Where Is Vanderbilt Baseball In The RPI Ahead Of Florida Matchup In SEC Baseball Tournament? – Sports Illustrated

HOOVER—-Everything on Vanderbilt baseball’s NCAA Tournament rèsumè indicates that it’s an NCAA Tournament team, except for one thing.
Even after Vanderbilt’s 8-5 win over Kentucky on Tuesday, its RPI is still No. 71 Vanderbilt was in the low 70s prior to the game and moved less than three spots after the win.
The RPI, if the season ended today, would still prevent Vanderbilt from making the NCAA Tournament—even if Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin disagrees.
“It's a tool,” Corbin said when asked about the RPI. “Is a tool, but I don't think it's the whole tool. I think common sense prevails. 
When you look at a body of work, I think you look at a team from start to finish, what they've done. I know we started off 13-12 and now we're 20-12 in the last half. We played on the road a little bit more. 
We scheduled tournaments tough, and we didn't get off to a good start. We've had our challenges obviously, with health, and we've overcome them to some degree. It hasn't been easy at all.” 
Vanderbilt is 33-24 heading into Tuesday’s game and is on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. It’s had its chances to make things easier on itself this week, but couldn’t capitalize and often suffered season-altering losses down the stretch.
As a result, it’s in a position that all but forces it to make a run in the SEC Tournament. The good news? It can only help itself in the RPI on Wednesday against Florida—which is No. 9 in the metric and would provide it a boost on its rèsumè. 
Corbin doesn’t believe his team should be evaluated solely on its RPI, though. 
“I think we're a pretty damn good team,” Corbin said. “We’re judged by the best conference and the best teams in college baseball. But there's also a lot of precedent for a team that’s 14-16, but, obviously sitting in this seat, it's not about talk. 
It's about doing. But at the same time, I don't think the RPI is just the one indicator it may speak to what you have done, but doesn't speak to how you've done it in the body of work that exists with what we've done. Our margins have been small and some of the series we've lost, but it's Oklahoma, Texas, but we've played pretty good baseball down this stretch, and that's usually the committee takes that into effect, in terms of where a team is moving and our trajectory has been pretty good.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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