You have to look at the four season window.  Yes, you made the NT this season, but the season you lose from the window was a 2nd round NT season where you were ranked #13.  I think that RPI also comes into play.

I'm not saying it is right or wrong, but that is my understanding of how it works.

Correct. And camrun, the simple fact (which makes perfect sense) is that not all NT appearances are created equal. You had a 122 rpi and wouldn't have even made the PIT had you not won the CT. Your last two seasons (both well above 100 rpi) have pulled your prestige down.

Putting together crazy easy schedules has killed you two years in a row. You may say that's because your team was young, and I understand that, but that's the roster/schollie set-up that you put together.

I am having the same kind of question.  I added an NT appearance, dropped off a non tournament and slid two NT (1st round appearances) and a 2nd round pit into the 4th slot..  Not a great year but I see no reason for it to drop from a B+ to a B, had a reasonable record with 18 wins, ran the conference tourney to make it into the playoffs against some pretty good teams (beat two ranked teams to get there) and had an RPI of 69, nothing great but not all that bad.  I guess I do not see it either.  

Unfortunately, HD completely overvalues records.  A 27-3 record with a first round NT exit and an RPI of 100 is exponentially better than a 16-14 record with a first round NT exit and an RPI of 20 when it comes to prestige.   I will never agree with or comprehend this.  It's just the way it is.

Posted by gopokes24 on 9/21/2010 1:31:00 AM (view original):
Unfortunately, HD completely overvalues records.  A 27-3 record with a first round NT exit and an RPI of 100 is exponentially better than a 16-14 record with a first round NT exit and an RPI of 20 when it comes to prestige.   I will never agree with or comprehend this.  It's just the way it is.

not saying its right, or that i agree with it, particularly for this game but i definitely get it...

if youre a coach at one of two schools within the same conference and you are recruiting a kid who is say 2,000 miles from your campus who knows nothing about either school....

School A has gone 100-15 over the last 4 years against a relatively weak non-con schedule

School B has gone 60-45 against a very hard schedule....

Both schools have finished near the top of the conference during the past 4 seasons.

....sad but true that many players would automatically gravitate more towards the school that had racked up the better win/loss record because they don't have a real understanding of "strength of schedule"  they just see the huge win totals and assume it is the better program.

It's not just record, it's both record and rpi. And while I certainly think that there are ways that the prestige system could be improved upon, I get what they're doing there.