3/29/26
Rather than present in the typical 1-40 presentation, using a ranking number equally from top to bottom, this visual gives a much better idea of just how closely the teams are proportioned. In our ranking system, each rating point represents one point per set on average thus a team with a rating of 26 playing a team that has a 22 rating, we anticipate a 4 point average difference per set or stated in another way, the 25 rating point team should win 3-0, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21 or a derivative of 4 points per set. If the rating difference between two matched teams is less than 2, we expect that match to go 4 sets. If the difference is less than 1, we expect the match to 5 sets.
The clusters you see below emphasize the point that some clusters are very dense, with numerous teams within very small rating differences. A team can easily jump up in the ranking when at the bottom of these clusters if they have an outstanding performance on a given night or weekend.
The rankings below are through games played 03/28/26 using the InsideHitter.com full year database algorithm.