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UC Irvine’s road victory against a top-five ranked team during the weekend has catapulted the Anteaters to the top spot in the Off the Block Relative Strength Factor rankings.
UC Irvine two days after defeating No. 2 Stanford jumped up two spots to No. 1 in the new RSF rankings that Off the Block released Monday.
The RSF is a mathematical equation created by Off the Block to give an accurate representation of the best Division I-II men’s volleyball teams in the nation. The formula is similar to the Ratings Percentage Index used in other NCAA sports, but it is customized to reflect the differences in NCAA men’s volleyball.
The Anteaters (14-3, 10-3 MPSF) have won nine of their last 10 matches and their victory against the Cardinal extended their winning streak to five matches. Stanford (13-4, 10-3 MPSF) following the loss dropped to No. 2 in the RSF rankings.
Along with UC Irvine and Stanford, Lewis fell one spot to No. 3 in the new rankings, while UCLA moped up one spot to No. 4. In addition, Penn State jumped one spot to No. 5 — the first time this season that the Nittany Lions have been in the RSF top five.
The RSF will be updated each Monday on the Off the Block website throughout the regular season.
The RSF was created independently of the NCAA and is not one of the criteria the selection committee uses to determine the one at-large team and seeding for the NCAA Tournament. For more on how a team’s RSF is calculated, check out the full RSF formula breakdown.
Off the Block Relative Strength Factor rankings — March 5
1. UC Irvine — 2.629
2. Stanford — 2.558
3. Lewis — 2.504
4. ULCA — 2.231
5. Penn State — 2.079
6. USC — 2.078
7. BYU — 2.004
8. Ohio State — 1.848
9. Loyola — 1.654
10. Long Beach State — 1.563
11. Cal Baptist — 1.514
12. UC Santa Barbara — 1.489
13. Hawai’i — 1.432
14. George Mason — 1.425
15. Pepperdine — 1.424
16. Ball State — 1.293
17. Pacific — 1.233
18. Cal State Northridge — 1.176
19. Harvard — 1.170
20. IPFW — 1.097
21. Mount Olive — 1.032
22. Princeton — 1.005
23. Pfeiffer — 0.933
24. St. Francis — 0.923
25. Grand Canyon — 0.919
26. NJIT — 0.881
27. Quincy — 0.850
28. Limestone — 0.776
29. Lindenwood — 0.753
30. Lees-McRae — 0.677
31. UC San Diego — 0.590
32. Rutgers-Newark — 0.357
33. King — 0.246
34. Sacred Heart — 0.038
35. Barton — -1.058