Comparison of MaxPreps rankings to Gramps Braggin Rights ratings - 3/05/2022
One reader was asking about Gramps Braggin Rights ratings and mentioned the Max Preps rankings, as a good source of team ratings. He did also note that many schools do not report their games and that records and scores were missing from the MaxPreps ratings. It's a good question and one worth answering.
Occasionally, I like to compare to see how crazy the MaxPreps ratings have become. I have tried to communicate with MaxPreps in the past about the modeling but have received no response. I also work with MaxPreps by keeping up the Eureka team schedule. MaxPreps does a nice job of promoting high school sports, but that does not mean they couldn't improve on their ranking methodology.
I put together two tables. The first table is a listing of the top 100 teams sorted by Gramps Braggin Rights ratings, with the 1-100 ranking in the last column. I included the difference in rating between Gramps and Max Preps in the column second from right and boldened any team that was more than 18 different between MaxPreps and Gramps ratings. The second table is the teams ranked 1-100 by MaxPreps.
Looking at that the first list shows just a few of the inconsistencies in their rankings.
Fore example, one might ask about Liberty Kansas City being ranked at #52 and Blue Springs #26, when I had Liberty as the #5 and Blue Springs as the #8 teams in the state. According to MaxPreps, Thayer, Ava, Norwood. Bernie, Salisbury, Stanberry, and California, all great teams in their small school MSHSAA classification, are all rated much higher than Liberty! Really?
Park Hill, Park Hill South, and Oak Park are all excellent class six teams that are rated down the MaxPreps list. There are many examples of class five or six teams that play very difficult schedules that should be rated higher than small schools with great records against soft competition.
The common denominator in the Max Preps ratings appears to be won-lost record. So class one or two teams that have zero or one defeat are rated much higher than I would rate them using the score comparison technique that emulates the USA Today Sagarin basketball and football polls.
I want everyone to know that I fully respect every team in every class in the state. For example, Bernie has a great team in class 2 with a shot at a class 2 state championship, but do you really think they would beat class six Liberty? Probably not.
So, Swish, if you really think Bernie can beat Liberty KC, I have some beach property in Florida that will be underwater in 10 years that I would like to sell to you at a high price. Not really. Just kidding.
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