Update on Non-Conference Opponents

Now that league play is underway, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a look at how our non-conference opponents are doing:

Wisconsin Milwaukee W, 80-60: 9-10, 4-4 in Horizon League (7 of 10)
UC Davis W, 75-60: 6-11, 1-4 in Big West (9 of 9)
Florida Atlantic W, 89-75: 14-6, 6-0 in Sun Belt (1 of 6 in division)
Kentucky L, 79-48: 14-3, 2-1 in SEC (1 of 6 in division)
@Idaho W, 66-53: 12-6, 5-1 in WAC (2 of 9)
@Washington St. L, 84-68: 13-5, 3-3 in Pac-10 (5 of 10)
UC Santa Barbara W, 75-63: 10-6, 3-2 in Big West (2 of 9)
St. Louis W, 69-60: 6-11, 1-3 in A-10 (10 of 14)
@Montana W, 58-54: 13-5, 5-1 in Big Sky (2 of 9)
@Washington L, 94-72: 13-4, 5-1 in Pac-10 (1 of 10)
@Denver W, 71-64: 9-9, 5-0 in Sun Belt (1 of 6 in division)
@Portland St. W, 78-67 : 9-8, 2-3 in Big Sky (6 of 9)
Boise St. W, 88-79: 11-7, 4-2 in WAC (4 of 9)
Nevada W, 66-62: 5-13, 2-3 in WAC (6 of 9)
Utah W, 88-79: 8-10, 1-3 in MWC (8 of 9)

10 of our 15 opponents have winning records; 7 of them are either 1st or 2nd in their respective conferences; and only two are among the bottom in their conference.

Especially nice to see are Florida Atlantic and Denver each undefeated in their conferences and Idaho playing so well in the WAC. In Montana, Denver, and Idaho, we have road wins over teams that are either #1 or #2 in the Big Sky, Sun Belt, and WAC. Makes you wonder how many conferences we'd be atop right now if we weren't in a conference with Gonzaga and St. Mary's. (Of course, I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. Not by a long shot.)

Anyway, it's still early and there's a lot of season left, but it's nice to know that our non-conference opponents are competing well in their conferences. That right there is the reason our RPI remains strong.

It's interesting that on the Real Time RPI, Florida Atlantic is considered a quality win again now that their RPI is #100 while UCSB now #102 is no longer a quality win. It looks like only the top 100 RPI teams count as quality wins. Hopefully, we'll notch another one or two in the second half of the season...

Some notable results from our mid-major opponents:

Wisconsin Milwaukee: Won regular season title; Lost Horizon Final
Florida Atlantic: Won Sun Belt East division
UC Santa Barbara: Big West champions
Montana: Lost Big Sky final
Boise St.: Lost WAC final