Carl Mattei needs no more motivation for his Regis Jesuit girls basketball team other than the number six.
The Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) method of determining the seedings in the Class 5A state basketball playoffs — in lieu of a seeding committee that used to do it — has been controversial since it began, but never moreso than this season.
Case in point, Mattei’s Regis Jesuit team, which went undefeated in 17 Colorado games and by the eyeballs is either the first or second-best team in the state. Yet the Colorado High School Activities Association’s RPI — which discounts the value of out-of-state play, no matter the quality of opponent — seeded the Raiders (21-3) at No. 6.
“The seeding this year is very suspect,” Mattei said Feb. 23 after his team’s 70-25 second round win over 27th-seeded Broomfield.
“It’s something my kids took to heart and said ‘OK, we’re going to come out and play as hard as we can,’” he added.
The RPI formula is comprised of a team’s own winning percentage, coupled with its opponents’ winning percentage and its opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage, currently weighted 25-50-25.
The Raiders’ seeding position can be owed in part to the fact that their results from a season-opening trip to La Jolla, California, and a swing to the Classic in the Country in Berlin, Ohio — four wins in seven games played against some of the top teams in the country — were by rule valued in the RPI as equivalent to a win against a .500 Colorado team.
Combined with the RPI detriment of playing some of the bottom teams in the Continental League, the end result is a bracket in which Regis Jesuit is seeded behind three teams its beaten head-to-head and two that lost to a team it defeated this season.
No. 1 Fruita Monument has two Colorado losses), No. 2 Lakewood (which lost to Regis Jesuit by 12 points earlier in the year and also has two in-state losses), No. 3 Horizon (which has one Colorado loss, a 10-point defeat to Grandview), No. 4 Grandview (which only lost to Regis Jesuit in Colorado play) and No. 5 Highlands Ranch (which Regis Jesuit beat head-to-head and has two Colorado defeats) all ended up with higher seeds.
Mattei and other teams such as Highlands Ranch, Grandview and Cherry Creek that travel regularly to expose their teams to the highest level of competition possible, will have to make adjustments to their schedules if they want to raise their seedings in the future.
Next season, the 5A powers may set up more games against top teams from 4A and 3A, which worked for top-seeded Fruita Monument.
The Wildcats own wins over 4A’s No. 1 RPI team Pueblo West, Valor Christian (No. 5 in 4A) and 3A’s No. 4 team in Colorado Springs Christian, which certainly played a role in their seeding.
“For those of us, if we want to travel, this is what we have to do,” Mattei said. “CHSAA is setting the rules that we have to play by.”
While schedule change and a tweak to the RPI to weight it 30-40-30 starting next year may or may not make an impact on the 2018-19 postseason, this year’s field is set.
The RPI effect is also felt by No. 11 Cherry Creek, a Final Four team in 2017 that is 19-5 after its second-round win over Bear Creek.
The Bruins suffered three losses in Colorado, two to No. 4 Grandview in Centennial League play and one to No. 7 Ralston Valley, but out of state play — a four-game swing to the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix — proved a detriment to their RPI as well.
The result was a Regis Jesuit vs. Cherry Creek Sweet 16 contest, a matchup that came perhaps two rounds earlier than it probably should and not at the Denver Coliseum.
The only thing players can do is go out and actually show that the seeding is inaccurate.
“I think it means we have to prove something; each game is about proving that we are No. 1,” Regis Jesuit senior Noelle Cahill said.
“From here on out, every single game that we play, that’s what we’re going to try to prove.”
As the defending state champions with just one loss in Colorado, Grandview also appears underseeded at No. 4. The Wolves played four games out of state and are impacted in terms of RPI by some of the bottom teams in their league, especially since they play them twice.
Grandview coach Josh Ulitzky — whose team beat Denver South 89-44 in the second round — has a matter-of-fact take.
“Honestly, you have to beat the team that’s in front of you,” Ulitzky said. “We have no control over it, so that’s all we have to do.”
The RPI issues also exist in the boys state basketball tournament, however they don’t appear as pronounced as in the girls. A deeper pool of top teams helps boys programs boost their RPI locally.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sports
