Polls and NPI 2026

[Trotsky]

The Pecknold Cup, for newbies.

[scoop85]

Having a voters' poll at the same time as having the NPI makes no sense—really just clickbait at this point.

[Snowball]

The Pecknold Cup, for newbies.

I love this.

[stereax]

The Pecknold Cup, for newbies.

I spent way too long on TBRW yesterday or the day before looking for this, LMAO.

[JasonN95]

Having a voters' poll at the same time as having the NPI makes no sense—really just clickbait at this point.

Eh, I don't see it that way. (I'm guessing you felt the same with PWR, but if you didn't, I'd be curious what is different). I think of the NPI as trying to approximate who "deserves" to go to the NCAAs, which should be based on results, while the poll is ranking the teams relative to each other as to who is overall a "stronger/better" team. As more games are played in a season you'd expect those to converge, but teams can over/under-achieve over long stretches, plus the NPI has at least one known thumb on the scale, that being the extra weight given to road wins.

[Trotsky]

The Pecknold Cup, for newbies.

I spent way too long on TBRW yesterday or the day before looking for this, LMAO.

Apologies.  Added to TBRW Topic Index.

Anytime anybody wants an addition / direct link please just let me know.  It's my own fault for not understanding indexing and key words.

I am sure 97% of what I do by hand can be automated and made much better.  Particularly formatting.

[Trotsky]

Having a voters' poll at the same time as having the NPI makes no sense—really just clickbait at this point.

It was during the days of PWR too.  It's fun.  It's totally dumb because none of the voters have seen more than 1 game or 2 from more than half the teams, if even that many.  It just becomes a game of Groupthink and as the season winds down it converges with the PWR "magically."

The coaches and assistants don't even vote.  They pawn it off on the SID, who doesn't know anything and just gives it to an intern who almost certainly looks up PWR and then moves teams around according to I dunno uniform color or flow.

Flow rankings would be valuable, OTOH.

[Trotsky]

As we wait in joyful hope, note we have not been top 10 since November 18, 2024.

We have not been top 10 during the regular season as late as January 26 since COVID.

And that foot is me.

Code Select Expand

  6 Qpc
 10 Cor
 15 Drt
 23 Hvd
 24 Uni
 32 Prn

[ugarte]

Having a voters' poll at the same time as having the NPI makes no sense—really just clickbait at this point.

polls and scientific rankings have been clickbait since the days of wire service dominance and newspapers using movable type.

[Trotsky]

Let's all take a moment to celebrate that this 10th-ranked team started this season with 12 true freshmen and 2 sophomore transfers including the primary goalie, 5 of the top 9 forwards and 3 of the top 6 defensemen.

That is gelling very well very quickly.

And now we get to enjoy them for the remainder of this season and (most of them) 3 further seasons where they get stronger and more experienced.

We could be at the beginning of a special run.

< surveys Hubei wet markets nervously >

[Trotsky]

Having a voters' poll at the same time as having the NPI makes no sense—really just clickbait at this point.

polls and scientific rankings have been clickbait since the days of wire service dominance and newspapers using movable type.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2749389

[stereax]

Let's all take a moment to celebrate that this 10th-ranked team started this season with 12 true freshmen and 2 sophomore transfers including the primary goalie, 5 of the top 9 forwards and 3 of the top 6 defensemen.

That is gelling very well very quickly.

And now we get to enjoy them for the remainder of this season and (most of them) 3 further seasons where they get stronger and more experienced.

We could be at the beginning of a special run.

This is going to be so much fun.

Man, I love this team.

[scoop85]

Having a voters' poll at the same time as having the NPI makes no sense—really just clickbait at this point.

Eh, I don't see it that way. (I'm guessing you felt the same with PWR, but if you didn't, I'd be curious what is different). I think of the NPI as trying to approximate who "deserves" to go to the NCAAs, which should be based on results, while the poll is ranking the teams relative to each other as to who is overall a "stronger/better" team. As more games are played in a season you'd expect those to converge, but teams can over/under-achieve over long stretches, plus the NPI has at least one known thumb on the scale, that being the extra weight given to road wins.

Yes, I felt the same way with PWR. I'll qualify my point to say it doesn't make sense to have a voters' poll after the 1st half of the season, when the NPI is more baked in with sufficient results.

[underskill]

Let's all take a moment to celebrate that this 10th-ranked team started this season with 12 true freshmen and 2 sophomore transfers including the primary goalie, 5 of the top 9 forwards and 3 of the top 6 defensemen.

That is gelling very well very quickly.

And now we get to enjoy them for the remainder of this season and (most of them) 3 further seasons where they get stronger and more experienced.

We could be at the beginning of a special run.

< surveys Hubei wet markets nervously >

Assuming the transfer portal plus NIL plus early entries don't become a thing

[Trotsky]

Let's all take a moment to celebrate that this 10th-ranked team started this season with 12 true freshmen and 2 sophomore transfers including the primary goalie, 5 of the top 9 forwards and 3 of the top 6 defensemen.

That is gelling very well very quickly.

And now we get to enjoy them for the remainder of this season and (most of them) 3 further seasons where they get stronger and more experienced.

We could be at the beginning of a special run.

< surveys Hubei wet markets nervously >

Assuming the transfer portal plus NIL plus early entries don't become a thing

Yes, Giant Meteor is always a possibility.  cf. the serenity prayer.