2/3/2023 other sports Edit

Explaining why the PairWise Rankings are important for Penn State

Caitlin Johnston • Happy Valley Insider

Baseball Writer

With the postseason around the corner, the Penn State Nittany Lions currently sit a No. 9 in the USCHO Division I rankings. While those rankings are important, the PairWise Rankings have historically been the most accurate for predicting what teams make the NCAA tournament.

The PairWise Rankings (PWR) is a tool designed to mimic the algorithm used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee to predict what teams will participate in the NCAA Tournament and give an insight into the possible seeding combinations.

What is the PairWise?

All Division I teams are included in the rankings with each team being matched head-to-head with one another. With 60 Division I men’s hockey teams, the highest number of comparison points a team can earn is 59 while the lowest is zero. Teams are ranked by total PWR points (won comparisons) with ties being awarded to the team with the highest ratings percentage index (RPI). Comparison points are won based on three categories: RPI (Ratings Percentage Index), Record vs. Common Opponents, and Head-to-Head record. Whichever team in the comparison has the most “wins” in those categories, wins the comparison.

What is RPI?

RPI is a weighted winning percentage calculation based on a team’s overall record, the record of a team’s opponents and the record of an opponent’s opponents. Games are also weighted based on where they are played. Road games are weighted as 1.2 wins while home games are weighted as .8 wins. Losses are weighted by the same measures. Teams also get a boost in their RPI for a Quality Win Bonus (QWB) for beating a team in the top-20 for RPI.

The bonus for winning a game against the top team in RPI receives a .050 bonus in its RPI with the bonuses decreasing incrementally until the 20th ranked team at .0025. Games can be removed from the comparison, so it doesn’t lower a team’s RPI. For example, if the top ranked team defeats the lowest ranked team, its RPI could drop, so that game is removed from its RPI count.

How does this translate to Penn State?

Penn State is currently No. 6 on the PairWise Ranking with 55 PWR points, meaning they win comparisons against every team in college hockey except five. This where wins against Big Ten opponents become crucial for the Nittany Lions.

With all Big Ten teams in the top 20 except Wisconsin, receiving the quality win bonus for RPI and winning the comparison points in the Record vs. Common Opponents category will help the Lions solidify their push for an NCAA bid.

“You have to credit the Big Ten. Everybody in the league benefits when every team is just so strong and has such a good out of conference record," coach Guy Gadowsky said.