> We are making this more complicated than it needs to be. From what I > understand, the selection process for at-large bids is supposed to be based > on the power ratings that a computer spits out. Strictly by the numbers. You understand wrong. See <http://www.ncaa.org/news/19980803/active/3529n17.html>, which states In addition to revising one of its selection criteria, the committee noted that it reserves the right to evaluate each team based on the relative strength of their respective conference using the overall conference ratings percentage index (RPI) in determining competitive equity. The committee's procedure for this year involves using pairwise comparisons, which are based on RPI, and compensating for the inadequacies of the latter by hand. I would also like to see the system approved for next year so that the "competitive equity" determination is not neccessary. John Whelan, Cornell '91 [log in to unmask] http://www.amurgsval.org/joe/ HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.