Stanwood girls second in WIAA’s first-ever RPI rankings

Published 4:30 pm Friday, January 6, 2017

RENTON — Area boys and girls basketball teams were well-represented in Friday’s inaugural release of the state basketball Ratings Percentage Index rankings.

The RPI system, first announced by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association in September following its monthly Executive Board meeting, will determine seeding for the state basketball tournaments among each classification’s 16 qualifying teams.

The RPI system is computed with a 25-percent weight for winning percentage, 50-percent weight for opponents’ winning percentage and 25-percent weight for the winning percentage of opponents’ opponents. The formula only factors in regular-season games and doesn’t account for a school’s classification. All out-of-state opponents are calculated with a .500 winning percentage.

Entering Friday’s games, the Stanwood girls were the highest-ranked area team, checking in at No. 2 in the Class 3A girls rankings with a rating of .687, trailing only top-ranked Bishop Blanchet at .732. The undefeated Spartans (11-0) were one of four Wesco teams in the 3A girls top 10, with Shorewood ranked fifth (.632), Snohomish seventh (.625) and Edmonds-Woodway eighth (.621).

Glacier Peak was fourth (.669) in the 4A girls rankings and Wesco rival Lake Stevens was sixth (.656), while Sunnyside held the top spot with a .729 rating. White River topped the 2A girls rankings (.695), and Archbishop Murphy checked in at eighth (.585).

In the 3A boys rankings, Stanwood was sixth (.652) and reigning 2A state runner-up Shorecrest was 11th (.638). Nathan Hale, ranked No. 1 nationally by Maxpreps.com, held the top spot with a .730 rating.

Union topped the 4A boys rankings with a .700 rating, while Glacier Peak was eighth with a .610 rating.

Defending state champion King’s (9-2) was ranked ninth in the 1A boys rankings at .584. Freeman, which the Knights beat by 41 points in last season’s state title game, was ranked No. 1 with a .652 rating.

The Knights’ only two losses this season came by a combined three points in the Visit Mesa Basketball Challenge, an invitational tournament in Arizona that featured some of the Grand Canyon State’s top teams. But since all out-of-state opponents are calculated as .500 teams — regardless of their actual record — the Knights’ strength of schedule isn’t accurately reflected in the RPI formula.

Mark Morris was No. 1 in the 2A boys rankings and Kittitas held the top spot in the 2B boys rankings. Lummi Nation topped the 1B boys rankings at .744, while Cedar Park Christian-Mountlake Terrace was No. 7 at .581.

Lynden Christian held the top 1A girls spot and Dayton topped the 2B girls rankings. Colton was No. 1 in the 1B girls rankings at .646, while CPC-Mountlake Terrace was No. 9 at .535.

In previous years, state tournament seeding was determined by a draw system based on where teams finished in their respective district tournaments. However, due to the discrepancy in competition level from district to district, that sometimes led to heavyweight matchups in the early rounds of the state tournament.

While district tournaments will still determine which 16 teams qualify for state, those teams will now be seeded by the RPI system. The RPI rankings will be updated daily on the WIAA’s website through the end of the regular season — though only the final rankings will be used for seeding.

Also different this season is the state tournment format. The state regional round of recent years remains, but the number of teams that advance from the state regionals to domed championship venues — the Tacoma Dome, Yakima Valley SunDome and Spokane Arena — will increase from eight to 12.

The WIAA voted on the new tournament format and implementation of an RPI system after surveying superintendents, principals, athletic directors, head coaches and assistant coaches.

Washington joins Oregon and a number of other states that have adopted an RPI system.

The WIAA has formed an RPI Committee to review the formula and determine if adjustments are needed in future years. WIAA assistant executive director Cindy Adsit said that other team sports could adopt an RPI system as early as next school year, in which case the RPI Committee would be responsible for overseeing the formulas for those sports as well.