February 13 Update: Connecticut Victim of the Vagaries of RPI

The Temple Owls and the South Florida Bulls both edged up into the top 25 of RPI a little unexpectedly this weekend. This change meant that instead of Connecticut having just one more scheduled top 25 game in their season (tonight's showdown against South Carolina), the Huskies now have three, and this was enough to drop Connecticut (through no fault of their own) down to the fifth ranked team in the College Women's Hoops S-Factor. I believe this will only be a temporary drop.

Last 4 in:
Harvard
Northern Iowa
Indiana
Northwestern

First 4 out:
Elon
Penn State
Michigan State
Georgetown

Now in:
Harvard
James Madison
Indiana

Now out:
Elon
Michigan State
California

Conferences with multiple bids:
SEC: 8
(1) Mississippi State
(1) South Carolina
(3) Texas A&M
(5) Tennessee
(5) Kentucky
(6) Missouri
(7) LSU
(8) Auburn

ACC: 7
(1) Notre Dame
(2) Florida State
(3) Duke
(4) North Carolina State
(4) Louisville
(6) Syracuse
(6) Miami (FL)

Pac 12: 6
(1) Oregon State
(2) Stanford
(3) Washington
(4) UCLA
(7) Arizona State
(8) Oregon

Big Ten: 5
(4) Maryland
(7) Ohio State
(9) Michigan
(10) Indiana
(11) Northwestern

Big 12: 5
(2) Baylor
(3) Texas
(5) Oklahoma 
(6) Kansas State
(9) West Virginia

American: 3
(2) Connecticut
(7) Temple
(8) South Florida

Big East: 3
(5) DePaul
(8) Marquette
(9) Creighton

Missouri Valley: 2
(10) Northern Iowa
(11) Drake

Ivy: 2
(10) Harvard
(12) Pennsylvania

January 18 Update: The Six Chart Toppers This Year

The Baylor Lady Bears have become the sixth team to top the College Women's Hoops S-Factor at some point this year. The five others are Connecticut, Stanford, South Carolina, Notre Dame, and Seton Hall.

Now in:
Kansas State
Villanova
Hofstra
Bryant

Now out:
North Carolina State
Northwestern
Elon
Robert Morris

Still out:
South Florida
Duke

Conferences with multiple bids:
SEC: 8
(1) South Carolina
(3) Kentucky
(4) Mississippi State
(5) Florida
(6) Missouri
(7) Tennessee
(8) Georgia
(9) Texas A&M

Pac 12: 7
(2) Stanford
(2) Arizona State
(2) Oregon State
(3) UCLA
(3) Washington
(4) USC
(5) Utah

Big Ten: 6
(3) Ohio State
(4) Maryland
(5) Purdue
(6) Michigan State
(7) Iowa
(8) Rutgers

Big 12: 6
(1) Baylor
(1) Texas
(4) Oklahoma
(5) Oklahoma State
(9) West Virginia
(9) Kansas State

ACC: 5
(2) Notre Dame
(6) Louisville
(7) Florida State
(8) Syracuse
(8) Miami (FL)

Big East: 4
(6) St. John's
(9) Seton Hall
(10) DePaul
(11) Villanova

Atlantic 10: 2
(7) George Washington
(10) Duquesne

West Coast: 2
(10) BYU
(10) San Diego

American: 1
(1) Connecticut

December 13 Update: Finals Week

As of this update, the Big East only shows up with one bid, Villanova. This is the first time in approximately forever that one could say this about the Big East.  It is only a temporary situation: both St. John's and DePaul were dropped out of the S-Factor for losing this week to SEC teams (Kentucky and Auburn), but they'll probably be back soon. 

If anything, this only highlights how stacked the SEC is this year.  Five SEC teams are still undefeated (Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina) and three more have only one loss (LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri). The conference as a whole stands at 108-22 right now, which is the second least amount of losses for a conference this year.  The Big 12 has one less loss but four fewer teams (and 48 fewer wins).   



Now in:
Texas
Ole Miss
BYU

Now out:
St. John's
Middle Tennessee State
DePaul

Conferences with multiple bids:
SEC: 8
ACC: 8
Big Ten: 7
Big 12: 5
Pac 12: 5
American: 3
West Coast: 3

 

Gladiator Death Match Thursday

For bubble teams it seems like every game in late February is a test. For bubble teams playing other bubble teams, it seems like it's more of a gladiator death match where two contenders enter the arena, but only one comes out (still looking at a tournament bid).

There were two gladiator death match games last night: LSU versus South Carolina, and Southern California versus Arizona State. LSU and Arizona State came out on top last night, and the College Women's Hoops S-Factor rewards their performances with 10-seeds. For their losses, South Carolina remains outside the predicted at-large bids, while Southern Cal was thrust out to the "first four out" category.

But both teams with acronyms of USC have not quite been fed to the lions just yet. Of course anything can happen in their conference tournaments. South Carolina has a chance at a top-25 win against Vanderbilt this weekend, and Southern California has a chance to go 11-7 in the Pac-10, which is acceptable for an at-large resumé though not automatic by any means.

______________________

Now in: Texas, LSU
Now out: Southern California, Michigan

Conferences with multiple bids:
Big East: 10
ACC: 6
SEC: 6
Big 12: 6
Big Ten: 5
PAC-10: 3
Atlantic 10: 3
Colonial: 2