committee uses to determine the NCAA Tournament field. Each of these categories also can have sub-components depending how the committee evaluates the data.
The NCAA Tournament is comprised of 12 teams – seven conference automatic qualifiers and five at-large bids.
Lindenwood’s only chance to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history is via an at-large bid after losing in the MIVA Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday. USC can still earn its conference’s automatic bid if it wins MPSF Tournament but a loss in the conference tournament would relegate the Trojans into at-large bid consideration.
Below is a comparison of Lindenwood’s and USC’s bracketology data points if the two teams were to both be in contention for an at-large bid.
[Editor’s note: Off the Block for this comparison provided an edge in each category based on what team had the better winning percentage or ranking.]
Selection committee criteria
— KPI rankings
— RPI ranking
— Strength of schedule
— Won-lost results
— Head-to-head competition
— Results versus non-conference opponents
— Home and away results
— Results against common opponents
— Results against teams already qualified and other teams under consideration
— Eligibility and availability of student-athletes for NCAA championships.
There also is no requirement for the committee to give additional weight to a certain category.
Record
Won-lost results: USC 19-6; Lindenwood 20-7. Edge: Lindenwood
Head-to-head competition: Did not play each other this season. Edge: Push
Non-conference record:USC 8-1; Lindenwood 9-1. Edge: Lindenwood
Conference record: USC 11-5; Lindenwood 11-6. Edge: USC
Home record: USC 13-3; Lindenwood 12-2. Edge: Lindenwood
Road record: USC 4-3; Lindenwood 8-5. Edge: Lindenwood
Record in last 10 matches: USC 7-3; Lindenwood 5-5. Edge: USC
Record vs. common opponents: USC 7-0; Lindenwood 6-1. Edge: USC
Record vs. teams qualified or under consideration: USC 4-5; Lindenwood 5-5. Edge: Lindenwood
Eligibility and availability of student-athletes for NCAA championships: Edge: Push
[Editor’s note: Teams projected to qualify or be under consideration are Ball State, Belmont Abbey, Fort Valley State, Hawai’i, Lindenwood, Long Beach State, Loyola, McKendree, Penn State, Pepperdine, Saint Francis, UC Irvine, UCLA and USC.]
KPI and RPI
KPI ranking: USC No. 9 (.337); Lindenwood No. 8 (.358). Edge: Lindenwood
RPI ranking: USC No. 10 (.60654); Lindenwood No. 9 (.60692). Edge: Lindenwood
Conference RPI: USC No. 3; Lindenwood No. 2 Edge: Lindenwood
Non-conference RPI: USC No. 4; Lindenwood No. 6 Edge: USC
Record vs. RPI top 5: USC 1-4; Lindenwood 0-3. Edge: USC
Record vs. RPI No. 6-10: USC 2-1; Lindenwood 1-1. Edge: USC
Record vs. RPI top 10: USC 2-5; Lindenwood 1-4. Edge: USC
Record vs. RPI No. 11-15: USC 3-1; Lindenwood 4-3. Edge: USC
Record vs. RPI No. 16+: USC 13-0; Lindenwood 15-0. Edge: Push
Record vs. RPI No. 21+: USC 11-0; Lindenwood 12-0. Edge: Push
Average RPI win: USC No. 30; Lindenwood No. 26. Edge: Lindenwood
Average RPI loss: USC No. 6; Lindenwood No. 8. Edge: USC
Strength of schedule
Strength of schedule: USC No. 19; Lindenwood No. 16. Edge: Lindenwood
Opponent strength of schedule: USC No. 17; Lindenwood No. 13. Edge: Lindenwood
Non-conference strength of schedule: USC No. 14; Lindenwood No. 19. Edge: USC
Opponent non-conference strength of schedule: USC No. 20; Lindenwood No. 22.
Edge totals
Lindenwood leads 11-10-4.