Mississippi State tosses two off team;

[InstiGATOR1]

UF plays these guys twice this year:

Mississippi State tosses two off team; Bulldogs set for SEC doormat

By Jeff Goodman | College Basketball Insider

... and now Shaun Smith and Kristers Zeidaks have been tossed off the team for repeated violations of team rules.

"This is an unfortunate situation for Shaun, Kris and our team," Ray said in a statement. "However, players must be held accountable for their actions."

When athletic director Scott Stricklin hired Ray, he sent a clear message: He wanted to change the culture of the program.

By my count, just two players of note remain from the Stansbury Regime: Part-time starter Jalen Steele and reserve Wendell Lewis.

That's a combined 12.5 points per game.

click here:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...or-sec-doormat

to read a listing of all Mississippi State's off season losses.

Goodman is right they could be pretty depleted. The plus is that might give UF two wins. The minus is they may contribute little to RPI.

[themistocles]

Sad situation for the Bulldogs.

However, playing at Mississippi State is about like playing at Vanderbilt. Almost always a loss for the visiting team, no matter how weak the home team is. I wouldn't count on two wins, no matter what their RPI (an almost meaningless number, by the way).

[GatorsGators]

Originally Posted by themistocles

Sad situation for the Bulldogs.

However, playing at Mississippi State is about like playing at Vanderbilt. Almost always a loss for the visiting team, no matter how weak the home team is. I wouldn't count on two wins, no matter what their RPI (an almost meaningless number, by the way).

I would agree about Vanderbilt, but Mississippi State should be the easiest game in conference play. They at least usually have talent to go with bad coaching. Now they have an unproven coach, minimal talent, and zero experience. However, conference road games are always tough regardless of the opponent.

[InstiGATOR1]

Originally Posted by GatorsGators

I would agree about Vanderbilt, but Mississippi State should be the easiest game in conference play. They at least usually have talent to go with bad coaching. Now they have an unproven coach, minimal talent, and zero experience. However, conference road games are always tough regardless of the opponent.

While I do not agree with the original article saying MSU will be a cellar dweller for sure, I do agree with this view a bit more than Themistocles' view. Like any conference game, MSU will be a game UF could lose. However, UF will likely be favored in both game.

[swampgas44]

Originally Posted by themistocles

Sad situation for the Bulldogs.

However, playing at Mississippi State is about like playing at Vanderbilt. Almost always a loss for the visiting team, no matter how weak the home team is. I wouldn't count on two wins, no matter what their RPI (an almost meaningless number, by the way).

You may not agree with the RPI, But when the NCAA selection committee uses it for selection and seeding it certainly is not almost meaningless.

[themistocles]

Regarding RPI - hmmm - I haven't looked at that in several years, and they may have improved a pathetic attempt to turn "quality" into a numerical rating. Something that is exceedingly difficult to accomplish with any legitimacy. Formerly, it was almost strictly based on non-conference schedule, because, of course, conference schedules usually break down to near zero (one victory for each loss). So, rather than weighting conferences for their proportion of victories against other conferences weighted by which other conferences those victories/losses occurred against, it lacks any legitimacy from my perspective as a professional statistician and predictor.

Merely one of many foolish attempts to numeralize things. The number of such foolish attempts that have occurred over the past 150 years, and particularly by "foolish national leaders" simply boggles the reasonable mind.

[Gator_Joe]

Cant look past any team. Think back at last year when we got smacked by Georgia while every other team was curbstomping them. They shouldn't give anyone much trouble. But any given night you can never tell whats going to happen.

[swampgas44]

Originally Posted by themistocles

Regarding RPI - hmmm - I haven't looked at that in several years, and they may have improved a pathetic attempt to turn "quality" into a numerical rating. Something that is exceedingly difficult to accomplish with any legitimacy. Formerly, it was almost strictly based on non-conference schedule, because, of course, conference schedules usually break down to near zero (one victory for each loss). So, rather than weighting conferences for their proportion of victories against other conferences weighted by which other conferences those victories/losses occurred against, it lacks any legitimacy from my perspective as a professional statistician and predictor.

Merely one of many foolish attempts to numeralize things. The number of such foolish attempts that have occurred over the past 150 years, and particularly by "foolish national leaders" simply boggles the reasonable mind.

Conference affiliation is not figured into the RPI formula at all. If Florida had been a member of the SWAC rather than the SEC last year our RPI would have been identical. Your "perspective as a professional statistician and predicator" could sure use an increased knowledge of basketball and basketball scheduling.