Trevkeeper wrote:I think an interesting experiment would be to look at the records of each team against the others in its sectional in the more bloodbath of sectionals (Ours, Fremd's, etc.). Our regular season record, for example, against the teams in our sectional is 3-4, which is roughly .500. Would you expect most of the other teams in our sectional to be about the same? Just curious.
I would be agaisnt that:
Maine South (like New Trier, Loyola, etc) plays a tough schedule. I've had the chance to look back over the records, and only about 10-12 percent of the teams we play have losing records.
On the other hand, if you got to get some guarranteed local wins against some teams like Niles, Glenbrook, Maine West, among others, your local record looks swell. The only local teams we played this year were Loyola (1-1), New Trier (no comment), Maine West (1-0), Deerfield (0-1, loss at Wheaton North), and 0-2 to Maine East. In other words, we get penalized because we don't have some cream puffs to pat the stats against, while we played the #1, #2, #3, and #4 Regional Champions seeds, and one match against a team with a relatively poorer record.
I might as well go out and schedule 4-5 local teams we can beat, waltz in and claim an "in-sectional" record of 5-0. I think that would be ridiculous, even though I know a few teams that avoided local heavies to do just that.
At one time coaches had to record an "in sectional" record on the team report sheet, but it was clearly seen as being unfair. For example, what if Fremd had been in our Sectional?.....they might conceivably have posted a 0-0 in sectional record, while a team who went 7-2 or 6-3 could have claimed a superior performance. OR....what if Maine West and Niles West didn't forget to register? (New Trier can get another two wins)...or if Waukegan were in this sectional.....your 3-4 goes to 6-4....and if that drops Fenwick down a sectional south.....are you up to 6-3? Certainly a losing Sectional record was no predictor of your success. Having teams fail to register also complicates matters.
Let's look at it another way: say Maine East had been shifted one sectional west. They go in with a 0-0 local record, because it is an MSL dominated sectional, but Hersey is 8-2. Should Hersey who played comparable opponents but far fewer matches be automatically seeded higher, only because they have matches in hand vs. in-sectional teams? IMO, no...Maine East would deserve a higher seed because of all they accomplished.
Ask your coach about the time New Trier played in a North Suburban dominated sectional up in Zion-Benton....and got voted a low seed because "we've never seen New Trier play". I think they were later educated.