Hockeybuckeye
Well-known member
I think so. At least it seems to me that if the blue blood teams start the season highly ranked they never seem to lose much ground with their losses compared to other teams.
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22-23 USCHO Poll
- Thread starter Timothy A
- Start date
I think so. At least it seems to me that if the blue blood teams start the season highly ranked they never seem to lose much ground with their losses compared to other teams.
Of course it all depends on which team(s) you're losing to. For example, if Ohio State were to split with Minnesota and then Wisconsin the following weekend (two losses in two weekends) would they deserve to lose their No. 1 position in the polls? Of course many other variables would come into play, including how the top eastern teams are faring against one another.
Hockeybuckeye
Well-known member
It's a mix of coaches/team reps from across the country and me, I believe. There's one USCHO staff member responsible for the polls (it is not me) and they do a very good job of curating the list. We had a discussion about who to invite when we decided to expand to 15 teams. They also reached out to coaches who weren't good at replying and told them to send it in or get removed.
I will say this early on, with the Ivies not even on the ice yet, it's pretty impossible to really figure out a poll. I'd expect to see more movement over the next month. We've had very few ranked teams playing each other and so far we don't have a lot of useful information on the top teams.
For my own part, I've struggled a bit with the last few spots in the expanded poll. If a team losses, it sure feels like that team should move down or off the poll, right? It's more clear at the top when you're talking undefeated teams, but for 11-15, you're likely talking a team with losses and then you're comparing the relative badness of those losses, again with limited data. Like, even with a number of games under their belts, do I have a firm handle on Wisconsin based on series with Lindenwood, St. Thomas and now this weekend St. Cloud State? Just because they have some data points doesn't mean they add up to anything useful in the greater scheme of things. And a team like Minnesota State has looked very good against top teams, but ultimately is 0-4.
I don't know if other people think about it this much, but I promise you I do. I vote in both our poll and the USA Hockey/USA Today poll and I think about all these things and more before I submit my ballot.
I really appreciate this reply, and the thought that you put in to your votes. I would still like to see more detail on who is voting.
At this point in the season it is really tough to evaluate the top 10 or so teams against each other...everyone understands that. It does seem to me that there may be a bigger gap between the top teams and the rest this year, but probably in no time there will be a big upset to prove me wrong.
ARM
Fan of chipmunk-like mascots.
I believe that you're right on both fronts: there are some gaps along the way; there will still be upsets. As the season plays out, we'll try to figure out where those gaps are and how sizable they are, and the results will have us constantly rethinking those theories. A higher-ranked team might defeat one lower down three times out of four, but it is impossible to completely ignore that upset.It does seem to me that there may be a bigger gap between the top teams and the rest this year, but probably in no time there will be a big upset to prove me wrong.
I really appreciate this reply, and the thought that you put in to your votes. I would still like to see more detail on who is voting.
At this point in the season it is really tough to evaluate the top 10 or so teams against each other...everyone understands that. It does seem to me that there may be a bigger gap between the top teams and the rest this year, but probably in no time there will be a big upset to prove me wrong.
That's fair and I sincerely don't have an answer. I wish I could remember anything from those discussions, but I really don't and I don't have the emails anymore. I should have clarified that when I say team rep, it may be an assistant that votes instead of the HC. Generally this is because the HC wasn't replying to emails or submitting their ballot.
But I know that if someone from a conference stops replying or says they want out, we look to replace them with someone else in the conference. The goal is a balanced poll representative of the conferences.
https://www.theicegarden.com/2022/10/17/23408075/sb-nations-ncaa-poll-lit-kindling-womens-hockey
Hab, not sure if you follow this SB Nation poll but it’s adds more perspectives as well.
Titleixhockey are you able to share who, or at least how many people vote in this poll?
Hab, not sure if you follow this SB Nation poll but it’s adds more perspectives as well.
Titleixhockey are you able to share who, or at least how many people vote in this poll?
Timothy A
Let's go RED!
WI wins 2 games and loses spots to EZAC teams. Watts a crock. I shudder at the thought that if they had lost that game they'd probably not even be ranked.
ARM
Fan of chipmunk-like mascots.
We can dream. What's up with your schedule in November; do Badgers hibernate then?
TonyTheTiger20
#SOAR
We were down to about 8 or so for a while but had 11 this past week. Me (BC Interruption) and Nate Vaughan (The Ice Garden) run it. I do the number crunching and Nate does the writeup. There are several other others who write stuff on SB Nation sites -- Nicole Haase has a ballot, she used to write for Bucky's 5th Quarter; we also have Nate Wells who has written for SBN Minnesota and SBN College Hockey, and also Arthur Bailin from BC Interruption who doesn't cover women's hockey for the site but follows it with us. Kat Cornetta is one of our newer voters, Anne Tokarski is another one, I think they are/were both with TIG?
We have had to branch out over the last year or so beyond SB Nation writers to keep numbers up -- TitleIX for example is one of our most reliable voters. We also have BC's TV announcer, Luis Sanchez, as well as Spencer Fascetta who has done a lot of work with analytics and is currently a graduate assistant coach at Castleton University. There are a couple others out there who aren't necessarily media folks but who follow sport closely enough that we value their opinion.
Lindsay -- you're in the media world, aren't you? We are badly lacking in western perspective; if you're interested we'd love to include you. Shoot me an email at grant dot salzano at gmail!
Thanks for the explanation. So there’s basically a coaches poll and a media poll. I quite like Nate’s one sentence summary and setting the scene for the next week, so I’ve made a habit of checking in there.
I recognize those names you mentioned…Kat Cornetta does a bunch of writing for the Boston Globe as well.
TonyTheTiger20
#SOAR
Thanks, I'll pass that on to him, I know he'll appreciate it!
Hockeybuckeye
Well-known member
This weekends WCHA games will shake some things up in the rankings.
Still Eeyore
New member
Maybe. If Minnesota and Ohio State split, does that in any way suggest that they are not the #1 and #2 teams in the country? (Note that I'm not asking whether or not they are the top two, just that a split wouldn't provide any evidence either way.)
Timothy A
Let's go RED!
If Wisconsin sweeps then in my head of course they should be number one if osu and MN split.
ARM
Fan of chipmunk-like mascots.
Assuming that they split down the middle, then OSU would have results at least as impressive as UW while playing a tougher schedule. I don't see the Buckeyes losing #1 to a team that already has a loss. A team like Colgate or Q could make a case, but not some club that is already experienced in laying eggs.
Hockeybuckeye
Well-known member
Putting my obvious bias aside and try to be impartial I honestly think for OSU to lose the top spot a split won't do it, Minnesota would have to sweep.
I also have a hard time believing the USCHO polls are accurate at times. After all, can you believe in the men's polls Minnesota is #1 with two losses and St.Cloud is undefeated but is #2?
Something fishy there, just saying.