Ranking System Details
Why Do We Use This Ranking System?
The purpose of instituting a new ranking system in Fall 2013 was to have a system that more accurately ranks teams against other teams in the league. In previous seasons, if a team wins a game, they get 2 points towards their record – regardless of what team they play. There is no consideration for the strength of the opponent. This new system rewards teams who win or tie against the teams with stronger records. With this system we want to motivate teams to grow within the sport, and reward teams for playing above their level within a challenging schedule.
“A” vs. “B” Teams
All teams (new and returning) are categorized as either an “A” team or a “B” team. A full team can be an “A” or “B” team and an Honorary team can be an “A” or a “B” team. The A/B split is only used for ranking purposes.
- “A” Teams: > 1.4 average game points per game from the previous fall season*
- “B” Teams: ≤ 1.4 average game points per game from the previous fall season*
OR a team that played less than 5 games in the previous fall season
OR a new team to the league
*Note: the cutoff may change each year, depending on the number of teams in each category
The purpose of categorizing teams is so that we can assign different game points (for a win/loss/tie) based on the type of opponent you play. If you play and win/tie against an “A” team will earn you more game points (towards your current fall season ranking) than if you play and win/tie against a “B” team. Instead of the traditional 2 points for a win and 1 point for a tie, your team will be awarded a certain number of game points toward winning percentage according to whether you played and won/tied against an “A” or “B” team. Losses are always zero no matter which team you play.
How We Categorize Teams
- Using the historical data from the previous year’s fall scores, all teams are ranked and their average game points per game are calculated.
- Only teams that played 5 or more games in the previous season were analyzed when determining the split between A/B divisions. We did this because we felt we couldn’t accurately “rank” a team that played 4 or fewer games.
- All new teams are categorized as a “B” team because we have no past scores for them.