How are divisions rated?
The row to the right of the division name shows the analysis of the division. The ranking of the participating teams prior to the start of the event are used to get a true analysis.
High
The highest ranked team in the division. (Although the background cover shows the level, the "true" National ranking is shown to make it easier to see the relationship of the teams in the division).
Average
All of the ranked teams in the division are added up and the average ranking for the division is determined in orer to calculate the standard deviation and the spread which defines the competitiveness of the group.
Low
The lowest ranked team in the division
Spread
Divisions that have a higher spread result in less competitive games for each participant.
Global
Global refers to the global reach (geographically). It shows the average distance teams travel to participate in the event to help determine the likelihood that participating teams will be matched against teams they do not normally meet in competition.
Upsets
The upset percentage is very telling and is a great indicator of the validity of the rankings. While any team has the potential to defeat any other team on a given day, the higher ranked team should defeat a lower ranked team a majority of the time and the size of the gap between the teams should increase the percentage.
A game is determined to be an upset if a tie occurs and their is a 30% ranking gap between the teams or a team loses to a team that is ranked 20% below them (e.g. a team that is ranked 80 loses to a team that is ranked below 96 or a team that is ranked 800 loses to a team that is ranked below 960).
The update percent is the percentage of games that resulted in an upset.
What are the X's and +'s by the games?
Those indicate an upset (an unexpected result based on the team's rankings going into the games). It may be fairly minor usch as a tie game between two teams that aren't far apart in the rankings or a major upset, such as a red level team defeating a gold level team.
It is not to suggest that any team can't beat any team on any given day or that the rankings are anything near infallible, but it help keep us on our toes and always evaluating the ranking criteria.