Somehow there isn't a thread on the ACC for this season, which seems odd given its historical dominance - 3 straight national titles and 14 this century by ACC schools or schools currently in the conference. Here's the current RPI, records and strength of schedule heading into the ACC Tournament. TEAM --------------- RPI ------ W-L-T -- ACC ----- SOS Pittsburgh------------ 1 -------- 12-4-0 -- 6-2-0 ---- 3 Duke ------------------ 4 -------- 10-2-4 -- 4-1-3 ---- 23 North Carolina ----- 5 ---------- 9-3-4 --- 4-3-1 ---- 10 Stanford -------------- 13 -------- 8-4-4 -- 3-2-3 ---- 14 SMU -------------------14 -------- 9-2-5 --- 4-2-2 ---- 31 Clemson ------------- 18 -------- 11-2-3 -- 5-2-1 --- 74 NC State ------------- 25 -------- 8-3-5 --- 3-3-2 ---- 20 Wake Forest -------- 28 -------- 8-4-5 --- 4-2-2 --- 26 Virginia --------------- 29 -------- 8-5-3 --- 3-3-2 --- 7 Notre Dame --------- 34 -------- 7-4-5 --- 3-3-2 --- 12 Virginia Tech -------- 39 -------- 7-5-4 --- 1-5-2 --- 9 Syracuse ------------ 53 --------- 7-6-3 --- 2-4-2 --- 25 Boston College ----- 54 -------- 6-4-6 -- 1-4-3 ---- 29 California ------------ 59 --------- 6-7-2 --- 2-4-2 --- 30 Louisville ------------- 69 -------- 6-6-4 --- 0-5-3 --- 52 That's 30 percent of the Top 10, 20 and 30. There's a reason this conference almost always sends multiple teams to the College Cup. They're all battle-tested and they got even moreso this year with the addition of Stanford, SMU and Cal. The current cut-line for at-large bids is No. 40 Northwestern, which would put 11 ACC teams in the NCAA Tournament IF the Selection Committee goes straight RPI, which they usually do. That’s today. A lot can change. Obviously Tech doesn't have a lot of room for error, though the Committee tends to reward SOS and theirs is good. Syracuse and BC likely need at least 2 more wins each to get into the national tournament while Cal – the only ACC team with a current losing record – and Louisville likely need to win the automatic bid to get in. (Making the final might do it.) Here are the ACC Tournament matchups, with their tournament seed/conference finish next to them. 1. Pittsburgh BYE 8. NC State vs. 9. Virginia 4. SMU vs. 13. Boston College 5. Wake Forest vs 12. Syracuse 6. North Carolina vs. 11. California 3. Duke vs. 14 Virginia Tech 7. Stanford vs. Notre Dame 2. Clemson vs. 15. Louisville No one gambles on college soccer but even if they did, I wouldn't bet a nickel of your money, let alone mine, on the ACC Tournament because all 15 teams are capable of a deep run.
The first round of the ACC Tournament is complete with a couple of mild upsets and a result or two that might impact the NCAA Tournament picks. 9. seed Virginia rallied to beat 8. NC State, 2-1. The Cavs advance to play top-seed Pittsburgh. With an RPI of 29, NC State should still get an at-large bid. No. 4. SMU beat 13. Boston College 1-0 and will play 5. seed Wake Forest, which beat 12. Syracuse 2-1. With RPIs in the 50s, BC's and Syracuse's seasons are over. No. 3 Duke beat 14. Virginia Tech 2-0 while 11. California upset 6. North Carolina 2-1. Here's where it starts to get interesting. The loss drops Tech's RPI to 42, which puts them on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament cut-line. Meanwhile, Cal's RPI moves up to 45. While the Hokies will have to sweat it out till decision day, if the Bears get a result against Duke in the QFs, they might get a good enough RPI to sneak in to the tournament. No. 2 Clemson ended the season of 15. seed Louisville, 3-1. They'll play No. 7 Stanford, which won a wild won over 10. Notre Dame 3-2. The Irish tied the game in the 90th minute only to give up the winning goal on a shot from midfield that was literally a buzzer beater, clearing the goal line with one second left. To add indignity to insult, the loss drops the Irish to 46. in the RPI and it might end their season.
The quarterfinals continue to produce some upsets, one mild, one medium and one that makes tournaments fun. The non upset was Clemson, the 2 seed, beating No. 7 Stanford 1-0. Even though Clemson was the higher seed, Stanford had the higher RPI entering the game so it's hard to call it an upset either way. Just a close game between teams that have combined for 5 NCAA titles the past 10 years. Clemson advances to play..... California! The No. 11 seed, which began the tournament with a losing record, spanked 3-seed Duke 2-0 for its second upset in the Raleigh-Durham Triangle in 5 days. Just as importantly, the win moves them a game above .500 AND improves their RPI to 26, which puts the Bears in really good shape for an NCAA Tournament bid. Wake Forest, the No. 5 seed, got past No. 4 SMU in PKs following a 2-2 draw. The Ponies came into the tournament In the ACC tourney with an RPI that was twice as good as Wake's (14-28) and were playing in Texas so they were the favorite but not so much of one that this is a huge surprise. A much bigger surprise was No. 9 seed UVA beating top-seeded - and No. 1 in the RPI - Pittsburgh 2-0. When they met a couple of weeks ago, Panthers spanked the Cavs 4-1. This time, UVA got a pair of goals a minute or so apart in the second half and their D kept Pitt in check. The big loser in all this is Virginia Tech, which entered the day as the last team in the NCAA Tournament but is now on the wrong side of the cutline, which is currently 40. Here are the updated conference RPI (as of Sunday night), W-L and SOS. TEAM ------------- RPI --- W-L-T -- ACC -- SOS Pittsburgh------------ 3 -------- 12-5-0 -- 6-2-0 ---- 6 Virginia --------------- 6 --------- 10-5-3 -- 3-3-2 --- 4 Duke ------------------ 4 -------- 11-3-4 -- 4-1-3 ---- 39 Stanford -------------- 13 -------- 9-5-4 -- 3-2-3 ---- 3 SMU -------------------12 -------- 10-2-6 --- 4-2-2 ---- 31 Clemson ------------- 14 -------- 13-2-3 -- 5-2-1 --- 80 North Carolina ----- 18 ---------- 9-4-4 --- 4-3-1 ---- 23 Wake Forest -------- 22 -------- 9-4-6 --- 4-2-2 --- 17 California ------------ 26 --------- 8-7-2 --- 2-4-2 --- 14 NC State ------------- 31 -------- 8-4-5 --- 3-3-2 ---- 22 Virginia Tech -------- 44 -------- 7-6-4 --- 1-5-2 --- 12 Notre Dame --------- 48 -------- 7-5-5 --- 3-3-2 --- 24 Boston College ----- 55 -------- 6-5-6 -- 1-4-3 ---- 21 Syracuse ------------ 56 --------- 7-7-3 --- 2-4-2 --- 25 Louisville ------------- 70 -------- 6-7-4 --- 0-5-3 --- 32
@Sandon Mibut One oddity from your table is Clemson's SOS (80). You would think a tough ACC schedule would greatly help (as it helped all of the other ACC teams, apparently). Why is Clemson an outlier?
You are correct that it's definitely an outlier. Daniel can probably explain it better than me, but it looks like the Tigers' non-con schedule was pretty soft. 57. South Carolina 68. Penn State 109. Wofford 157. Loyola Maryland 174. Liberty 181. Holy Cross 189. Queens (which isn't in NYC!) 195. USC Upstate Even within the conference, they played the three bottom teams 4 times. Louisville 2x plus Syracuse and BC. Meanwhile, they did not play Pitt, Duke, Virginia and SMU, 4 of the conference's top 5 in RPI. It's why the Tigers have the most wins and fewest losses in the ACC this year but are only ranked 14th in the RPI.