Man vs. Machine

We've reached a point in the season where enough games have been played that the computer rankings are starting to make some sense. So I thought that for this week, I'd compare the Western College Hockey Poll to the KRACH Ratings and see how they stacked up.

The Western College Hockey Poll
1. Wisconsin
2. Miami
3. Minnesota
4. Colorado College
5. Michigan
6. Denver
7. Lake Superior
8. North Dakota
9. Ferris State
10. Ohio State

KRACH Ratings (Overall ranking in parenthesis)
1. Wisconsin
2. Miami
3. Michigan
4. Colorado College
5. Minnesota
6.(7) North Dakota
7. (12) Lake Superior
8. (14) Ohio State
9. (15) Denver
10. (16) Nebraska-Omaha

Comments:

The first two spots are pretty obvious. After that, it seems as though I punished Michigan a little too hard for their four game losing streak, whereas KRACH rewards them for having played what they consider the country's toughest schedule. I'm guessing another shorthanded GLI performance will move Michigan down in the KRACH to about where I have them though.

KRACH also says that Nebraska-Omaha should be on the poll instead of Ferris State. Again, UNO does better in KRACH because they've played the 8th toughest schedule while Ferris has played the 28th ranked schedule.