NIRA DI Power Rankings Released
NIRA DI Power Rankings Released
The National Intercollegiate Rugby Association Power Rankings are out.
The algorithm waits until Week 3 to get fired up because it needs data. So now that we have that data, the first of weekly Power Rankings have been released.
This system is used because not every team in NIRA plays every other team. As a result, you need a system to compare each team's schedule. Note also that Princeton, Mount St. Mary's, and LaSalle are not in the standings because they have declared for a 7s postseason. The teams in these Power Rankings are the DI teams that have declared for a 15s postseason.
The Rankings use points per game, points allowed per game, and factor in the strength of schedule. Huge blowout wins actually hurt teams because defense carries a little more strength in the rankings than offense. As a result, you beat a team by 90, that team's power rating drops and hurts your strength of schedule more than the extra points help.
Defense is why Dartmouth is ranked ahead of Harvard and Sacred Heart. The Big Green's 2.3 points-against-per-game leads the league by a wide margin. Meanwhile, while Sacred Heart has better offensive and defensive numbers than Harvard, the Crimson has a stronger schedule so far. Both played Brown, so that's a wash, but while SHU played Queens (0-3), Harvard played (and beat) Lindenwood. That's why Harvard's Weighted Win Percentage (wW%) is so much better than Sacred Heart's.
Among the 2-1 teams, strength of schedule puts Lindenwood above the other two. Lindenwood lost to Harvard, but Harvard's presence helps Lindenwood's strength of schedule. Lindenwood beat Army, and they also played Navy, while Army also played Queens.
Conversely, Army is ranked above Quinnipiac despite the Bobcats having a stronger schedule. And here's where the other numbers come in. Army has the third-best defense in the league, behind Dartmouth and Sacred Heart. Quinnipiac gave up a big score in their opening game, and their offensive numbers are not as strong as those of Army.
The next two teams, LIU and Navy, are in a virtual tie. You'll notice that all of their numbers are very similar and that's why they are separated by just 0.05 in the final Power Rating.
So this brings us to the coming weekend, which will be fascinating.
Dartmouth at Sacred Heart
Harvard at Army
LIU at Navy
Lindenwood at Quinnipiac
Win or lose SHU's strength of schedule will increase with the game against Dartmouth. Same goes for Army with their game against Harvard.
| NIRA DI Power Rankings | W | L | T | PF | PF/G | AtkRt | PA | PA/G | DefRt | PD | TmRt | wW% | PwrRt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dartmouth | 3 | 0 | 0 | 139 | 46.3 | 0.605 | 7 | 2.3 | 0.634 | 132 | 1.239 | 0.917 | 1.078 |
| Harvard | 2 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 36.5 | 0.546 | 25 | 12.5 | 0.582 | 48 | 1.129 | 0.971 | 1.050 |
| Sacred Heart | 2 | 0 | 0 | 138 | 55.0 | 0.656 | 21 | 10.5 | 0.592 | 117 | 1.248 | 0.727 | 0.988 |
| Lindenwood | 2 | 1 | 0 | 116 | 38.7 | 0.559 | 65 | 21.7 | 0.535 | 51 | 1.095 | 0.740 | 0.917 |
| Army | 2 | 1 | 0 | 135 | 41.7 | 0.577 | 34 | 11.3 | 0.588 | 101 | 1.165 | 0.540 | 0.853 |
| Quinnipiac | 2 | 1 | 0 | 98 | 32.7 | 0.524 | 106 | 35.3 | 0.465 | -8 | 0.989 | 0.669 | 0.829 |
| LIU | 1 | 2 | 0 | 61 | 20.3 | 0.451 | 103 | 34.3 | 0.471 | -42 | 0.921 | 0.329 | 0.625 |
| Navy | 1 | 2 | 0 | 82 | 27.3 | 0.492 | 124 | 41.3 | 0.435 | -42 | 0.927 | 0.313 | 0.620 |
| Brown | 0 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 14.3 | 0.415 | 125 | 41.7 | 0.433 | -82 | 0.848 | 0.122 | 0.485 |
| Queens U. Char. | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2.3 | 0.344 | 226 | 75.3 | 0.261 | -219 | 0.606 | 0.113 | 0.359 |
Note: AtkRt is a rating of the team's offense, with .500 being league average, and higher than .500 being better than average.
DefRt is a rating of the team's defense, with .500 being league average, and high than .500 being better than average.
