RedZone
maximus
Posts: 203
Reg: 04-24-05
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08-06-05 03:01 PM - Post#9190
Below are the 2004-2005 RPI stats of the Cornell and Penn 2005-2006 non-conference opponents. As of now, it appears that these two teams have very comparable games for their "top three" opponents as well as for their bottom "five" opponents. (I remind Penn fans that the Villanova game is at home, while Cornell plays its top three on the road) Cornell and Penn also share the same 14 Ivy games. Hence, these teams essentially are on par with each other for 22 of their 27/28 games.
The Penn and Cornell schedules differ in those remaining five to six games to fill out the schedule.
Penn's schedule is definitely stronger overall, not because of the "heavy weights" at the top of the board, but instead, primarily because of the quality mid majors that fill out the remaining dates. Penn's games against teams ranked 99 (Temple), 102 (Colorado), 131 (Hawaii), and 213 (La Salle) are superior to Cornell's games against 195 (Albany), 203 (St. Francis, Pa), 226 (Penn State), 238 (Colgate), 240 (Lehigh) and 265 (Long Beach State).
Perhaps Cornell should have scheduled some better mid majors such as Holy Cross (48), Boston U (76), American (130), Fairfield (166), Maine (170), San Diego (122) or Loyola Marymount (175) (instead of LBSU), or Binghamton
(182).
In any event, the Penn fans have no right this year to come over to the Cornell board to dance and brag about their schedule's level of difficulty. Wake up Quakers. Your schedule is better, but not by light years. And it is by no means a "killer" schedule. And last year your schedule was also not that exciting. This year, the Penn schedule is "deeper" than Cornell's strength of schedule, but not by much. Plus, in defense of Cornell, the games at LBSU and Penn State are cool places to play and the Albany team could be an NCAA tourney team (along with Washington, Syracuse, and Bucknell). Lastly, the Patriot League is better than ever before, and those games against Colgate and Lehigh are not cake-walks for any Ivy program, even Penn.
Anyhow, here are the RPIs:
CORNELL's SCHEDULE (27 D-I games)
Washington 3
Syracuse 20
Bucknell 64
Albany 195
St. Francis Pa 203
Penn State 226
Colgate 238
Lehigh 240
Long Beach State 265
Lafayette 267
Qunnipiac 299
Hartford 300
Army 327
Keuka College (Non-Division I)
PENN's SCHEDULE (26 D-I games)
Duke 4
Villanova 15
St. Joes 56
Drexel 87
Colorado 99
Temple 102
Hawaii 131
LaSalle 213
Lafayette 267
Citadel 293
Siena 297
Navy 304
BYU-Hawaii (Non-Division I)
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Big R&B Truth
Masters Student
Posts: 427
Loc: Back Waters of New Englan...
Reg: 11-23-04
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Re: Cornell's Strength of Schedule
08-07-05 03:02 AM - Post#9191
In response to RedZone
BRF,
I hope you argue better in court then you do on this board or your clients are probably all going to get the chair. If you put Cornell’s and Penn’s opponents in one list and then rank them, you can clearly see that Penn’s schedule is far superior then Cornell’s.
C Washington 3
P Duke 4
P Villanova 15
C Syracuse 20
P St.Joes 56
C Bucknell 64
P Drexel 87
P Colorado 99
P Temple 102
P Hawaii 131
C Albany 195
C St.Francis 203
P LaSalle 213
C Penn State 226
C Colgate 238
C Lehigh 240
C LBS 265
P Lafayette 267
C Lafayette 267
P Citadel 293
P Siena 297
C Qunnipiac 299
C Hartford 300
P Navy 304
C Army 327
Even if we give you the Syracuse game, which may not happen, all but three of Cornell’s opponents are in the bottom half of division I. 7 out of 12 of Penn’s opponent are ranked 131 or better.
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SFlaQuaker
Postdoc
Posts: 2427
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: Cornell's Strength of Schedule
08-07-05 04:39 AM - Post#9192
In response to Big R&B Truth
I'd also be shocked if UW is ahead of Duke or Nova this year.
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10Q
Professor
Posts: 23451
Loc: Suburban Philly
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: Cornell's Strength of Schedule
08-07-05 10:18 AM - Post#9193
In response to SFlaQuaker
Welcome back Big Red Fan. I knew that eventually, if everyone kept ignoring your posts, you'd start baiting Penn fans. So welcome back. The spotlight is on you again.
I'll be right back. I'm heading over to the Cornell board to dance and brag about the strength of Penn's schedule.
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CUJacob
Senior
Posts: 353
Reg: 12-05-04
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Re: Cornell's Strength of Schedule
08-09-05 05:16 AM - Post#9194
In response to RedZone
This is a pointless debate.
Is Penn's schedule more difficult? Absolutely.
Is Penn a better team than Cornell? Yes.
Does it therefore make sense that Penn would want to challenge itself more? Of course.
Does it really matter who has the tougher schedule? I don't see how it does.
Will I be rooting for Penn in its non-conference games? For sure.
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