If the decisions of last year's NCAA Division I women's basketball committee taught us anything, it's that scheduling and winning games against the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) top 50 really matter. When a team didn't make the NCAA tournament field, or questions arose around a team that was included, committee chair Terry Gawlik's fallback answer invariably had something to do with one or both of those criteria.
The top 16 teams in the committee's first reveal this season suggests a similar philosophy. And when also applied further down the S-curve, it sheds some light on the fate of a number of bubble teams, beginning with their status in this week's bracket projection.