[EricH]

Originally Posted by alex334

But if teams like that are not in the top spots, what message does that send?

It sends a message that even the best have an off event now and again. They have their issues like the rest of us. And, there is hope that maybe we can be asking them to join our alliance instead of the other way around.

Incidentally, I'd like to point out some other, really annoying ranking systems.
2001--besides the 4v0, IIRC it was just the scores of the teams--if your colored ball was on the goal you got 10 extra points.
2003--details escape me, but I remember it being some function of scoring.
2010--When Coopertition Score was the biggest driving factor of the standings, things got "interesting", including a "planned" 6v0 match where the loser shot ahead of the winner in the standings.
2012--The bridge points affected an awful lot of rankings. 254 couldn't get a good ranking at one event because for one reason or another nobody went for the Coop Bridge with them.

This year, it's back to the good ol' win-loss-tie system, which like a republic is the worst system around except for all the others.