The subjective science of rankings
Like many of you, I get a kick out of reading the posted comments on our high school sports stories each day. It’s a great way for our readers to provide both positive and negative feedback, but there’s no question our weekly rankings generate the most passion.
Are the Deseret Morning News rankings perfect? NO. As the primary person behind the boys basketball rankings, let me be the first to admit it’s not an exact science. But I don’t just flip a coin either.
Over a 21-game season, there is enough parity in boys basketball that it’s virtually impossible to go undefeated — even though Davis is threatening to do so. In football, comparative results work well when determining the rankings, but at this point in the season in basketball, using the six degrees of Kevin Bacon rule, everyone has probably lost to everyone.
Lone Peak lost to Provo
Provo lost to Lehi
Lehi lost to West
West lost to Logan
Logan lost Ogden
Ogden lost to Syracuse
(So apparently first-year school Syracuse could beat Lone Peak)
Numerous other scenarios like this make basing the rankings on comparative results impossible. With that said, here are a few things we factor into the rankings each week: Overall quality of the team, quality wins, bad losses, strength of schedule and consistency. Some of these are subjective. My opinions may differ from someone else’s.
With that said, with teams like Brighton and Woods Cross both losing on Tuesday, let me pose a few questions to our readers:
‘ Woods Cross followed up great wins over Bountiful and Sky View with a home loss to Mountain Crest — a team that lost to Bountiful by 21 last week. How far should the Wildcats drop in the rankings, if at all?
‘ Who are the two best teams in Region 2? Jordan is 2-0, while Alta, Skyline, Brighton and Hillcrest are all 1-1.
‘ With Olympus beating West, there are no more undefeated teams remaining in Region 6 after five games. Who is the best team, and do any of them deserve to be ranked in the top 20?
‘ Lastly, as of today, who do our readers think the top 10 teams in the state are?