John's comments are insightful and well-reason, as usual.  But the main
problem people had with going the winning percentage was the apparent
radical rearrangement of the the standings.  For example, I heard
broadcasters from three different ECAC hockey programs make a big deal about
Harvard "suddenly dropping from second the seventh."  Now, as we all know,
this was a completely silly way to look at it.  Harvard had been "tied for
seventh" (actually, eighth, since UVM was included in the standings)
*before* the decision was handed down -- it changed nothing.  It put into
place only a different (and almost certainly more useful) way of looking at
the standings.
 
The technical psychological principle behind the dramatic reaction against
the decision was: a lot of people are bad at math.
 
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