Re: 2009-2010 Polls thread
The fact that a loss to a really strong opponent can hurt you much more than a loss to a weak opponent is an absurd feature of the NCAA's system.
Potentially, that is true. But it is also true that a loss to a weak opponent can be very damaging. We often discuss the categories in the individual PWR comparisons as though though a point is a point, but of course, that is far from the truth. RPI is the Super Point, in that it breaks ties for both individual comparisons and those with an equal number of PWR comparisons won. So it is a slippery slope trying to hold your place in the PWR if you start to fade in the RPI.
Looking at the criteria of the PWR, where does it start to go wrong? Assume for the moment that we are all okay with comparing teams one pair at a time in the first place (not a valid assumption, but it simplifies the problem like ignoring friction and wind resistance.) I don't think that too many have a problem with head to head, although we may disagree on the weighting (e.g., there could be a max of one H2H point, you win it, lose it, or draw, so the H2H point is awarded to the pair as 1-0, 0-1, or 0-0.) Common opponents is a good idea, although there are cases where it breaks down, like if two teams both play teams ranked #1 and #31, but one plays the former more while the other's schedule is heavy on the latter. RPI is probably a flawed measurement that could be improvement, but usually by the end of the season, it doesn't depart much from KRACH or Rutter. I used to like the idea of a L16, but felt it penalized teams that played in a tough conference, because most of the nonconference games fell out. So a team with a cupcake schedule down the stretch always looked hotter than teams that had been beating each other up. Maybe something like a comparison of KRACH or RPI points gained over the final 16 games would be better.
The biggest problem IMO has always been TUC. On one sense, it is a nice idea in that you want teams in the tournament that will be competitive against other good teams. The problem is that the in-or-out cutoff at .500 RPI is so arbritrary and so dependent on results not involving the two teams in question. Beyond that, it is flawed in the same way that COP is, incapable of detecting if a team is playing the majority of the games against teams at the top or bottom of the range. To me, it would greatly improve the system if TUC was dropped in favor of something like KRACH or Rutter.
Or we could go to using just KRACH or Rutter as a standalone measurement. The biggest flaw there is that it would give us very little to discuss regarding selections.