News and Notes: Thursday Edition

Below, news and notes for Thursday...

• Errick Peck (Cornell '13) came up big for Purdue last night against Minnesota.  See the Indianapolis Star and ESPN.

• The Columbia Spectator writes, "Columbia has been able to shut down a few talented guards recently—notably, Cornell’s Nolan Cressler and Brown’s Sean McGonagill"

• Justin Sears of talks to the Yale Daily News about his performance against Cornell last weekend.

• Cornell's incoming recruiting class next season includes four members: Riley Glassmann (Fremd HS) Palatine, IL, 6-5, G, William "Will" Bathurst (Olean HS) Olean, NY, 6-3, G, Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof (Gonzaga HS) Washington, D.C., 6-7, F, and Pat Smith (Archbishop Wood HS) Warminster, PA, 6-5, F.  The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that Pat Smith is averaging 17.8 points per game this season.  Here is a recap in the Delco News about Smith's game from last night.

• 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 February 6, 2014 is No. 342 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. 342 in the nation, while the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) have Cornell at No. 339. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

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• Cornell's 2014-2015 Schedule will include Cornell's participation in ESPN's Charleston Classic.