After improving to 10-0 in the Southland Conference with a 90-74 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus; Christi on Saturday, the Sam Houston State men’s basketball team climbed to No. 74 in the latest ratings percentage index standings, which was released Monday.
The Bearkats stand 18-5 for the year and are unbeaten in conference play. The only other teams in NCAA Division I men’s basketball unbeaten in league action are Kansas (10-0 in the Big 12), Butler (16-0 in the Horizon League), Morgan State (10-0 in the Mid-Eastern Conference) and Murray State (15-0 in the Ohio Valley).
Sam Houston also produced nonconference victories earlier this season over Auburn, Oral Roberts and Rider and played No. 4 Kentucky to within 10 points at Rupp Arena.
Sam Houston ranks immediately behind St. John’s of the Big East and Weber State of the Big Sky. Ranked behind the Kats are Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Northwestern and Notre Dame.
RPI is an important figure used for selection to the NCAA tournament since it reflects a team’s overall record and strength of schedule.
Sam Houston’s highest final season RPI in its 23 years at the NCAA Division I level was No. 91 in 2003, the year the Bearkats last won the Southland Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
With 16 victories and six more regular-season games to play, Sam Houston is zeroing in on its fourth 20-victory season in the last five seasons.
The Bearkats plays two road games this week at Lamar on Wednesday and at Texas-San Antonio on Saturday before returning home to face McNeese State on Feb. 24.
Out of the 317 teams in NCAA Division I men’s basketball, only 66 universities have posted 20 or more wins three of the last four seasons.
Following the regular season, the top eight teams in the conference will meet at Merrell Center in Katy for the annual Southland Conference tournament March 10-13 to decide the league’s automatic NCAA tournament representative. Sam Houston is the only team in the league so far that has already clinched a berth in the conference tournament.
