USC Men's Regional Rankings-2023

Started by WLCALUM83, September 13, 2023, 01:15:21 PM

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NESCACfan100

#1
September 13, 2023, 01:22:28 PM
Can someone explain Bowdoin's ranking?

Bowdoin (3-0-0) started #6 in the nation in the preseason poll but was bounced from the Top 25 this week and placed at #6 in Region I??

SierraFD3soccer

#2
September 13, 2023, 01:42:18 PM
Quote from: NESCACfan100 on September 13, 2023, 01:22:28 PM
Can someone explain Bowdoin's ranking?

Bowdoin (3-0-0) started #6 in the nation in the preseason poll but was bounced from the Top 25 this week and placed at #6 in Region I??

Interesting question, maybe not enough games to judge this season so far? Maybe not impressed with the wins against teams they played? Think I counted 11 teams that were not ranked last week but are now. Massie has Bowdoin at 13. Obviously, strong wins against other NESCAC teams and they will definitely rise.

nescacfan94

#3
September 13, 2023, 01:51:04 PM
Quote from: NESCACfan100 on September 13, 2023, 01:22:28 PM
Can someone explain Bowdoin's ranking?

Bowdoin (3-0-0) started #6 in the nation in the preseason poll but was bounced from the Top 25 this week and placed at #6 in Region I??

Bowdoin conceded a goal against UNE for the first time in a long time. That must be it. And then there's this from last week.... Emerson beat Bates 1-0. Bowdoin beat Bates 1-0. Emerson tied Husson 2-2. Bowdoin beat Husson 6-0. Emerson is ranked 19th. Bowdoin is out of the top 25. Makes total sense. Maybe it's just that these rankings are all worth about as much as the paper they are not printed on.

College Soccer Observer

#5
September 13, 2023, 02:17:57 PM
Quote from: NESCACfan100 on September 13, 2023, 01:22:28 PM
Can someone explain Bowdoin's ranking?

Bowdoin (3-0-0) started #6 in the nation in the preseason poll but was bounced from the Top 25 this week and placed at #6 in Region I??

They did not really "start" at #6.  The first poll is just the final one from the previous season repackaged.

Flying Weasel

#6
September 13, 2023, 04:16:47 PM
The Bowdoin ranking is a little perplexing.

The following points do not really provide a possible explanation for Bowdoin's ranking, but they may be worth mentioning for those still kind of new to the USC Rankings or yet unaware of how the USC Rankings work.

1. As already mentioned, the USC Pre-season Poll is NOT really a pre-season poll; it is just a re-posting of the final poll of the previous season.  That is, the pre-season poll does not reflect a new vote of the coaches in the build-up to the new season.  Why they continue this ruse, I have no idea.

2. Therefore, a team's position in the first poll of any season shouldn't really be compared to the "pre-season" poll as if that was their starting point.  It wasn't.

3. For the weekly polls throughout the season, the USC is very committed to fairly equal regional representation in the national Top 25. Prior to the regional re-alignment that increased the number of regions from 8 to 10, almost without fail, seven regions had 3 teams ranked with an eighth region getting fourth team ranked. Additionally, most of the time each region got a team in the top 8, another in spots 9-16, and their third rep in spots 17-24. Now with 10 regions, such exact equal representation can't be achieved, but most of the time each region will have 2 or 3 representatives in the Top 25. It's fairly clear that Region 2 is the weakest region under the current alignment which splits New England in half numerically, but not in quality due to the strength of the NESCAC which is all in Region 1.  Consequently, Region2 will sometimes get less representation which opens the door for a region to get a fourth rep.

4. In the final poll of the season (after the NCAA Tournament), the USC isn't concerned with equal regional representation in the Top 25 like they are in the weekly polls throughout the season.  Rather the rankings very strongly reflect tournament finish with a few exceptions when a very strong team gets bounced early. 

5. Thus, a region could have more teams in the final poll than during the season, but not all of them can remain ranked in the first poll of the following season when equal representation comes back into play.  So, for example, Region I (i.e., NESCAC) could have 5 teams ranked in the final poll of one season which means 5 teams ranked in the following pre-season poll, but come the first poll of the new season, no matter how good those five teams started, at most four of them could be ranked and maybe only three.

6. From what I have heard, the USC has some "rules" for their rankings and how teams can and can't move relative to one another from one weak to the next.  For example, I think that if a ranked team wins its games in the new week, they cannot be leap-frogged by another team or they cannot fall in the rankings or something like that.  So this can sometimes explain why a Top 25 team didn't fall in the rankings after a poor performance (i.e., narrow win against a weak opponent) or why another team didn't climb ahead of someone on the strength of huge win against Top 25 opponent. I'm not 100% sure exactly what the "rules" are, but something along these lines.

PaulNewman

#7
September 13, 2023, 04:22:08 PM
A Weasel sighting....sweet.

paclassic89

#8
September 13, 2023, 04:27:11 PM
Bowdoin's low ranking is most likely due to SOS.   Admittedly a low sample size (duh), but their opponents' winning % so far is sub 40%

northman

#9
September 13, 2023, 06:57:03 PM
A comprehensive and well expressed explanation by Flying Weasel.  Thank you!

Yankeesoccerdad

#12
September 26, 2023, 05:22:18 PM
Quote from: paclassic89 on September 13, 2023, 04:27:11 PM
Bowdoin's low ranking is most likely due to SOS.   Admittedly a low sample size (duh), but their opponents' winning % so far is sub 40%

The Maine schools historically have had a worse SOS because their non-conference schedule is much weaker.  Non-conference games are often midweek and scheduled to prioritize convenience (less travel).  Also, Bowdoin just this season installed lights for soccer.  It gets dark early in Maine and you need lights starting at around 5:00 in October.  Going forward, the installation of lights should help scheduling teams outside Maine to improve SOS.  Having two NESCAC double-header weekends also creates opportunities for non-conference games on weekends--Bowdoin travels to Wheaton this weekend.
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