True, the competition hasn’t been strong, and it’s still relatively early in the season when numbers can fluctuate, but how do you figure Ohio starting the week with an RPI of 53, then, after 2 wins, including Purdue (now ranked 78), drop to 81! Does beating a winless team hurt you? The projection for Ohio is a final RPI off 69 (the rankings I've seen have them better than that). They are projected to finish 21-8, lose 2 of their next 3 games (all on the road), then start the MAC season dropping their 1st 3 games, including a home game. True, the MAC is loaded and 3! teams could dance this year. Are the Cats better than the RPI claims? I think so. Stay tuned and we'll see how much better.

Go OHIO

P.S. If that ranking doesn’t baffle you, try this: Notre Dame (7-1 ) is ranked (RPI) Number 1. UConn (8-0) is 2nd and beat N.D. by 18 in South Bend.

Exactly, as far as the RPI goes, playing a terrible team will drop a good team's RPI. Margin of victory isn't a factor so there's nothing a team can do to keep its RPI up if it plays a bad team.

There aren't too many good ratings out there for women's basketball but here is one that is better than RPI: https://www.masseyratings.com/cbw/ncaa-d1/ratings

Ohio is #54 in that one. Central Michigan is #26 and Buffalo #43. Toledo is #80 and Miami is #85.