Happy Valley Hardball with a sabermetrics twist

Team W-L Pct RPI 1 Michigan 34 – 20 – 0 0.630 67 2 Michigan State 34 – 19 – 0 0.642 82 3 Indiana 25 – 25 – 0 0.500 91 4 Ohio State 28 – 21 – 0 0.571 92 5 Iowa 25 – 26 – 0 0.490 123 6 Minnesota 24 – [...]

Team W-L GB Pct 1 Minnesota 15 – 9 – 0 – 0.625 2 Michigan 14 – 10 – 0 1 0.583 3 Iowa 13 – 11 – 0 2 0.542 3 Northwestern 13 – 11 – 0 2 0.542 5 Purdue 12 – 12 – 0 3 0.500 5 Indiana 12 – 12 – [...]

The sweep by Minnesota drops Penn State 35 places in the RPI down to #169. PSU could have their worst finish in several years unless they come up with a couple of wins against Michigan this weekend.

A disastrous weekend leaves the Nittany Lions all alone in last place and a real long shot to make the conference tournament (top six go). Team W-L GB Pct 1 Minnesota 13 – 8 – 0 – 0.619 2 Michigan 12 – 9 – 0 1 0.571 2 Purdue 12 – 9 – 0 1 [...]

Team WinPct Pyth% Luck 1 Michigan State .644 .651 -.007 2 Michigan .630 .636 -.006 3 Purdue .609 .621 -.012 4 Ohio State .568 .546 .022 5 Minnesota .449 .520 -.071 6 Illinois .511 .508 .003 7 Penn State .457 .482 -.025 8 Indiana .511 .481 .030 9 Northwestern .438 .428 .010 10 Iowa .457 [...]

As close as the conference is in the standings they are spread out a little more in the RPI rankings. However, no team is playing well enough to earn a bid on their own so the Big Ten will be a one bid league for sure this year. Team W-L Pct RPI 1 Michigan 29 [...]

Here’s something new and different that I’ve borrowed (and modified a bit) from rankings that I’ve used for Big Ten basketball for years. Now that the Big Ten has moved to just three games series on the weekends, using a plus/minus system to measure teams makes a lot of sense. Conceptually, it’s based on the [...]

Despite a disastrous weekend in State College, Michigan State managed to hold onto their first place Pythagorean Standing. Penn State’s performance moved them closer to where the Pythagorean ratings have suggested they should be most of the season, i.e. somewhere in the middle of the pack. Team WinPct Pyth% Luck 1 Michigan State .667 .664 [...]

PSU also made a big move upward in the conference RPI ranking moving up to the middle of the pack. Team W-L Pct RPI 1 Michigan 27 – 15 – 0 0.643 57 2 Ohio State 24 – 13 – 0 0.649 78 3 Michigan State 28 – 14 – 0 0.667 86 4 Indiana [...]

Penn State’s three game sweep of Michigan State moved them into a tie for sixth. It’s important since only six teams make it into the conference tournament. Team W-L GB Pct 1 Michigan 9 – 6 – 0 – 0.600 1 Northwestern 9 – 6 – 0 – 0.600 3 Ohio State 8 – 7 [...]

Only two games separate the top from the bottom of the Big Ten standings. Team W-L GB Pct 1 Ohio State 8 – 6 – 0 – 0.571 1 Michigan 8 – 6 – 0 – 0.571 1 Northwestern 8 – 6 – 0 – 0.571 4 Michigan State 7 – 7 – 0 1 [...]

Team WinPct Pyth% Luck 1 Michigan State .703 .734 -.031 2 Michigan .641 .659 -.018 3 Purdue .590 .629 -.039 4 Ohio State .629 .574 .055 5 Indiana .526 .514 .012 6 Minnesota .400 .486 -.086 7 Illinois .500 .480 .020 8 Penn State .436 .427 .009 9 Northwestern .395 .372 .023 10 Iowa .432 [...]

Team W-L Pct RPI 1 Michigan 25 – 14 – 0 0.641 63 2 Michigan State 26 – 11 – 0 0.703 71 3 Ohio State 22 – 11 – 0 0.667 86 4 Indiana 18 – 18 – 0 0.500 114 5 Illinois 17 – 18 – 0 0.486 141 6 Iowa 16 – [...]

Four weeks into the season and just three games separate last place (Penn State) from first (three tied). Looks like it could be a really close race all season long. Team W-L GB Pct 1 Michigan State 7 – 5 – 0 – 0.583 1 Ohio State 7 – 5 – 0 – 0.583 1 [...]

Somehow Penn State has managed to stay ahead of Northwestern. Team WinPct Pyth% Luck 1 Michigan State .800 .719 .081 2 Michigan .571 .655 -.084 3 Ohio State .650 .649 .001 4 Purdue .550 .626 -.076 5 Illinois .500 .541 -.041 6 Indiana .545 .534 .011 7 Minnesota .333 .450 -.117 8 Iowa .400 .383 [...]