SailMichigan Collegiate Rankings Fall 2013

In an effort to spark interest and discussion, SailMichigan has been producing rankings of Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association teams for the past several years. The rankings are based on regatta participation (a threshold must be reached) and weighted (# of colleges in the field) performances. The rankings utilize the official results posted through the InterCollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) website, however our rankings are not affiliated with or endorsed by either the ICSA or the MCSA.

For the Fall 2013 season, the following regattas were used in the evaluation; Emma Biagioni, Boudeman Cup, Chief Illiniwek, Buckeye Invitational, Fall Fury, Carey-Price, Davis Cup, Timme Angston, Streufert Cup, Denison JV, and Pere Marquette Cup. To be included in the rankings, teams from a given college/university must have competed in a minimum of three of the above regattas. The 3 best (weighted) scores were averaged and used to determine a schools ranking.

Rank    Score    School (# of 1st place finishes, # of 2nd place finishes)
  1          15.2      University of Wisconsin (1,4)
  2          17.9      University of Minnesota (2,2)
  3          31.0      University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (1,0)
  4          32.8      University of Michigan (2,0)
  5          34.8      Western Michigan University  (2,0)
  6          38.4      Northwestern University (0,0)
  7          41.5      Michigan Technological University (0,2)
  8          50.1      University of Illinois - Chicago (1,0)
  9          53.3      Miami University (1,1)
  10        58.7      University of Iowa (0,0)
  11        65.9      Purdue University (0,0)
  12        66.0      Ohio State University (0,2)
  13        70.0      Denison University (1,1)
  14        73.0      University of Illinois
  15        82.4      University of Chicago
  16        83.3      Hope College
  17        106.3    Marquette University
  18        117.5    Michigan State University
  19        122.6    Northern Michigan University

Rather than 19 different ranks, it might be more meaningful to consider the teams located within 8 different tiers (see different colors).

Sailing World magazine also provides collegiate rankings by an open "Coaches Poll". For the Fall 2013 season, they provided the following ranking:

MCSA
1. Wisconsin
2. Michigan
3. Minnesota
4. Northwestern
5. Purdue
6. Denison
(tie) Notre Dame
(tie) Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Also receiving votes: Michigan State

One could debate the utility of a coaches poll ranking vs. a performance based ranking, especially when you consider many MCSA teams may not have dedicated coaches which would participate in such a ranking process.