WSU notes: MVC wish list for stats summit would lead with road values

How Friday’s stats summit will change the way the NCAA Tournament selection committee looks at teams and seeding is unresolved.

If Missouri Valley Conference basketball coaches and administrators could wish for one outcome, it might be that road games become more valuable.

As they know, Valley schools play non-conference road games. Many of the schools they compete with for NCAA at-large bids are in position to be far more selective with trips away from home.

Whether that advantage is earned or not, it’s a factor that, most seasons, works against the Valley.

“I’ve always thought the aspect of Division I men’s basketball that is the most unfair … is the number of home and road games,” MVC commissioner Doug Elgin said. “You don’t see the Tampa Bay Rays playing 70 home games and the Yankees 92.”

In Indianapolis, the NCAA hosted a meeting with prominent analytics figures such as CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm and Ken Pomeroy to discuss a composite measurement for evaluating and ranking teams more helpful than the RPI. Former Wichita State athletic director Jim Schaus, now AD at Ohio University, chairs the NCAA sub-committee looking at how teams are selected, seeded and bracketed.

The RPI, first used in 1981, was created to help make sense of a nation full of schools who played widely varying schedules. Critics believe newer measurements, such as Pomeroy, Sagarin and others, are more accurate as a starting point to rank teams.

“It’s been proven that there’s a bias with the RPI and there are so many other ways to measure teams and strengths,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “There’s got to be more than just the RPI. I’m glad they’re looking at it.”

Elgin understands that those circumstances are part of the pecking order of college athletics and nothing will lure Duke into playing a home-and-home with Wichita State. Any nudge that the selection committee can give to encourage or reward road games could be helpful to the MVC and other similar conferences.

The committee, in recent seasons, penalizes teams who schedule soft and the RPI does weigh road results. From an MVC perspective, anything else that levels the playing field is welcome.

Illinois State is No. 28 in the RPI rankings after playing non-conference games at Murray State, TCU, Tulsa and Hawaii (as part of a tournament). No. 21 Maryland played at Georgetown in its lone non-conference road game. No. 20 Notre Dame didn’t play a non-conference road game, although it did play four quality neutral-court games. No. 45 Illinois didn’t play a non-conference road game. No. 44 Mississippi played one.

“That’s the reason the RPI is biased — there are some teams that never have to go on the road, other than in the conference,” Marshall said. “Then after they play all those home games, they start playing each other.”

Drive time — WSU is urging fans to prepare for delays entering and exiting parking lots around Koch Arena.

Road construction on 21st St. near the arena will continue for around two weeks, WSU said in a news release.

Relax and watch — Eck Stadium is a safer place to watch baseball this spring.

WSU erected a net, 137 feet long and 10 feet tall, that stretches from the first-base dugout to the bullpen in right field.

“(Fans) can sit there comfortably now,” coach Todd Butler said. “They can talk without having to watch the ball every time it’s moving. It’s a great thing for our stadium and our fans.”

Stephenson honored — Former Shockers baseball coach Gene Stephenson was inducted into the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame on Saturday in Oklahoma City.

Mickey Mantle, former Minnesota Twins manager and New York Mets shortstop Ron Gardenhire and high school coach Bill Hutson are the other members of the class.

Baseball bits — The Shockers move from limited workouts to full practice on Friday. The opener is Feb. 17 against Utah Valley at Eck Stadium.

Much of fall workouts were devoted to adjusting to new pitching coach Mike Steele. Pitching and defense, two areas that hurt WSU last season, are under scrutiny for improvement.

“We have more pitchers than we’ve ever had,” Butler said. “We have 20 pitchers and 15 hitters. The starting rotation is going to be a battle. There’s possibly six guys that can start.”

▪  The First Pitch Banquet is Feb. 2 at Koch Arena. Former Dodgers second baseman Steve Sax, now an analyst on the MLB Network, is the guest speaker.

Tickets are $125. For more information, call (316) 978-3267.

▪  MLB.com ranks former Shocker Casey Gillaspie the No. 5 first base prospect.

Gillaspie, of the Tampa Bay Rays, hit 18 home runs in Double- and Triple-A last season, batting .284 with a .479 slugging percentage.

▪  Former Shocker Arnie Beyeler will again manage the Triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes, in the Marlins organization.

This story was originally published January 21, 2017 at 2:10 PM with the headline "WSU notes: MVC wish list for stats summit would lead with road values."