[ColoradoTree]

Track rankings like women’s tennis are a of exceedingly large proportions joke.  Stanford track stomps ןɐɔ and that’s not
Enough.  Stupid.

I hear you, but it's something that's within our control to improve. It's a known algorithm, so tougher non-conference scheduling (it's not that we don't play good teams, we just need to play more of them), playing ITA Kick-Off Weekend, etc. Those are all things that could improve our ranking each year. 

Of course, that wouldn't have helped us much this year, because Lord would have been out for those matches, and our ranking might be even lower than it is! But in an injury-free year, playing some mid-tier SEC and ACC programs early would mean we'd be more properly ranked in time for NCAA seeding, so we can avoid unnecessarily tough NCAA matchups.  This year, we might be a top 5 caliber team when we're rolling and with Lord back. But if we're the 15 seed, we'll be playing the 2 seed in the Round of 16, rather than not playing someone that tough until the semis. Sure, you have to beat those folks anyway, but since this is a Directors' Cup thread, those extra 20 or so points most years would be pretty useful.

[ColoradoTree]

Track rankings like women’s tennis are a of exceedingly large proportions joke.  Stanford track stomps ןɐɔ and that’s not
Enough.  Stupid.

I hear you, but it's something that's within our control to improve. It's a known algorithm, so tougher non-conference scheduling (it's not that we don't play good teams, we just need to play more of them), playing ITA Kick-Off Weekend, etc. Those are all things that could improve our ranking each year. 

Of course, that wouldn't have helped us much this year, because Lord would have been out for those matches, and our ranking might be even lower than it is! But in an injury-free year, playing some mid-tier SEC and ACC programs early would mean we'd be more properly ranked in time for NCAA seeding, so we can avoid unnecessarily tough NCAA matchups.  This year, we might be a top 5 caliber team when we're rolling and with Lord back. But if we're the 15 seed, we'll be playing the 2 seed in the Round of 16, rather than not playing someone that tough until the semis. Sure, you have to beat those folks anyway, but since this is a Directors' Cup thread, those extra 20 or so points most years would be pretty useful.