How to better your SOS .....
I took a look at the schedules of all non-SEC teams with an RPI better than VT's 21 (current RPI) to see what their SOS was and how they achieved it.
I did not analyze the schedules of Nebraska, Duke, FSU, UCF, UCLA, Okie State, and Texas Tech because their SOS was bolstered by participating in the Clearwater tournament. TT was the real anomaly in this group as they participated in CW but still had an out of conference SOS of 154.
Oregon - RPI 15/SOS 12/out of conference SOS 5 - they participated in the Mary Nutter tournament (played Clemson, Tenn, Stanford, Auburn, Texas A&M, USC-e, and Duke)
Stanford - RPI 20/SOS 20/OOC SOS 9 - hosted several tournaments and played Okie State, Oregon, Texas, Arizona, Wash (two games)
Arizona State - RPI 17/SOS 29/OOC SOS 83 - OU and GCU but their OOC SOS was so. They were never threatening to host because of their SOS. They made a move late because they beat Arizona, TT, and OSU in the Big12T
Arizona - RPI 19/SOS 9/OOC SOS 3 - Hosted numerous tournaments in February and played Okla 3 times, Texas 2 times, and Stanford. They also took a late season trip to LSU for 3 games (won 1 of 3).
VT - RPI 21/SOS 58/OOC SOS 117 - Played Ga (2 games), USC-e (2 games), and Auburn (2 games) which isn't too bad but lost to some bad teams and maybe their overall OOC schedule was poor.
Not many teams you can compare VT to on the above lists. There are 11 teams (non-SEC) above VT in current RPI and 7 played in Clearwater, 1 played in Mary Nutter, and the other 3 (Ariz, Stanford, and ASU) hosted early season tournaments. ASU didn't really have much of a non-conference early schedule against high ranking teams.
I get from this (and maybe already knew this) that if you don't play in Clearwater or Mary Nutter tournaments and you are not in a warm weather climate area, you have a limited opportunity to get your team into a hosting position short of winning a ton of games like Texas Tech. VT possibly could have gotten there this year IMHO by sweeping GT and beating Liberty but there was no margin for error. VT was 46-10 and was I guess 17th best team in the seeding discussions. Makes it very difficult.
So how does VT better their SOS:
- Play in Clearwater or Mary Nutter
- Win a ton of games (48+) if not in above tournaments
- Host tougher teams in the Salem tournament
- Travel to those Arizona tournaments ($$$$)
- Drop some of the weaker teams you normally play
- Figure out how to play home/away against teams like Tennessee
- Take a mid to late season trip to a Top 20 likes like Ariz @ LSU this year
** Edited by hokietony at 5/18/2026, 2:31:40 PM
20 Replies
2mo
Every year, there is a LOT of time spent by the staff (especially the analysts) in assembling a schedule that will give VT a decent RPI/SOS at the end of the year.
The Clearwater and Mary Nutter tournaments are INVITATIONALS, so if you are not invited to the party, you have to do the best you can with your own scheduling. There are hours spent on this topic. Scheduling doesn't just happen.
The schedule that was put together for the 2026 season was designed to create a decent strength of schedule and it certainly appeared that way when it was released in January. At the time, I researched every team's 2025 record as well as their RPI and it looked really good.
Of the first 26 games (all non-conference), there were four games against Super Regional Teams and eight more games against NCAA teams. The was only ONE game against a team with an RPI over 150 (Bryant at 246) and 15 of the 26 games were against teams with an RPI in the top 100.
BUT THEN THE GAMES BEGAN.
Only five of those teams (six games) met or exceeded their 2025 RPI (ironically one of those was Bryant). The rest had their RPI drop, including eight teams (11 games) that had their RPI DROP OVER 40 PLACES! Three of the team (five games) dropped over 100 places from the previous year. That is simply brutal.
The chart below includes the 2025 RPI as well as this year's.
It's tough when you are limited weather-wise in February.
(In response to this post by hokietony)
2mo
The other issue is the loyalty to playing so many in-state games:
Longwood - 2 games - 165 RPI in 2025
Radford - 2 games - 91 RPI in 2025
Liberty - 2 games - 25 RPI in 2025
JMU - 1 game - 103 RPI in 2025
Even if some teams' RPIs dropped, some where not going to be great even if their RPIs had not dropped. :
Elon - 94
Bryant - 2 games - 246 RPI - invited to the Salem tournament
Maybe these invitations at South Carolina, Auburn, and GA should not invite teams like Winthrop, Seton Hall, or Utah State? I know the SEC teams want teams to beat up on since their SEC schedule is tough :).
You could argue that the Salem Invitation hurt VT's SOS with Bryant twice, JMU, and Radford. Playing RPIs in the 80s-100 would still hurt some, right?
Charlottesville had a full slate of games at home in February. I know the temps are different in Blacksburg, and I know UVA had to cancel the Longwood games in Feb.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
2mo
. . . the decline in RPI for some of those. Charlotte and USC for related reasons, for example. The odds on them repeating the '25 results with the known losses in the circle were long. Overall, though, it just emphasizes the need to GET INVITED to Clearwater (Note Liberty went down the weekend BEFORE into Shriner's Invite) or Cathedral City. The teams you face there are not going to fall off the table in a given year. Heck JMU is a +25 this year with essentially the same record as last season. Why? They went to Clearwater and got pounded all weekend. These invitations don't occur in a vacuum. Politics (softball style) are involved. Look at the list of teams that played in these tourneys. No reason VT shouldn't be at one at least every third year if the correct strings are being pulled and egos massaged.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
D
dallasvt
2mo
Maybe coach needs to consult with Liberty on scheduling. I am being serious.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
2mo
dropped an average of 55.9 in RPI/SOS. All games on that schedule, good and bad, average a drop of 39.6 in RPI/SOS. Even a drop of 39.6 is way too much. Nobody would have expected that.
So the "good" games weren't enough to take care of the "bad" games. But we didn't know they would turn out bad at the time.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
2mo
We will likely still play some combination of Liberty, Radford, Longwood, and JMU. At some point, that might have to be questioned, especially playing some twice.
Playing a mid-week game against an SEC team as the weather is better is nice. Whether home and away.
Mary Nutter - Basically 2 games a day?
There could be some teams that come to Salem, just as some would go to harder places to play.
The ACC should consider a mini-tournament to get more ACC teams to play against each other. Imagine a round robin over a weekend where teams that don't play each other as part of a regular series are matched up. VT might play 3+ games against Louisville, Stanford, and.or FSU or a weaker team
(In response to this post by hokietony)
2mo
Regular Season Out of Conference RPI of 117 equates to the following:
RPI 0 to 50 (no top 10 games and only 4 top 25 games):
12 Georgia (2-0)
24 USC-e (2-0)
31 Auburn (2-0)
39 Michigan (1-0)
RPI 51 - 100 (two losses here, don't go to early season tournament that does not have a couple of Top 25 games):
67 Liberty (1-1) LOSS HERE
69 Charlotte (0-1) LOSS HERE
71 PSU (1-0)
83 JMU (1-0)
84 Troy (1-0)
97 USC Upstate (2-0)
RPI 101 to 150:
141 Radford (2-0)
142 Winthrop (1-0)
RPI 151 to 200 (bad losses here):
152 Michigan St (0-1) LOSS HERE
185 Utah State (1-0)
190 Bryant (1-0)
RPI 201 to 250 (no losses but too many games, if they are part of a tournament, you are kind of stuck but don't play these schools mid-week):
207 Elon (1-0)
212 Binghamton (2-0)
214 Seton Hall (1-0)
219 Longwood (2-0)
234 Villanova (2-0)
** Edited by hokietony at 5/18/2026, 4:41:38 PM
(In response to this post by hokietony)
T
Techdady
2mo
Face it we are a victim of our geography. Northern locales have poor softball programs. Used to be a time when Michigan was top 5. They owned the North, now the Hokies do. Big deal right? A combo of great competition and success in far away places $$$ with a spotless record against the have nots, add in a 20 game win season in the ACC and still travel to get in 6-8 games against the $EC still leaves the Hokies with no margin for error. Even with a 45 regular season win record we’d still be on the bubble. Our location/weather hinders us, struggling to get in enough games against better ranked teams is a problem not easily solvable, if at all. You pretty much have to play the bottom feeders at least in the ACC. You have to fill your schedule. So we can swap out the weak teams with teams not as weak? No help there…This isn’t your Momma’s Hokie softball team where just getting to the regionals was euphoric. With success there’s a demand for more success, which comes with……no margin for error.
(In response to this post by hokietony)
2mo
Whether or not you get top-ranked teams, can we get teams in the RPI range of 30-60?
** Edited by VAHokie89 at 5/19/2026, 12:46:56 PM
(In response to this post by Techdady)
2mo
(In response to this post by VermontDDS)
T
Techdady
2mo
No effort is made to improve the softball programs. Used to be a time where NC State was very good, but look at who they have hired in the past and present. Same with Notre Dame, they used to make regionals EVERY year. No recent improvement and coaches like that get extensions? So where is the commitment? BC PItt Syracuse ND NCSU even UNC (who in their storied history has NEVER won a regional) drag everybody else down. It’s great UVA stepped up, but that took an alumni donation to get their ball rolling. They’d still be playing in a sandlot if not for Ms. Palmer.
(In response to this post by VermontDDS)
2mo
conference walking, then schools may not have the "right incentive" to improve their program before the ACC ceases to exist as we know it.
(In response to this post by VermontDDS)
2mo
I seem to recall they only invite specific teams every 2 or 3 years.
(In response to this post by VAHokie89)
2mo
scheduling and the need to get into these invitationals. But, as you said, they are invite only.
(In response to this post by TomTurkey)
2mo
Probably knew we were screwed on RPI, but put hope in the, alas, 0-6 SEC teams.
(In response to this post by WestEndHokie39)