Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery yells at a referee after a foul on Clemson was reversed in the first half of their game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, in Iowa City. A foul was initially called on Clemson but was reversed. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)

In the alphabet soup world of college athletics, ”RPI” has less of a negative stigma associated with college basketball than “BCS” has with college football.

A team’s RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) is based on wins, losses and strength of schedule. It’s prominent in boosting — or hurting — a team’s NCAA Tournament hopes. RealTimeRPI.com, a website devoted to RPI, ranks Iowa’s men’s basketball team 187th in the country. The next-lowest Big Ten team is Indiana, ranking 104 in RPI. Only six other power-conference schools have a lower RPI than Iowa.

According to RealTimeRPI.com, Iowa will win only five more games the rest of the season. That includes non-conference victories against Brown, Drake and Central Arkansas. The website also has Iowa winning only two Big Ten games — at home against Michigan and Penn State.

That would give Iowa a 9-22 regular-season mark, equaling their most losses in school history (2010). A Big Ten Tournament loss would then set the record. The site’s projected 2-16 Big Ten record would mark the most league losses ever by an Iowa team and fewest Big Ten wins in a season since 1931.