MBB: University Athletic Association

[deiscanton]

The NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Committee released the official NPI summary report for games through February 1, 2025.  However, while the national NPI rankings of the UAA men's basketball teams are correct, the "official" NPI numbers of the UAA men's basketball teams as calculated by the NCAA computer are incorrect.  That is because the NCAA DIII NPI computer, for the second year in a row, is incorrectly counting games where Coast 2 Coast teams are playing each other as conference round-robin games.  The Coast 2 Coast Conference does not play conference round robin games-- only C2C conference tournament games are the official conference games in the C2C.  Moreover, starting this season, the C2C is seeding the teams in their conference tournaments using the D3Datacast NPI numbers. 

Since Emory and UChicago played C2C teams in their non-conference schedules this season, the NPI numbers being calculated by the NCAA DIII computer are different than the D3Datacast NPI numbers. 

For the second year in a row, the NCAA DIII NPI calculator is also not programmed to account for the fact that the GNAC only plays a single round robin prior to their conference tournament, and is once again counting the first game where one GNAC team plays another as a conference game if the two GNAC teams play each other twice.   In GNAC, if one GNAC team is playing another twice in the same season, only the second game counts as the conference round robin game.  GNAC conference round robin action is being played as doubleheaders on the men's and women's sides-- but both the GNAC men's and women's conference games are single round robin.

The larger discrepancy in Brandeis's numbers in both NCAA and D3Datacast is explained by the fact that Brandeis played GNAC teams in their non-conference schedule.

The NCAA DIII NPI February 1, 2026 summary report for men's basketball can be located at:

http://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/48516

Here are the discrepancies due to incorrect calculation by the NCAA of games where C2C teams played against each other and skewed the NPI numbers, as well as incorrect calculation by the NCAA of non-conference games where GNAC teams played against each other:

1.)  UChicago-- ranked #1 in NPI by both NCAA and D3Datacast-- NCAA has the NPI at 69.155, while D3Datacast has it at 69.156

2.)  Emory-- ranked #9 in NPI by both NCAA and D3Datacast-- NCAA has the NPI at 66.285, while D3Datacast has it at 66.283

3.)  WashU-- ranked #20 in NPI by both NCAA and D3Datacast-- NCAA has the NPI at 62.742, while D3Datacast has it at 62.739

4.)  Brandeis-- ranked #28 in NPI by both NCAA and D3Datacast-- NCAA has the NPI at 61.769, while D3Datacast has it at 61.761  (Brandeis played 2 GNAC teams, Emmanuel and Lasell, in their non-conference schedule.)

5.)  NYU-- ranked #34 in NPI by both NCAA and D3Datacast-- NCAA has the NPI at 61.198, while D3Datacast has it at 61.196.  (NYU played GNAC team University of St. Joseph in their non-conference schedule.)

6.) Carnegie Mellon-- ranked #64 in NPI in both NCAA and D3Datacast-- NCAA has the NPI at 58.345, while D3Datacast has it at 58.335

7.)  CWRU-- ranked #117 in NPI in both systems-- NCAA has the NPI at 55.254, while D3Datacast has it at 55.251

8.)  Rochester-- ranked #120 in NPI in both systems-- NCAA has the NPI at 55.194, while D3Datacast has it at 55.186

[deiscanton]

The NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Committee has released their NPI summary report through games played Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026--

The report can be found at:

http://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/48671

Here are the UAA teams as listed in the rankings--

1.)  Emory-- NPI rank #1-- NPI is 69.806-- NPI rank last week was #9.
2.)  U. Chicago-- NPI rank #3-- NPI is 69.364-- NPI rank last week was #1.
3.)  NYU--  NPI rank #20-- NPI is 63.340-- NPI rank last week was #34
4.)  WashU-- NPI rank #28-- NPI is 62.133-- NPI rank last week was #20
5.)  Brandeis-- NPI rank #32-- NPI is 61.776-- NPI rank last week was #28
6.)  Carnegie Mellon-- NPI rank #79-- NPI is 57.538-- NPI rank last week was #64
7.)  CWRU-- NPI rank #101-- NPI is 56.372-- NPI rank last week was #117
8.)  Rochester-- NPI rank #102-- NPI is 56.301-- NPI rank last week was #120

 

[deiscanton]

Once again, the official NPI Summary Report for February 8, 2026 has mistakes made in the calculation.

The basic mistake is that the NCAA's statistical NPI calculator is erroneously counting every game played between two teams in the same conference as a conference round robin game, when not all of them are.

I have noticed, in particular, the following errors:

(1)  The Coast to Coast Conference does not have conference round robin games-- all conference play is done through the conference tournament in the final week of the regular season.   Yet, the NPI calculators are erroneously assuming matchups between C. Newport, Mary Washington, Salisbury, and UC Santa Cruz as conference round robin games when two of those 4 teams are playing against each other.

(2)  The Great Northeast Athletic Confernce only does a single round robin in men's basketball, yet the NPI calculator is erroneously assuming the first meeting of the season between Dean and other GNAC schools as conference games, even though they are non-conference.  Only the second match of the season between Dean and certain other GNAC schools is the official conference game.

(3)  In NESCAC-- Little Three games and CBB games are being erroneously counted as conference games, even though they are not being played on a weekend.   NESCAC only has a single round robin, and NESCAC games in the round robin are played on the weekend.

Here are the D3Datacast NPI numbers for UAA teams in games played through Sunday, February 8--

(1)  Emory-- NPI rank of #1-- NPI is 69.797
(2)  U.Chicago-- NPI rank of #3-- NPI is 69.367
(3)  NYU-- NPI rank of #20-- NPI is 63.541
(4)  WashU-- NPI rank of #27-- NPI is 62.136
(5)  Brandeis-- NPI rank of #32-- NPI is 61.774

If selections were being done today-- Emory, UChicago, NYU, WashU, and Brandeis would all be in the tournament, with Brandeis being one of the last 7 in. 

The bubble-in teams are the group of NPI teams ranked from #30 to #36. 

D3Datacast has Roanoke of the ODAC currently as the last team in with an NPI rank of #36 and an NPI of 61.164 as of this morning.

The rest of the UAA-- with the D3Datacast NPI numbers

(6)  Carnegie Mellon-- NPI rank of #79-- NPI is 57.536
(7)  CWRU-- NPI rank of #101-- NPI is 56.371
(8)  Rochester-- NPI rank of #102-- NPI is 56.303