2010-2011 Division I Polls

[ARM]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

I don't put any stock in any of the poles but when one seems as simply wrong as this -in terms of ranking UMD at 6 ...

UMD is now down to #6 in the Pairwise, so the pollsters weren't necessarily wrong, just slightly ahead of their time.

[dave1381]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

Also, for good measure I'll just add that I think Bucky is the #1 team in the country right now. I think a WCHA team loss to pretty much any other team within WCHA is not as bad as a loss to any other team in the country (outside of MH or Cornell). That's how much better I think the WCHA is than the other leagues. Bemidji's wins aren't flukes . . . great tending and significantly better team speed has made them more of a contender than previously.

Have to agree about Bucky and the WCHA, in my opinion there is a real bias in favor of the east that history and this year's play doesn't support. Who are these pollsters anyway, I see an all WCHA final with Bucky winning it's 4th NCAA title, that will be the only poll that matters.

At the top, I find it silly that both men's and women's hockey both have No. 1 teams with one loss and zero top 10 wins. Wisconsin is 4-2 against teams in the PWR top 10, Cornell 0-1.

I would note a few factors about alleged "eastern bias"

--- WCHA is clearly stronger by any legit statistical measure, but voters don't do so great a job of adjusting for strength-of-schedule. They tend to just move teams down when they lose games, that's all. That's really why Cornell is No. 1. A slight majority don't really care that Cornell hasn't beaten another top 10 opponent and lost to the only one it played at home. They just moved Wisconsin down when they lost to UMD, end of story.
Now that the PWR is out, voters move towards the PWR, but the PWR doesn't do so great a job of adjusting for SOS either. BC is 4th in the PWR but 6th in KRACH, 8th in Rutter.

-- There are simply more teams in the East than in the West. To the extent that voters are simply biased towards their own leagues and opponents, voters picked at random are going to favor the East.

[IceIsNice]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

USA Hockey Poll

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine
Women's College Hockey Poll - December 14, 2010

No. Team Points

1. Cornell 182 (11)
2. Wisconsin 175 (8)
3. Boston University 141
4. Minnesota Duluth 120
5. Mercyhurst 119
6. Boston College 116
7. Minnesota 72
8. North Dakota 50
9. Providence 45
10. Northeastern 11

Others receiving votes: The Ohio State University, 8; Quinnipiac University, 4; Bemidji State University, 2.

[binnyrus]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

UMD is now down to #6 in the Pairwise, so the pollsters weren't necessarily wrong, just slightly ahead of their time.

Personally, I hope they stay there and that we get true pairings . . . I'd love for UMD to play BU in the first round. And, if YOU, ARM, think UMD is "really" the 6th best team . . . raise your hand. Clearly they have their issues to work out. That is, to show up for two games in a row, but when they do . . .

[ARM]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

And, if YOU, ARM, think UMD is "really" the 6th best team . . . raise your hand.

I don't know. I haven't seen the #1, #2, #3, #4, or #5 team, so it is tough for me to say where the #6 team belongs. The weekend I saw the Bulldogs, they were better than the #7 team. But looking at the schedule, that may have been UMD's best weekend of the season. And they weren't THAT much better than a Gopher team that is playing better now than they were then. So we'll have to see. UMD has the potential to be the NCAA champs. They also have the potential to lose an NCAA quarter. I think that the same can be said about a number of teams. I don't necessarily think that there are six teams better than Minnesota either, but the computer doesn't care who was hurt and who wasn't, so if they want to move up, they have to win more games. The second half should be interesting.

[brookyone]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

Bump

[brookyone]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

http://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-i-womens-poll/

I suspected...after handling the Lakers.

[OnMAA]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

the question remains after this past weekend's game... what 5 voters still believe the Lakers deserved the #1 vote...? and what is their justification

Waddayu talking about. Lakers did not get any first place votes according to the poll in the link.

[MICZamboni]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

the question remains after this past weekend's game... what 5 voters still believe the Lakers deserved the #1 vote...? and what is their justification

Must be in the leftover holiday eggnog again?

[BadgerFan11]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

Must be in the leftover holiday eggnog again?

apologies. Mis-read the poll as 'hurst in #2 spot

[granddaddyscout]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

Where should Cornell be ranked if they lose to Hurst on Jan 18th. It is not their fault, but with a schedule that includes only 1 top 10 team it seems hard to understand how they maintian their lofty ranking. Anyone else think this seems odd?

[ARM]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

Where should Cornell be ranked if they lose to Hurst on Jan 18th. It is not their fault, but with a schedule that includes only 1 top 10 team it seems hard to understand how they maintian their lofty ranking. Anyone else think this seems odd?

They haven't lost a game in regulation this year after advancing to the championship game last season. While I don't agree with the logic of those who voted them #1 this week over Wisconsin, I have no problem with them being #2. Who should be #2 if not the Big Red? BU's schedule has some question marks as well, having played 3 teams in the top 10 and not sweeping any of them (BC - split, UND - split, PC - win/tie).

Of the ranked teams right now, I'd probably most question Providence, especially in the USA Today poll. There are voters placing the Friars above all of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Ohio St, and all of those teams have better wins than PC does. IMO, some voters look at record and nothing else.

[granddaddyscout]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

They haven't lost a game in regulation this year after advancing to the championship game last season. While I don't agree with the logic of those who voted them #1 this week over Wisconsin, I have no problem with them being #2. Who should be #2 if not the Big Red? BU's schedule has some question marks as well, having played 3 teams in the top 10 and not sweeping any of them (BC - split, UND - split, PC - win/tie).

Of the ranked teams right now, I'd probably most question Providence, especially in the USA Today poll. There are voters placing the Friars above all of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Ohio St, and all of those teams have better wins than PC does. IMO, some voters look at record and nothing else.

I jsut don't see Cornell being that close to the Badgers, I think they would have 2-3 loses with a tougher schedule. In my opinion UDM and Hurst are stronger teams. The Boston schools seem to be a bit over rated as well.

[D2D]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

I jsut don't see Cornell being that close to the Badgers, I think they would have 2-3 loses with a tougher schedule. In my opinion UDM and Hurst are stronger teams. The Boston schools seem to be a bit over rated as well.

Having seen Cornell play last year and considering the excellent new players they've added this year, I have to respectfully disagree. Based on their record and consistent ability to put W's on the board, I believe their No. 2 ranking is justified - for now. That said, I do agree that they would likely have another loss or two or even three if they had been playing a mostly WCHA schedule. As would Mercyhurst, and as does UMD now. We've seen what teams like UND, BSU and OSU are capable of on a good day, and of course Minnesota is no slouch either. Then you have UMD and Wisconsin - a tough group to compete against week in and week out!

[comefrombehind]

Re: 2010-2011 Division I Polls

While you raise a fair question, granddaddyscout, I would tend to agree with D2D. In its last 27 games, spanning two seasons, Cornell has 25 wins and 2 losses in overtime --3OT to UMD and OT to Mercyhurst (never trailing until the final goal). Four of the wins were against then top ten opponents: Mercyhurst #1, Harvard #4, Clarkson #6, Harvard #10. If you have the chance to see the Cornell team play, I expect you might feel otherwise.