Ah yes, 49er fans, it’s about that time again - time for nail-biting, last-second shots, time to yell at that television (because you know the players need your guidance), but more importantly it’s nearly time to see where your team ends up in the pre-season polls.

OK, we all know that there are more polls than trees, but we have found that the most important poll is the RPI.

Now if you are anything like I used to be then right now you are saying, "what does RPI stand for," and more importantly, "what does it mean?" Trust me I feel your pain, so let's break this down once and for all, shall we?

RPI, or Ratings Percentage Index, is simply a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule.

Contrary to popular belief, it does not measure margin of victory, where the game was played or if the team even won. Most importantly, it is used by the NCAA in determining whether a team makes the Big Dance.

The RPI has a fairly simple formula: 25 percent is the team’s average winning percentage, 50 percent is the opponent’s average winning percentage and 25 percent is the opponents' opponents average winning percentage.

OK, so it's not all that simple. Let's take Charlotte for example:

Say Charlotte is 5-0. That means their average winning percentage is 1.00. Charlotte's opponents average winning percentage is .600, and Charlotte's opponents' opponents average winning percentage is .800. This would bring Charlotte's RPI to (.25*1.00) + (.5*.600) + (.25*.800) = .250 + .300 + .200 = .750.

Pretty good - considering last year Charlotte's RPI was .05721, which left the 49ers with a final ranking of 48 in the polls.

Now, when you're in a heated debate with your buddies over hoops, you can find a clever way to share your newfound knowledge. A wise man once said, "Knowledge is indeed, that which, next to virtue, truly and essentially raises one man above another."