MrBoDangles wrote:I agree with HShockeywatcher on the point that Jefferson would (possibly) not have the record they do with a tougher schedule. I also agree on the point of Edina losing 3 and barely moving down, then a NWSC team losing 1 to a very good team and falling off the map a little puzzling.
----- karl(lake)????????
I know it looks a little strange, and it was awkward doing it.
To this, I will say that teams with harder schedules are much more insulated from drastic movement on the rankings. We have a pretty good idea of where they belong. It's harder to tell with teams with weaker schedules, which is why some people on here put Jefferson first and others put them down around 7th.
These rankings came out immediately after Blaine and Centennial lost, and the NWSC was thrown into confusion, as Maple Grove (and, to a lesser degree, Elk River) jumped into the picture. We have no reason to believe any of these three teams can't win the conference or the section. To reflect this confusion, I felt they had to be grouped together, immediately. So I could either put all three in the 3-6 range, or into the 7-9 range. I chose the latter because:
1. Centennial and Blaine were already in the 3-6 range and the rankings needed to reflect their recent losses.
2. Edina and Minnetonka have established where they belong pretty well. They've come out looking usually very good against a very hard schedule, and you would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't consider these teams deserving of top-6 spots. With the NWSC teams, on the other hand, we're reasonably certain that one, maybe two of them, will not end up being top-6 teams. But at least one, maybe two, will be by the time they have finished sorting themselves out over the next week or so.
The teams that made this really awkward were East, Holy Angels, and most especially, Benilde. I can elaborate on that process if you'd like me to.
And in response to HShockeywatcher's note about Holy Angels' schedule strength seeming higher than it should be, that has to do with the games they play against outstate competition and Shattuck. It's really impossible to measure how much playing teams like Culver and Mt. St. Charles should affect their rankings, since they play no other MN competition. I'm guessing (people who do SOS, correct me if I'm wrong), some number is assigned to these teams that may be (in my opinion) a bit too high.
