I agree with Mike and Nathan that Western Michigan hasn't received
the respect in the polls that it probably deserves.  I also thought the
same of Bowling Green early on.  However, I'm doing something this year
that is helping me understand the fundamentals of polls.  This year I'm
taking part in the HOCKEY-L poll.  And I would recommend it to anyone who
either complains about polls or otherwise has an interest.
 
Previously, if my team had a good weekend I would scan the polls the next
week and either celebrate their advances or be angered by the lack
of demonstrated respect.  What I'm finding by taking part myself is that
there are more issues involved than I had thought.  For example, if there
is a team that has done well on any weekend, I must consider:
 
        - where that team was in the poll for the previous
          week?
 
        - did they do better than the teams ahead of them?
          For any team to move up another team has to move
          down and if all of them did well too, it's more
          difficult.  It's very hard to move a team down in
          the poll even if they haven't lost any games.
 
        - if a team did poorly, how much of a drop is
          reasonable?  Is there an absolute limit to the number
          of places a team can drop or is it entirely
          dependent on their performance and their neighbor's
          performance?
 
        - are there any teams previously outside the top 15
          that deserve to be moved into the top 15?  This is
          pretty difficult because it means I must consider
          all Div. I teams, not just those currently in the
          top 15.  If there are any, who moves down?
 
        - and finally, for any team, do I really think they are
          better than those below them and worse than those
          above?
 
 
This isn't meant to say that polls don't sometimes deserve
criticism.  I would only suggest that, if you are interested in
what goes into generating a poll, you have the perfect opportunity
to find out right here.  You may be suprised at what you learn.  I
certainly was.
 
--
Matt Wickey                                 LSSU '86
CIMLINC Inc.                                National Champs 88 92 94
[log in to unmask]                     Go LAKERS!
 
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