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Long Beach State now holds the advantage against Ohio State in one big selection criteria category.
The 49ers ahead of the Buckeyes to No. 13 in the latest strength of schedule rankings that the NCAA released on Monday.
Strength of schedule is one of the many pieces of criteria the selection committee uses to determine the NCAA Tournament field. It also is part of a mathematical formula to establish a team’s RPI ranking, along with winning percentage and opponent strength of schedule.
Despite never trailing to Quincy in a MIVA Tournament quarterfinals sweep, Ohio State dropped four spots to No. 16 — three spots behind Long Beach State. The defending NCAA champion Buckeyes are on a five-match winning streak, but their opponents in those matches are a combined 41-99, including Quincy that finished its season at 7-21.
Long Beach State jumped one spot in the new strength of schedule rankings following a four-game victory against USC in the MPSF Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday.
UC Irvine at No. 5 also surpassed BYU to now have the toughest strength of schedule among all projected teams under NCAA Tournament consideration, according to Off the Block’s latest bracketology. BYU and Hawai’i are the only other projected teams in NCAA Tournament consideration to be ranked in the top 10.
A new strength of schedule rankings will be released at the conclusion of the conference tournaments and before the NCAA Tournament field is unveiled on Sunday.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (April 16)
1. UCLA
2. Stanford
3. Pepperdine
4. USC
5. UC Irvine
6. BYU
7. UC San Diego
8. Hawai’i
9. Loyola
10. UC Santa Barbara
11. Penn State
12. CSUN
13. Long Beach State
14. St. Francis
15. Lindenwood
16. Ohio State
17. George Mason
18. Quincy
19. McKendree
20. Lewis
21. Fort Wayne
22. Ball State
23. Grand Canyon
24. Princeton
25. Harvard
26. NJIT
27. Cal Baptist
28. Concordia-Irvine
29. Erskine
30. Barton
31. Sacred Heart
32. Mount Olive
33. Pfeiffer
34. Charleston
35. Alderson Broaddus
36. North Greenville
37. Belmont Abbey
38. Limestone
39. Emmanuel
40. Lincoln Memorial
41. Coker
42. Lees-McRae
43. King
OPPONENTS’ STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (April 16)
1. Pepperdine
2. BYU
3. UC Irvine
4. Hawai’i
5. Long Beach State
6. UC San Diego
7. CSUN
8. UCLA
9. Stanford
10. Concordia-Irvine
11. USC
12. Cal Baptist
13. UC Santa Barbara
14. Ohio State
15. Lewis
16. Loyola
17. Grand Canyon
18. Ball State
19. McKendree
20. Fort Wayne
21. Lindenwood
22. Penn State
23. Quincy
24. St. Francis
25. Harvard
26. Princeton
27. Sacred Heart
28. George Mason
29. NJIT
30. Charleston
31. Coker
32. Mount Olive
33. Lees-McRae
34. King
35. Belmont Abbey
36. Barton
37. Erskine
38. Limestone
39. Emmanuel
40. North Greenville
41. Alderson Broaddus
42. Lincoln Memorial
43. Pfeiffer