Hypothetical case, from a 35th place fan who just wants to stay involved...
 
Say BU and Maine have identical records against identical opponents, except
that Maine sweeps BU in their season series.
 
Doesn't this guarantee that BU will have a better RPICH?
 
The reasoning: opponents' pct is valued higher than your own winning
percentage.  Therefore, as BU's percentage drops and Maine's increases, at the
same time BU's opponents' is creeping up, while Maine's is creeping down.
 There may be some mitigation from opponents' opponents' winning percentage,
but it may not be enough.
 
Anybody out there like to do the math?  The effect might vary depending on a
number of variables: whether the two teams are way above or way below .500;
number of games played; number of head-to-head games played.
 
Anyway, at first blush, this seems like RPICH could generated an ass-backwards
result under special circumstances.
 
Please don't flame me if I've missed something obvious -- it's just a first
pass thought.
 
 
Greg
Malden
Let's Go Red!
 
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