News and Notes: Thursday Edition

Below, news and notes for Thursday...

CBS Sports lists Cornell and Boston College among the dozen biggest disappointments of the college basketball season and writes, "-- Cornell. The only team in the country without a win! Poor Big Red. It's an 0-13 team that's going to get its first win this weekend, when it plays Oberlin -- not a Division I school...-- Boston College. Was expected by some to compete for an NCAA bid. Record? 4-11. Steve Donahue is skating on melting ice." Similarly, Sports Illustrated writes, "If Marquette isn’t the most disappointing team in the country, Boston College might be. It’s reasonable to think Coach Steve Donahue misjudged the quality of his team when he helped put together its non-conference schedule, because the 4-11 Eagles clearly weren’t ready to navigate a slate that included games against Providence, UMass, Toledo, UConn, Purdue, VCU, Harvard and Clemson (among other semi-challenging games). It’s going to take a miraculous turnaround in ACC play for the Eagles to get into the NCAA Tournament discussion." BC Interruption also writes, "I don't know what Steve Donahue focused on this off season, but it certainly wasn't defense."

Playing in front of dozens of NBA scouts, Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) struggled in his first game of the NBA D-League Showcase, finishing 1/6 from the floor. The Springfield Republican writes, "Only four current Armor players were part of the showcase with Springfield last season—Jeff Foote, Dennis Horner, Lance Hurdle and Willie Reed. All four played in both games during the 2012-13 showcase, with Reed averaging 15.5 points per game and Foote averaging 15."

The Columbia Spectator writes, "Columbia hosts Division-III opponent Central Pennsylvania on Saturday before beginning Ivy play a week later against Cornell."

Bucknell scored 96 points last night in a Patriot League and the school athletics department noted, "The 96 points were the most since a 104-98 overtime loss to Cornell in 2009-10."

Cornell recruiting commit, Pat Smith (Archbishop Wood HS) Warminster, PA, 6-5, F, scored 18 points last night. Fellow commit, Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof (Gonzaga HS) Washington, D.C., 6-7, F (No. 32) shows off a couple of nice post moves in these highlights from a December 23rd game.

Cornell RPI Watch: The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider the margin of victory, but only whether or not a team won and where the game was played (home/away/neutral court). The formula is 25% team winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP). (See: CollegeRPI.com for a further explanation of the formula.) The RPI may be the most influential factor in NCAA Tournament seeding. Cornell's RPI rank as of January 9, 2014 is No. 339 out of 351 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 348 in the nation, while the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) have Cornell at No. 342. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

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