Dist. 1 to Teams: "Take the Easy Way Out."

I was going to do a whole post about the seriously flawed District One power rankings system, but the Intelligencer's Todd Thorpe beat me to it at his blog at http://blogs.phillyburbs.com/intelgirlshoop.

As Todd said:

Last year’s very flawed power rating system had one thing this year’s system did not. It took into account whether opponents were Class AAAA, AAA, AA, or A, and awarded schedule points accordingly. That wasn’t taken into account with this system, and hence some team were rewarded just as many points for playing and beating much smaller schools, but ones that happened to have good records against the rest of the teams it played.

Non-league games are at the discretion of the coaches and athletic directors. But if one team goes 4-4 in non-league games and the competition includes very quality teams, and another goes 7-1 against lesser competition against small Class A schools, why should the one be punished for scheduling better?

It doesn’t encourage better scheduling. It encourages winning, no matter the opponent. That’s the central flaw of this system.

Personally, I think they should go back to the committee seeding system and all the aggravations that came from it. But one thing about it, though, they usually got it right. The best teams were usually the ones who made it states every year.

I just want to point out what several SOL teams got for scheduling tough teams.

Council Rock-North for losing to Archbishop Wood, one of the three best teams in Pennsylvania - 4.55 Power Rating Points.

CB East for a one-point loss to Spring-Ford - 4.58 Power Rating Points

Pennridge for a loss to Mount St. Joseph's - 4.55 Power Rating Points

What each team could have earned for scheduling and beating New Hope-Solebury: 5 + 2.63 + 6.32 = 13.95 Power Rating Points.

Or for scheduling and beating Christopher Dock: 5 + 3.25 + 7.8 = 16.05 Power Rating Points.

Why do you want to encourage teams to drop games against Wood, Spring-Ford and Mount to schedule tiny Bicentennial Athletic League teams such as Christopher Dock and New Hope-Solebury?

The message to kids: "Don't challenge yourself. Take the easy way out and get rewarded."