Bob (Schwartz) writes:
>As a disturbed person with a password, I took the liberty of shuffling the
>most recent TCHCR. I found the result interesting and thought other
>HOCKEY-Lers might as well.
 
[Table of teams ranked by schedule strength deleted]
 
The table raises the question: why are the WCHA and CCHA schedules
*bunched together* *at the top*?
 
First, let's assume that Michigan Tech has the xth ranked schedule. Where
would you expect the other WCHA schedules to be ranked? Considering that
the WCHA teams have played almost 90% of their games against fellow WCHA
teams, their schedules should be ranked near x. Similar schedules should
be ranked similarly. If one WCHA team had a schedule ranked #1 and another
had a schedule ranked #35, I would be suspicious.
 
Likewise for the CCHA, with also almost 90% "inbreeding".
 
That explains, I believe, why the WCHA teams are "bunched together" and
the CCHA teams are bunched together. The ECAC and HEA teams are not as
"bunchy" because they haven't completed as many league games. HEA teams
have played less than 50% of their games against league foes. HEA
schedules are more spread out, ranging from UMass-Lowell's 19th to
Merrimack's 45th.
 
Then, why is the West all *at the top* in schedules? Since the schedule
numbers are based on the RATINGS, the real question is:
 
 Why is the average Western team rated higher than the average Eastern team?
 
THAT is a very complicated question to answer. Some of it has to do with
the West's better non-league record. Some of it has to do with the East
playing more games against independents. Some of it has to do with the
West's upsets of the upper-echelon of Eastern teams. I have *a lot* of
homework to do before I can fully explain what is going on...
 
>Some comments:
 
I can't address these questions right now, although they are good ones,
because all of my data is at home. I do not like to respond without
getting my facts straight, so I will have to address them later.
 
 
Keith