How ridiculous are the MaxPreps Missouri Boys Basketball ratings?

 I saw a comment the other day by about how ridiculous the MaxPreps Missouri boy's basketball ratings w were.  

I have followed these ratings for the seven years that I have been rating teams myself.  I have communicated with MaxPreps about their rating system but no one has answered my emails.  I don't have anything against MaxPreps, and, in fact, I manage the MaxPreps page for the Eureka boys team.

But, and it is a big BUT, MaxPreps has some real problems with their algorithm.  They seem to put extra emphasis on winning records over strength of schedule or school size.  Both of those factors play into the rating of a team.  Over the years I have rated teams, class six teams average about 120 rating, while class one teams have about 90 rating.  The best class six teams rate at about 145 while the best class one teams are rated at about 125.  So most class six teams would beat a class one team by 20 or more points.

So I took the top 100 MaxPreps-rated Missouri teams and compared them to my ratings.  In the table below, the MaxPreps ratings, records, power rating, and trends are shown.  On the right, the teams are listed with their rank in my rating, their district, class, and Gramp's power rating.  The far right column is the difference in rank between MaxPreps and Gramps.  The more negative the number, the lower the team ranks in Gramps rating compared to MaxPreps. 

My comments are below the table.  Let me say this before you read them.....  I am not deriding any team.  Hartville and Kelly are very good class two teams and Greenwood is a very good class three team.  I rate them well in their class.  So my comments are more on the appropriateness of the overall MaxPrep ratings.


Probably some of the most ridiculous ratings are for the Home School teams that I don't usually include in the Gramps ratings.  Would Mid-Missouri Home School, KC Christian Academy or Gateway Christian Academy have any chance vs. Nixa, shown below in the teams that missed the MaxPreps top 100?  Nixa would be a 50-point favorite over Mid-Missouri and at least a 30-point favorite over Gateway.  

How could MaxPreps miss out of Winnetonka or Grandview, Jeff City or Liberty?    Would you put your money on Westside Baptist in Poplar Bluff to beat Glendale?

Sorry, folks, but whenever I see someone touting MaxPreps ratings, I just have to chuckle and now you know why.

Teams that are missing from the MaxPreps top 100



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