Here We Go Again

This feels like an annual post for me, but we're going to do this again until someone gets it right. I have documented on this blog how the U SPORTS' calculation for the weekly Top Ten is flawed, yet U SPORTS continues to go back to the same calculations despite me documenting how poorly they serve the teams. When trying to determine a national ranking system, there should be some truths that are seen, but every single metric one would use in a national ranking system seems to be ignored by U SPORTS. Today's Top Ten list - the first this season - only serves to annoy me more because nothing makes sense when it comes to how these rankings were determined.

First, let's look at that Top Ten list crafted the geniuses at U SPORTS.

Yes, it's the same cast of usual suspects at the top. Concordia is last season's National Champion and Mount Royal is the 2023 National Champion, so it seems like they should be included. UBC, Waterloo, Toronto, Montreal, and UNB were all at the National Championship last season, so five more teams could have cases made for their inclusion. Guelph is playing strong hockey in the OUA, Alberta looks good in Canada West, and Saint Mary's is playing well in the AUS.

Of course, you're expecting the hard turn from me, so let's show you why I find these rankings hard to believe. Specifically, let's look at the RSEQ standings as of today as shown to the right. What do you notice about those standings besides all four teams being tied? If you said "none of them have played a regular season game", you deserve some congratulations on having keen observation skills. That means that the top-ranked Concordia Stingers who have yet to play a game are, according to U SPORTS, better than the 4-0-0 Mount Royal Cougars who swept the third-ranked UBC Thunderbirds this past weekend. That makes complete sense, right?

Perhaps we'll consider the case of the Toronto Varsity Blues who are 1-1 this season and ranked sixth-overall following a loss to Waterloo and a win against Laurier. They've scored four goals in two games while surrendering three, yet they're somehow ahead of the 3-0-1 Saint Mary's Huskies who beat eighth-ranked UNB 6-2 while scoring 16 goals in four games and only surrendering eight. Along the same lines, UNB is 3-1-0 with their only loss coming to Saint Mary's, yet UNB is ranked ahead of the team that beat them decisively in regulation time. Of course, that all makes sense, though, right?

Even worse, the AUS conference-leading Saint Mary's Huskies trail in the Top Ten rankings to the Montreal Carabins who have yet to skate in a regular season game. How does one explain that? A team with three wins, including one over a top-ten team, who is leading the AUS is ranked BELOW a team that hasn't played one second of regular season hockey! Can anyone explain how these calculations are done?

Of course, the biggest kick in the pants for all of these teams is that only two teams from each conference will go to the U SPORTS National Championship in Waterloo, and their rankings won't matter all that much unless they qualify for Nationals. Even then, the conference champions will be seeded from 1-4 while the finalists get spots 5-8. And if the rankings shuffle out where teams from the same conference may face one another in the first two rounds, the rankings will be "adjusted" to prevent that from happening.

Those facts alone means the rankings are pointless until March.

Is it nice to have bragging rights? Of course, and I won't hold that against any of the schools' athletic departments for celebrating the inexplicable rankings they're assigned. I have, however, warned everyone over and over again that the rankings are meaningless when there are no national crossover games nor are there any measures or metrics that would allow comparisons across conferences.

If the RSEQ can send half its conference to the National Championship - they only have four teams this season - winning two games in the playoffs is the easiest ticket to the National Championship. The fact that two of Concordia, Montreal, Bishop's, and McGill will compete for the Golden Path Trophy after winning just two games in the playoffs is ridiculous, yet both teams that qualify will finish the season ranked in the top eight positions.

Enjoy the weekly rankings that are published by U SPORTS, but until they fix their broken system they should be viewed just as an exercise where one attempts to compare teams that never play one another. If you remember last year's chaos leading up to the National Championship, the only "Top Ten" teams to make it to Sasaktoon were top-ranked Concordia, second-ranked UBC, sixth-ranked StFX, eighth-ranked Toronto, and ninth-ranked UNB.

When half of your Top Ten teams miss the National Championship, it doesn't give you much faith in the ranking system, does it?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!