Consider Idaho’s upset loss to Bakersfield a thing of the past.
Two weeks ago we were discussing the Idaho women as a possible 13-seed in the NCAA Tournament with the romp they were on through the Western Athletic Conference, if they were to repeat as conference tournament champions. It seems that even with that 79-60 loss to the Roadrunners on Feb. 13 the Vandals are still looking at a possible 13-seed.
Charlie Creme, ESPN’s women’s basketball bracketologist, still has the Vandal women in Seattle as a 13-seed facing California. This following the huge RPI boost Idaho got from its dominating performance down in Phoenix, beating Grand Canyon 68-54.
This seeding projection is likely due to Idaho’s very high RPI (for a mid-major program) which is currently in the mid 70’s. RPI is a rating system used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee to determine at-large bids, compare resumes and seed automatic qualifiers (which Idaho would likely have to be to make the NCAA Tournament).
The official NCAA RPI has Idaho at 76, RealTimeRPI.com has Idaho at 75.
Idaho’s RPI would have it as the highest rated team in the Mountain West or Big Sky Conference, and is by far the best rating in the WAC. Idaho is ahead of six Pac-12 programs, including Washington, and is only eight spots behind Washington State.
Two things help Idaho’s rating, and therefore its prospective seeding that would have it avoid powerhouses such as Stanford, Notre Dome and UConn.
One is its pre-season schedule: Idaho played away from home against California, Gonzaga, Texas and San Diego. Unfortunately none of those games were wins for Idaho, but it has drastically helped balance the strength of schedule against the sub-200 RPIs from opponents in the WAC.
Two, Idaho wins on the road: Grand Canyon is the second-highest RPI in the WAC and Idaho’s win against the ‘Lopes on the road sky-rocketed Idaho’s RPI rank by nearly 30 spots. Idaho finished 8-0 on the road in conference play and if it wins the conference tournament will have 11 conference wins away from Moscow.
Is it too soon to think about a 12-seed if Idaho can win out its next six games? Probably. We went over some bracketology earlier in the season, prior to Idaho’s loss. Regardless, Idaho is in a favorable situation as far as its seeding goes. It would be nearly impossible to beat the power schools such as UConn, Stanford or Notre Dame. But if ESPN’s hypothetical situation comes to fruition, the Vandals would get a chartered flight to Washington’s Alaska Airlines Arena to face a California team that they only lost by four to in Reno early in the season.