Mike writes: >What are the reasons for preferring RPI? Is it that some teams >who were perceived to have been better were ranked higher >in RPI than SOS? Then perhaps we have to ask what those perceptions >are based on. What about cases in which RPI ranked teams lower? Note: SOS = winning percentage + opponents winning percentage RPI = (.25 x winning percentage)+ (.5 x opponents winning percentage) + (.25 x opponents opponents winning percentage) This looks like the case. The general consensus among D-III folks is that SOS, which more heavily weights winnning percentage and does not consider opponents opponents strength of schedule, under-rates the NCHA schools and over-rates the MIAC and eastern schools. Considering the way the NCHA (at least the top 4 teams - River Falls, Stevens Point, Superior and Bemidji) dominate their out of conference opponents (including winning 9 of the last 10 D-II& D-III national championships), the feeling is that they should be ranked higher. But because these 4 teams have played each other at least 4 times each per season, their winning percentage suffers when they beat up on each other. On the other hand, MIAC schools like St. Thomas (Minn.) get ranked higher by SOS than most of the NCHA schools due to playing teams like Bethel (3-21) and Hamline (4-18) two or three times each year. Usually,the NCAA has the sense to seed the MIAC champ fourth in the west regardless of their record and place River Falls, Superior and Point ahead of them, regardless of their records (Bemidji goes to the D-II tournament, where they are two time defending national champs). Things will probably even out more this year with the departure of Scranton (0-21) from the ECAC West/SUNYAC, and the NCHA's addition of St. Scholastica and St. Norbert, two relatively weak programs. I am not advocating using RPI as the major determination in selecting or seeding D-II/III teams. I think it's less useful here because of the wide disparity in talent between the top and bottom teams compared to D-I. No D-I conference team is going to go 0-21. I'ver been asked by several people to do *both* the SOS and RPI ratings for the 1994/95 season. Since the formulas are so close, it should be fairly easy to do. Then the D-III folks will have multiple ratings systems to argue over they same way the D-I people do :) Chris Lerch EDS RIT '84 & '91 RIT Tigers - 1993/94 ECAC West Champions!