WVU plays its second and final game on the way to the quarterfinal and final/consolation rounds of the Las Vegas Invitational tonight against … hey, it’s Delaware State again! The Hornets gave John Beilein win Nos. 1 and 100 and No. 100 was No. 1 on the way to “West Virgina’s” 2007 NIT title.

DSU is a nice little MEAC program that gave Duke fits in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Yet it’s not nice enough to simply roll out the ball 30-some times, win 20-plus and get dressed for the big dance.

No, to get to any postseason requires a rather brutal strategy.

From Nov. 17-Dec. 20, the Hornets play 13 games — one at home, nine on the road and three at neutral sites (if the Civic Center really is neutral when WVU is in the house).

What Jackson is doing — besides toughening his team — is piling up bucks for the DSU athletic department. Jackson said the basketball team is bringing in more than $600,000 in guarantees to fund hoops and other sports on the campus.

The largest guarantee is “around” $100,000,” Jackson said.

What he’s doing is exceptional, but not the exception at the Dover school. Look at the non-conference strength of schedule column in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) in recent seasons. Since 2002-03, the Hornets’ SOS numbers are 15, 14, 36, 7, 12 and 24. This year’s will be up there, too.

Is that RPI, or RIP?