Suggestion to improve the alliance choosing program

[Matt H.]

It is incredibly hard to make any alliance sorting program based on team skill simply because teams don't preform based on any known pattern. Past performance is no indication of current success (mentors leave, students graduate etc.) and there are some rookie teams which absolutely shine. Also the more variables inputted into a sorting program the more likely teams are to be paired with/against each other again and again and again as there become fewer and fewer "fair" combinations.

With this years game I am against the alliance system completely as penalties could prevent a powerhouse team from winning making alliance partners a risk with many teams having negative average scores, but I can't think of a remedy so I'll have to live with it.