Just building on the fact that Fort Hill would have earned more points beating Northern than they would have received beating FCA this past week, found an explanation of the Virginia HS power rating formulas that I think are head and shoulders above the Maryland system.You are not penalized for playing larger schools - you get some benefit if you do lose. Maybe this was discussed last year - not sure.
If your team beats a Group AAA team (Div 5/6), it receives 24 points. It's 20 points for beating a Group AA team (Div 3/4) and 16 for beating a Group A team (Div 1/2).
Teams also receive points for games they've lost. It's 12 for losing to a Group AAA team, 8 for Group AA and 4 for Group A.
Then there are bonus points involved.
For each game a defeated opponent wins, your team gets 2 bonus points. For each game a team that beat your team wins, your team gets 1 bonus points.
Then add up all the points, divide by the number of games played and you get the rating.
Only games against VHSL schools or out-of-state public schools count. Any games against a private school doesn't count.
In Virginia you are no longer penalized for playing a team in a smaller class, you get the same number of points as if you played a team in your own class. There are reasons for this but it can be pretty ridiculous if you are playing a team several classes below.
The big problem with 1A in Maryland is that the spread of enrollments is so large, there can't be another state that has schools with almost 1,000 kids (grades 9-12) in the smallest class. Add on the fact that teams from different areas play massively different schedules and no point system is going to do a great job.
