RandomSoccerFan
PREMIER
Not to reopen our endless conversation about this topic, but it goes to my point that teams get boosted in rating playing weak teams when there is no cross bracket play. Top Hat at #2 in the country was exactly that come to fruition. The ratings work, but there’s still ways to manipulate those ratings.
Since you re-opened it, that's not in fact what you said. You said that highly ranked teams sandbagged in lower tournaments to get high ratings, and you had many examples of it. You were able to demonstrate none - instead, you provided an example of how a good team playing down to get stronger results won't significantly affect their rating. TH isn't choosing weak tournaments (or strong tournaments) to develop or protect their rating. They (and everybody else) receive and adjust their rating based on their performance against their immediate opponents - and their opponent's rating. Going back 20+ games - TH is showing that their rating is/was a very good predictor of their performance, with no underperformance and only two overperformance over that stretch. As I stated above - and I believe we all agree - these first two games of this new season, against teams who are good but not great, call to question TH's current strength. If they continue to underperform, their rating will continue to descend - if these two games were anomalies that are soon forgotten, their rating will continue to match their expected performance over time.





