The Power Ratings in NIRA have people asking all sorts of questions, mostly centered around "what does this game mean now?"
So, let's try to answer that.
Current NIRA DI Power Ratings:
(Editor's Note: A couple of non-Power-Ratings games had been included in the earlier version of the standings we showed off, and the removal of those results changes things a little. So the following standings are now the really-real ones, and we have changed our editorial comments accordingly.)
NIRA DI | GP | W | L | D | PF | PF©PG | AtkRt | PA | PAPG | PD | DefRt | TmRt | wW% | PwrRt |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harvard University | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 170 | 56 | 0.739 | 35 | 11.7 | 135 | 0.592 | 1.331 | 0.973 | 1.152 |
Dartmouth College | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 34.5 | 0.579 | 12 | 6 | 57 | 0.633 | 1.212 | 0.912 | 1.062 |
Sacred Heart University | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 125 | 31.3 | 0.555 | 42 | 10.5 | 83 | 0.601 | 1.156 | 0.743 | 0.949 |
Quinnipiac University | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 82 | 27.3 | 0.526 | 75 | 25 | 7 | 0.497 | 1.023 | 0.789 | 0.906 |
Brown University | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 143 | 30 | 0.546 | 70 | 17.5 | 73 | 0.551 | 1.096 | 0.493 | 0.795 |
US Military Academy | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 97 | 24.3 | 0.503 | 87 | 21.8 | 10 | 0.52 | 1.023 | 0.54 | 0.782 |
Long Island University | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 13.7 | 0.424 | 58 | 19.3 | -17 | 0.538 | 0.962 | 0.245 | 0.603 |
Queens University of Charlotte | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 8.5 | 0.386 | 146 | 36.5 | -112 | 0.415 | 0.801 | 0.38 | 0.591 |
US Naval Academy | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 13.3 | 0.422 | 91 | 30.3 | -51 | 0.459 | 0.881 | 0.262 | 0.572 |
Mount St. Mary's University | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 10.5 | 0.401 | 138 | 34.5 | -96 | 0.429 | 0.83 | 0.206 | 0.518 |
Princeton University | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 13 | 0.42 | 115 | 57.5 | -89 | 0.265 | 0.684 | -0.037 | 0.324 |
A lot of numbers there, but what you need to know here is that a team's points per game and points allowed per game both have an influence on their Power Rating. Also, a win against a higher-rated team counts more than a win against a lower-rated team ... AND ... those opponent ratings can change over time. So if you beat a team that's rated 8th in Week 3 you might get 0.7 of a win for that. But if that same team goes on a winning streak, by Week 6 you might now be getting 1.1 wins for the same result, retroactively improving you weighted winning percentage (wW% listed above).
How It Changed Last Weekend
Brown’s 34-7 victory over Navy bumped the Bears up nicely in the NIRA Power Ratings, but they will still need some help in the chase for a place in the semifinals.
With some good, hard running from Nikki Lynch and scrumhalf Kate Muldoon pushing the tempo, Brown got two tries from Akilah Cathey, a penalty try, and tries from Morgan Cunningham, Noelle Lewis, and Lynch.
It was a good example of Brown putting the pressure on and keeping it on.
(Editor's Note: A couple of non-Power-Ratings games had been included in the earlier version of the standings we showed off, and the removal of those results changes things a little. So the above standings are now the really-real ones, and we have changed our editorial comments accordingly.)
That move Brown to 5th, right behind Quinnipiac. The problem for Brown is they only have one more NIRA conference game left, and that’s against powerful Dartmouth, and a significant gap to bridge. The good news? Win that game on October 29 and your ratings go way up.
Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart have games on the horizon, too.
(Brown plays Penn State in an out-of-NIRA meeting, one of four such games Penn State has on their schedule.)