Many Maryland fans were introduced to the concept of “gaming” the RPI back in 2006 when Gary Williams spoke out against the Missouri Valley Conference doing exactly that. The Valley got four teams in to the NCAA Tournament and two of them – Northern Iowa and Bradley – got in off the bubble at the expense of the Terps.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

Perhaps Mark Turgeon has learned from all of that. Maryland’s scheduling of Bowie State, whom the Terps blasted 93-62 on Tuesday, is an example of exploiting the sport’s most important metric in regards to NCAA Tournament resumes. Bowie State is not a Division 1 program, which means that they are not factored in to Maryland’s RPI. That means that they’re the same easy victory that a Division 1 bottom feeder would be but without the strength of schedule and thus subsequent RPI damage.

One could make the argument that Maryland has “gamed” the RPI this season. The Terps are No. 5 in the RPI but have played just five teams in the top 50 of the RPI.  No. 1 Oklahoma has played eight such games. No. 2 Villanova has played seven. No. 3 Oregon has played a whopping 12 top 50 games and No. 4 Kansas has played 11.

So is it true that the Terps beat the system? Actually, the truth is that they tried to and failed. The idea was to schedule winnable nonconference games but against teams that would be likely to have strong seasons in their low major leagues and thus have strong RPIs. Unfortunately for the Terps, many of these teams have tanked and are having poor seasons. Here’s a look at what Maryland’s nonconference opponents were expected to be and what they’ve instead turned in to.

Mount St. Mary’s – The Mountaineers returned four starters and eight of their ten rotation players from last season’s 15-15 squad that finished inside the top 200 of the RPI (No. 187.) But the Mount has failed to progress this season, as they are just 11-15 with an RPI 62 spots lower than last year (No. 249.)

Georgetown – The Hoyas are a middle-of-the-road Big East team as they were expected to be. However, their RPI is a whopping 53 spots lower than last season thanks in large part to two shocking home losses to Big South teams Radford (RPI 157) and UNC Asheville (RPI 158.)

Rider – The Broncs gave the Terps a major headache before a double digit second half comeback downed them 65-58. They’re giving them even more of a headache in the RPI, as a 21 team from last season that finished inside the top 150 of RPI (140) and returned almost all of its key contributors (they’re the 46th most experienced team in the country with almost all upperclassmen in their rotation) is now just 10-15 with an RPI that is over 100 spots lower than last year (252.) They were picked to finish second in the MAAC; instead they sit in seventh.

Illinois State – Despite Saturday night’s upset of Wichita State, the Redbirds are still just outside the top 100 of RPI (104) and just 14-11 overall after winning 22 games last year and finishing just outside the RPI top 50 (53.)

Rhode Island – Danny Hurley’s Rams won 23 games last season and went 13-5 in Atlantic 10 conference play. This season, they were almost everybody’s second choice out of the A-10 after Dayton and returned four starters, including NBA prospect E.C. Matthews. Instead, Matthews tore his ACL in the season opener and URI is just 14-10 overall and 6-5 in the A-10. They too sit just outside the top 100 of RPI (115) after finishing No. 61 last season.

Cleveland State – If you liked reading about how much Rider has tanked, you’ll love hearing about what the Vikings are up to! A 19 win team that nearly won the Horizon regular season title has turned in to a truly shocking 5-18 (with two non D1 wins) squad with an RPI of 271. That’s only 143 spots worse than last year. Sure they lost four starters but Cleveland State has had a winning record in nine of Gary Waters’ ten seasons there with four 20+ win seasons sprinkled in. They’re a historically strong mid major program dating back to Mouse McFadden in the 80s that’s having by far its worst season in over a decade.

North Carolina – At least the Tar Heels are who we thought they were. The preseason No. 1 team in the country is at the top of the ACC and competing for a 1 seed as expected.

Saint Francis (PA) – Much like Mount St. Mary’s, the Red Flashes are having a similar season to last year (12-11 this year, 15-16 last year) but are a solid 43 spots worse in RPI anyway (236 vs 193.)

Connecticut – A top 25 team going in to the season that returned a bevvy of talent (Rodney Purvis, Daniel Hamilton) and added Seton Hall transfer Sterling Gibbs and blue chip freshman Jalen Adams, the Huskies sit at the same 7-4 mark in the American that last year’s disappointing team did on this date and with an RPI of 48, they are dangerously close to trimming Maryland’s much maligned 3 top 50 wins mark to 2.

Maryland Eastern Shore – First year coach Bobby Collins led the Hawks to their best season in 41 years, winning 18 games last year and finishing inside the top 200 of the RPI (191), which is almost unheard of for a MEAC school. Naturally, UMES has fallen back to Earth this season and is just 7-17 with an RPI of 275.

Princeton – Hey look, it’s one of two teams who has exceeded its expectations and performance from last season! The Tigers brought back all five starters and despite one of them getting hurt in November, they are already closing on last season’s 15 wins as they sit 13-5 (with a non D1 win) and just a game back of Yale in the loss column in the Ivy League. Last season’s RPI of 194 has suddenly shot all the way up to 56 and if the Tigers keep playing well, they could be an unexpected top 50 win for Maryland.

Marshall – And here’s the other. The Thundering Herd were a disastrous 9-21 (with two non D1 wins) in Dan D’Antoni’s first season, finishing with a RPI of 292. This season, they’ve already surpassed that win total at 12-12 and they’re tied for second in the loss column in Conference USA with an RPI of 141.

Out of Maryland’s 12 non conference opponents, 8 of them have significantly worse RPIs than they did last season and have failed to reach expectations. It’s possible the Terps won’t get a top 100 win out of the trip to Cancun, which is particularly damaging considering that the Thanksgiving tournaments power conference teams play are often their strongest nonconference opponents. Rider and Cleveland State are particularly damaging as instead of being inside the top 150 and maybe pushing the top 100 like was reasonably expected of them, they’re sub 250 anchors. Whatever attempts were made to “game” the RPI have clearly blown up in Maryland’s faces.

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