[jckwik]

The ranking system, when a win-loss record, does not do justice to a teams actual ability, and occasionally will be very wrong. For example, take 3173.

Luck during qualification rounds does matter, and we found that out the hard way at Boston this weekend. Out of the 10 qualification matches we were the only team to score on our alliance 7 out of 10 times! Despite that fact we were still 6-4, but not high enough to be in the top eight, despite having one of the best robots at the regional (statistics-wise). The ranking system, however, doesn't do justice when a very good team gets poor alliance partners in qualification, and that's the one downside to a purely W-L system.

However, don't take this the wrong way and say that I want something like last years system, either. Last year was extremely wrong, as we somehow got the third seed at FLR with an absolutely terrible bot that could do nothing but score goals (but needed backup).

So the ranking system is not perfect, but I disagree that it's not too far off. This year, at least, the system should have been different.