OHSAA releases updated basketball RPI rankings

COLUMBUS — The Ohio High School Athletic Association released the updated statewide rankings for girls and boys basketball Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) on Wednesday. The RPI rankings will be used to determine seeding for the statewide district tournament draws, which are Feb. 4 for girls and Feb. 11 for boys. The concept of using RPI to determine seeding was proposed by the Ohio Basketball Coaches Association (OHSBCA) and approved by the OHSAA Board of Directors last fall. The RPI formula was recommended by the OHSBCA, adopted by the OHSAA and is calculated using scores entered into MaxPreps. The formula is comprised of 40 percent winning percentage, 35 percent opponent's winning percentage, and 25 percent opponent's opponent's winning percentage. The winning team is required to enter the score into MaxPreps, or for out-of-state opponents, the Ohio school must enter the score if it is not entered by the out-of-state school. In a loaded girls Division II Northwest District 2 that includes eight teams with winning records, Norwalk (12-3) is currently the No. 3 seed behind Mansfield Senior (16-1) and Bellevue (12-5). Shelby (11-4), Port Clinton (10-5), Perkins (9-7), Toledo Central Catholic (7-4) and Toledo Scott (9-7) are the Nos. 4-8 seeds. Willard (6-9) and Edison (6-9) are the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds in Div. III Northwest District 1. Western Reserve (3-12) is 11th in the district, which includes Margaretta (14-2) and Colonel Crawford (15-1) at the top among the 12 teams. The 12-team Div. IV Northwest District 1 also has seven teams above .500. New London (13-4) is No. 2 behind Danbury (13-2), while South Central (12-4) is the No. 3 and Mansfield Christian (7-5) is No. 4. The Wildcats just defeated the Flames by 29 points on Jan.23. Seneca East (5-8) is the current No. 5 seed, followed by Monroeville (9-7) and Plymouth (7-7) at Nos. 6 and 7. St. Paul (1-13) is 10th. On the boys side, Norwalk (8-6) checks in at No. 9 in the Div. I Northwest District. In arguably the most top-heavy district in the state, Willard (11-2) sits atop Northwest District 3 currently. The Flashes are just ahead of Lexington (16-1), Shelby (11-2) and Bellevue (11-3) among the top four seeds. Willard, Lexington and Shelby are each ranked among the top 10 teams in this week's Associated Press poll. Mansfield Senior (11-3), Tiffin Columbian (8-5), Perkins (6-5) and Clear Fork (7-7) are seeds 5-8. Western Reserve (6-5) is ninth and Edison (3-11) is 12th among 13 teams in Div. III Northwest 1, which includes two top 10 AP poll teams at the top in Ashland Crestview (14-0) and Margaretta (12-1). That district also features Genoa (9-3) and Bucyrus Wynford (11-3) and will be contested at Norwalk High School. The 14-team District 5 at Willard in Division IV shows St. Paul (8-3) checking in at No. 3 before the Flyers hosted Tiffin Calvert (10-4) — also a No. 3 in its district — on Wednesday. Colonel Crawford (11-3) and Seneca East (9-3) are the top two seeds, while Lucas (9-3) is fourth and Mansfield Christian (10-3) is fifth. Seneca East is coached by 2000 Willard graduate Anthony Langhurst. Also in the district, Plymouth (6-8) is sixth; Monroeville (3-10) is ninth; South Central (2-10) is 11th; and New London (1-11) is 13th. The final reporting dates for scores to be entered and utilized in the RPI are 11:59 PM on Feb. 2 for girls and Feb. 9 for boys. As was the case previously, regular-season games continue after the tournament draw. The school groupings are determined by how each of the OHSAA's six District Athletic Boards set up the seeding for their specific district. The Central, East, Northeast and Southeast Districts put all the schools together in each division, while the Southwest District divides its schools into North and South groups, and the Northwest District divides its schools into smaller groups. The OHSAA has utilized a version of RPI data to determine football playoff qualifiers since 1972. The OHSAA will continue to explore using RPI data to determine seeding in additional sports.