The Niagara Purple Eagles enjoyed a glorious trip to southwestern Ohio last spring, but don’t expect them to reunite with the University of Dayton pep band in March when the (NCAA-would-prefer-you-don’t-call-it-a) play-in returns to the Flyers’ home.
Buoyed by a strong non-conference performance and two impressive MAAC wins, Niagara begins the bulk of league play ranked 52nd in the Ratings Percentage Index.
The Purple Eagles were ranked 136th in the RPI last season, one of the reasons they were sent to Dayton to play their way onto the Big Dance floor. Niagara’s 2005 MAAC Championship team parlayed an RPI rank of 96 into a No. 14 seed in the NCAA.
Though the MAAC hasn’t sent an at-large team to the tournament since 1995, Ken Taylor, associate commissioner for men’s basketball, said the MAAC’s strategic plan includes maximizing the conference overall RPI.
The goal, Taylor said, is for the conference champion to earn a relatively higher seed in the NCAAs, and thus, a more winnable game than what Niagara faced in the first round last year against Kansas. A low overall conference RPI can drag down a high-ranking team once the league schedule plays out.
In 2004, the MAAC was ranked 17th in the RPI, which helped Manhattan earn a No. 12 seed. The Jaspers went on to upset Florida, advancing to the second round and bringing the MAAC an extra share of the lucrative NCAA tournament revenue pie.
The MAAC is currently 17th in the RPI. Conference play generally has a negligible effect on RPIs, but the MAAC trails the Sun Belt Conference by one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Niagara is one of four MAAC teams in the RPI top 150. The others are: Siena (65), Marist (81) and Rider (146).
The Purple Eagles have benefited from the opportunity to beat Marist and Rider during December’s two-game MAAC appetizer schedule.
In addition, Niagara owns wins over Santa Clara (103 RPI), Central Michigan (120) and St. John’s (136). Were it not for bad losses at Liberty (246) and Towson (265), the Purple Eagles might be in contention for a possible at-large NCAA berth.
Siena and Marist have boosted the conference’s RPI with respective wins over Stanford (33) and Wright State (35). While Niagara resumes conference play tonight at Iona, Siena has a chance to give the entire MAAC a boost with a game at Memphis, the top-ranked team in the RPI. Siena has also played Syracuse (11), St. Joe’s (60), Holy Cross (80) and James Madison (116). The Saints lost all four of those games.
Overall, the average strength of the 10 MAAC schools’ non-conference schedules ranks the conference 22nd in the country. The MAAC ranked 30th last season, 16th in 2006 and 15th in 2005.
Prior to the 2005-06 season, the MAAC rescinded a rule that required member schools to schedule one game against a top 100 RPI team, two games against top 150 RPI teams, and two games against teams in the top 200.
“We decided against that because people weren’t sure it was having its intended impact,” Taylor said. “It wasn’t necessarily boosting us from 17 to 12. It might have been getting us from 15 to 14.”
Taylor said the MAAC encourages teams that expect to be strong — like Siena this year — to schedule aggressively. That Niagara was relegated to the play-in game last year doesn’t concern the MAAC going forward, Taylor said.
“We had four first-year coaches and one second-year coach,” he said. “We look at it like we were paying our dues last year.”
The MAAC did not receive an extra share of the tournament revenue for Niagara’s play-in game win over Florida A&M. The NCAA decided to award an extra share to the play-in game winner beginning this year, but, Taylor said, the money won’t be paid retroactively like it is with traditional NCAA tournament wins.
As for the RPI, Taylor said the MAAC is excited about the strong ratings for Niagara, Siena and Marist because they could potentially lead to marquee games in the ESPN Bracket Buster series. Match-ups for the games, which will be played Feb. 23, will be announced on Super Bowl Sunday.
“We’re going to call ESPN,” Taylor said. “And remind them to watch Niagara (play) Siena on ESPNU next Friday.”
Contact reporter Jonah Bronstein at 282-2311, ext. 2258 or bronsteinj@gnnewspaper.com.
• NOTES: The Purple Eagles have won four straight after beating Morgan State and host Santa Clara for the Cable Car Classic championship. Charron Fisher averaged 25.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in claiming tournament MVP honors. ... Fisher is averaging 27.0 points this season, second in the nation to Tennessee-Martin’s Lester Hudson (27.4 ppg). ... The Gaels have lost consecutive road games at Louisville and Vanderbilt. ... Iona claimed its second game under first-year coach Kevin Willard on Dec. 7, equaling last season’s win total. ... Niagara owns home MAAC wins over Rider and Marist, while Iona beat Loyola at home and lost at Siena.
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