CollegeSwimming is proud to introduce new dual meet rankings. The newly-designed rankings, powered by SwimCloud, are designed to reflect teams' best lineups in head-to-head competition. The introduction is the first of two new rankings for the company with championship meet rankings set to debut in November.
Division I / Mid-Major / Division II / Division III / NAIA / NJCAA
In its inaugural rankings, covering results through October 23rd the University of Michigan women, and University of Florida men lead all NCAA programs with the Denver men and Rice women leading all Mid-Major programs. Defending NCAA Champions Queens University of Charlotte lead the Division II rankings. Johns Hopkins University ranks number one among Division III women's programs while Denison University ranks first among men's teams. The Cumberland women and Keiser men lead the NAIA rankings while Indian River State College sits atop the NJCAA.
The new rankings take a team's entire body of work, not just an individual meet, to devise an optimal scoring lineup. The Dual Meet Rankings comprise of scores in nine individual events and two relays. Points are calculated on the basis of two swimmers in each individual event. As in dual meets, swimmers are limited to three individual events.
As with any ranking, CollegeSwimming's Dual Meet Rankings are expected to engender controversy. That's something CollegeSwimming's Greg Earhart welcomes. "There are so many things that go into a lineup and a meet. Who you enter varies by opponent or by event order. Swimming at home is easier than getting off a bus. We can't account for every variable (yet) but this is just another way to evaluate teams - albeit objectively."
Earhart cites the October 7 Notre Dame-Louisville dual meet. Notre Dame topped Louisville's women 181-118 yet this week's Dual Meet Rankings have the Cardinal ranked second and the Irish seventh.
"Notre Dame had a spectacular, program-defining win and that is something I expect voters will take into account in the next CSCAA Dual Meet Poll." Earhart explains. "The voters in that poll are excellent. They do their homework and do a great job setting their biases aside to produce an excellent ranking of teams. SwimSwam and USA Swimming also have some rankings. These aren't better - they're different."
In addition to removing subjectivity, the new CollegeSwimming Dual Meet Rankings powered by SwimCloud add transparency. Users can click on any team's score to see exactly what lineup was used and how the score was calculated.
"Because of the trust that coaches, swimmers, recruits and parents place in our rankings and our objectivity, we felt this was something that was necessary," said Earhart.
Championship Meet Rankings
Dual meets are one thing, but Championship meets are quite another. Next month CollegeSwimming, will introduce new Championship Rankings powered by SwimCloud. Championship rankings will encompass more events and more swimmers. Those rankings will debut after teams have had an opportunity to compete in multiple meets.
Dual Meet Rankings Formula
Points are calculated on the basis of the average score from nine individual events and two relays. Teams are limited to two scorers per event with three events per swimmer. Points are calculated from:
50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 Freestyle
100 or 200 Backstroke
100 or 200 Butterfly
200 or 400 Individual Medley
200 or 400 Medley Relay
200, 400 or 800 Freestyle Relay