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The fight is truly on for the top spot in the RPI.
USC was ranked No. 1 in the season’s first men’s volleyball RPI that the NCAA released on Monday.
A team’s RPI ranking is calculated using a mathematical formula that includes its winning percentage, strength of schedule and opponents’ strength of schedule.The RPI also is one of the criteria categories the selection committee uses to determine the NCAA Tournament field.
The Trojans lead the nation with four wins against teams in the top five of the RPI and at 16-3 are off to their best start to a season since 2011.
USC edged out second-place Penn State by 0.1297 points for the No. 1 ranking. In addition, Long Beach State, Ball State and UC Santa Barbara round out the top five of the RPI.
An updated RPI rankings will be released each Monday throughout the regular season and conference tournaments. The final RPI rankings before the seven-team NCAA Tournament will be unveiled on Selection Sunday.
RPI rankings (March 21)
1. USC
2. Penn State
3. Long Beach State
4. Ball State
5. UC Santa Barbara
6. UCLA
7. Loyola
8. Grand Canyon
9. Hawai’i
10. Lewis
11. Pepperdine
12. BYU
13. Ohio State
14. McKendree
15. NJIT
16. Purdue Fort Wayne
17. Lincoln Memorial
18. UC San Diego
19. UC Irvine
20. Harvard
21. Mount Olive
22. Saint Francis
23. Princeton
24. George Mason
25. North Greenville
26. Lindenwood
27. King
28. CSUN
29. Stanford
30. Queens
31. Concordia-Irvine
32. Limestone
33. St. Francis Brooklyn
34. Belmont Abbey
35. Quincy
36. Charleston
37. Emanuel
38. Erskine
39. Maryville
40. Long Island
41. Tusculum
42. Daemen
43. Lees-McRae
44. Sacred Heart
45. Central State
46. Fairleigh Dickinson
47. Barton
48. Alderson Broaddus
49. Fort Valley State
50. Benedict
51. D’Youville
52. Kentucky State
53. American International
54. Morehouse
Not listed: Edward Waters