The Atlantic 10 and NCAA RPI IV

The NCAA released its second official RPI of the year and here is how the A10 stacked up as individual teams out of 289 teams in Division 1 softball.

38 Fordham
52 UMass
110 St. Joseph's
134 St. Louis
150 Temple
155 Charlotte
215 Dayton
230 George Washington
263 Rhode Island
269 St. Bonaventure
277 La Salle


So what does this mean for the A10 teams? This means that the conference has the possibility for multiple bids again in 2011. Fordham improved on its standing in the NCAA's latest RPI and at this point in the season the Rams are pretty much a lock. UMass also made a big leap in the rankings this week and the Minutewomen appear to be on the cusp of the bubble right now. The good thing for UMass is that they still have games remaining against Fordham, as well as Syracuse, which is also in the top 50 in the latest RPI. UMass still needs a strong finish if they want to see themselves in Regionals again this year. No other team in the A10 has a shot at an at-large, but unfortunately La Salle and St. Bonaventure inched closer to that 289 mark. There is a clear divide between the top and bottom teams in the conference and this is very evident in the RPI.


So how does the A10 stack up against other conferences?


 1 Pac-10 22.3 
 2 Big 12 22.8 
 3 SEC 47.7 
 4 Big Ten 58.5 
 5 ACC 66.3 
 6 CUSA 80.6 
 7 Sun Belt 87.4 
 8 Mountain West 93.3 
 9 Big East 101.4 
 10 Big West 111.5 
 11 Atlantic Sun 127.9 
 12 WAC 130.3 
 13 Missouri Valley 135.9 
 14 Southland 137.3 
 15 Mid-American 146.5 
 15 Horizon 146.5 
 17 Southern 153.6 
 18 OVC 166.6 
 19 Big South 166.8 
 20 A10 172.1 
 21 CAA 176.2 
 22 America East 183.8 
 23 Summit 196.4 
 24 Northeast 197.3 
 25 Ivy 197.3 
 26 Metro-Atlantic 212.6 
 27 Pacific Coast 217.1 
 28 Independent 225.6 
 29 Patriot 226.5 
 30 Mid-Eastern 248.7 
 31 SWAC 265.3  


The A10 remained 20th out of 31 conferences, which is okay. It really reflects where the teams in the middle of the A10 are situated and I think it is a little disappointing to be frank. The A10 needs to schedule tougher games as a whole and win games that they are favored to win. RPI is all about taking care of business which is something that the A10 hasn't necessarily done this year.