"I'd rather see 40 pages discussing the worst DIII teams in the nation than any posts complaining about it. At least they're contributing something to the discussion."
Great point!
I'm guessing many posters aren't familiar with how the rankings "happen". All eight DIII regions have a regional rep, who ranks/rates teams in their region. They put forward their recommendation on potentially rankable teams to the committee (ie. should be ranked 20-25th range) then eight reps then vote on top 35 (assigning 35 pts to #1 team and 1pt to 35th). Since there are so many meets and results, many of the reps are going to vote based on recommendations, particularly if teams are racing w/in their own region.
The UAA is unique, in that they have teams in seven of the eight regions, so teams are being judged more against teams w/in their region, versus within the conference. So NCAA's rankings might not be very accurate at predicting UAA Championships... or even NCAA Championships! Anybody pick Allegheny for 3rd last year?
Rankings are surely one of the most entertaining things to discuss and debate, whether it's DIII XC or DI football. And I agree, I'd rather hear friendly debate on who the worst team in the UAA is, rather than mindless complaining.