NoDaker84
03-11-2010, 07:49 PM
I have been a big college hockey fan since I was a little guy living in North Dakota, but have had the privilege of covering the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) for the 2009-10 season. UNO is currently a bubble team playing in the 2nd round of the CCHA Tourney this weekend, so I have been keeping a close eye the college rankings this year, which I personally think are ingenious!
College hockey uses what is called the PairWise Ranks (PWR), which ranks the top 25 teams under consideration (TUCs) for the NCAA Tournament. (College hockey only ranks the top 15/20 teams in the country in their weekly polls, and only 16 teams make the NCAA Hockey Tournament.) I will let you read how the system works yourselves with the link below, but basically it breaks down each team against the other top 24 teams, in 4 different areas and awards points. The Pair Wise Rankings has successfully predicted EVERY NCAA Tournament field since it was created, and is the system all the coaches and fans use to see where their teams stack up. Although this isn't the exact method the NCAA Hockey Committee uses to select the tournament field, and it has its flaws, there is no MADE UP ESPN "EYE TEST!"
Pair Wise Rankings Explaination
http://www.uscho.com/FAQs/?data=pwrexplanation
Pair Wise Rankings (March 8th)
http://www.uscho.com/rankings/pwr.php
I would love to see some sort of Pair Wise Rankings for college basketball as well! The only issue I see with a system like this in basketball is the number of teams. You would have to include about 75-80 teams rather then 25. Also there are only 6 "predominate" conferences in college hockey, so most of the top 25 teams have played each other, or common opponents making the head to head comparisons much easier then it would be in basketball.
I'm sure someone, somewhere has tried it, but I just thought I would share and see what other college basketball fans thought!
College hockey uses what is called the PairWise Ranks (PWR), which ranks the top 25 teams under consideration (TUCs) for the NCAA Tournament. (College hockey only ranks the top 15/20 teams in the country in their weekly polls, and only 16 teams make the NCAA Hockey Tournament.) I will let you read how the system works yourselves with the link below, but basically it breaks down each team against the other top 24 teams, in 4 different areas and awards points. The Pair Wise Rankings has successfully predicted EVERY NCAA Tournament field since it was created, and is the system all the coaches and fans use to see where their teams stack up. Although this isn't the exact method the NCAA Hockey Committee uses to select the tournament field, and it has its flaws, there is no MADE UP ESPN "EYE TEST!"
Pair Wise Rankings Explaination
http://www.uscho.com/FAQs/?data=pwrexplanation
Pair Wise Rankings (March 8th)
http://www.uscho.com/rankings/pwr.php
I would love to see some sort of Pair Wise Rankings for college basketball as well! The only issue I see with a system like this in basketball is the number of teams. You would have to include about 75-80 teams rather then 25. Also there are only 6 "predominate" conferences in college hockey, so most of the top 25 teams have played each other, or common opponents making the head to head comparisons much easier then it would be in basketball.
I'm sure someone, somewhere has tried it, but I just thought I would share and see what other college basketball fans thought!