> If the point of measuring the record of each team against tournament
caliber
> opposition to to accurately guage their perfomance why should UNH benefit
> because Merrimack has learned how to win now that it's March?  They last
played
> the Warriors before Thanksgiving.
 
Um, because if Merrimack makes the NCAA tournament, then they ARE a team
"of tournament caliber"!
 
The second idea in the passage, however, is that UNH last played Merrimack
before they "learned how to win".  This is a separate idea.  That you can
catch a team before they have their act together, or during an injury
streak, or when their players are at the Juniors, well, that's life in
hockey.  There are just so many things which can vary a team's strength
during the season, there is no accounting for this in a way "fairer" than
counting all games against an opponent the same.
 
So, I disagree with both the poster's points, in his words, "emphatically".
 But I do think the latter idea is original and worthy of attention.
 
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