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A Cheap Ticket to the Dance: Systematic Bias in College Basketball's Ratings Percentage Index

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  • Cassey Lee

    (The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus)

Abstract

A contest model is constructed to examine the existence of conference bias in college basketball's Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). Though a general RPI bias has been identified in previous literature, this is the first study to address whether the bias is random or systematic in nature. Within the theoretical model, the RPI is shown to be systematically biased against teams in high ability conferences, even when all teams play to expectation and can be transitively compared. Further, the bias can prevent the RPI from producing an ordinal mapping from revealed team ability level to the real number line. Given the longevity of the controversial RPI as the NCAA''s primary measure of team ability, these results may indicate that the NCAA is serving a demand for team heterogeneity in selecting for the NCAA Men''s Basketball Tournament.

Suggested Citation

  • Cassey Lee, 2007. "A Cheap Ticket to the Dance: Systematic Bias in College Basketball's Ratings Percentage Index," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 4(34), pages 1-7.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-07d80023
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Leman Scotland C. & House Leanna & Szarka John & Nelson Hayley, 2014. "Life on the bubble: Who’s in and who’s out of March Madness?," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 10(3), pages 315-328, September.
    2. Zimmer Timothy & Kuethe Todd H, 2009. "Testing for Bias and Manipulation in the National Basketball Association Playoffs," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 5(3), pages 1-13, July.

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    JEL classification:

    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • D0 - Microeconomics - - General

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