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Northwest District to use RPI to determine boys, girls basketball tournament seeds

mark podolski, the news-herald, willoughby, ohio
·4 min read

Dec. 27—If Bob Krizancic had his way, he would prefer boys and girls basketball teams in the Northeast District be seeded come tournament time using a ratings formula system.

The Mentor boys basketball coach won't get his wish this season, but the Northwest District is a step ahead — and perhaps might be leading the way statewide to a new way to determining tournament fields in high school boys and girls basketball.

This season, the Northwest District is scrapping votes by coaches and using a Rating Percentage Index (RPI) system to rank or seed teams for postseason tournaments.

The formula is called the Martin RPI, a metric used to rank Ohio high school basketball teams on four factors:

—A team's record

—Strength of schedule

—Opponent's strength of schedule

—Division of a team's opponents

Ohio High School Athletic Association Director of Communications Tim Stried said how districts statewide determine its playoff field is up to each district. The Northwest District Athletic Board approached the OHSAA in the offseason and expressed its interest in using the Martin RPI.

At MartinRPI.com, the "frequently asked questions" page said the biggest advantage in using the Martin RPI is "accuracy and transparency" and that "there is no subjectivity involved in the ranking."

Margin of victory or point differential for the season are not components of the rankings, according to MartinRPI.com.

Since 1972, the OHSAA has used the Harbin Ratings formula to determined its playoff field. The biggest difference between the Harbin and Martin rankings are two:

—The Harbin does not have a strength of schedule component.

—With the Harbin ratings, teams try to amass as many points as possible. With the Martin RPI, a team's ranking is the results of averages graded on a scale from 0 to 1.

According to MartinRPI.com, eight states use an RPI formula to determine or seed for postseasons tournaments.

Krizancic hopes the Northeast District follows the Northwest's lead.

"I think the strength of schedule factor is important," said Krizancic. "If my team is 14-8 against a loaded schedule, it should be right up there with a 21-1 team that doesn't play as tough a schedule. But there's a lot of factors with this. The big issue is how do you do this?"

According to MartinRPI, the first set of rankings for boys and girls basketball will be released in early January.

Stried said depending on how the Martin RPI system works for the Northwest District this season, the possibility other districts following and implementing is there. That decision will be solely for each district athletic board.

"I would be surprised if the OHSAA ever mandated something like that," said Stried.

New D-I regional site

For the third consecutive season, the Division I regional boys basketball tournament in Northeast Ohio has a new site.

Kent State's Memorial Athletic Convocation Center will be the site for the Region 1 and Region 2 finals.

Kent State will host the Region 2 tournament, with semifinals games pitting the winner from Northeast 4 vs. the Northeast 1 winner March 7. On the other side, Northeast 2 will play Northeast 3 on March 8. Kent will host the regional final on Friday, March 10 at 7 p.m.

Region 1 will be split between Kent State and the University of Toledo. Kent State will host the Northeast 6 vs. Northeast 5 regional semifinal March 9 and Toledo the Northwest 1-Northwest 2 regional semifinal, also March 9. That regional final is scheduled for Saturday, March 11 at 2 p.m. at Kent State.

The last two boys basketball seasons, Mentor competed at the 2021 regional tournament at Twinsburg, where it won the title. Last season, the Cardinals advanced to a regional held at Copley, where it bowed out in a regional semifinal against St. Edward.

Krizancic said the regional returning to a college campus is a big deal.

"I really like the university atmosphere," he said. "It's a big-time feel for the games."

Before Twinsburg and Copley, the D-I boys basketball regional in Northeast Ohio was a staple at Cleveland State. When COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 tournaments, the OHSAA switched gears to high school locations for budget reasons.

Stried said regional sites are year-to-year decisions, and when a college or university hosts, it depends on the venue being available and other considerations.