You may have noticed on our website that beside our standings feature, there is also an option to click on "rankings."

This is the Ratings Percentage Index, or RPI.

If you're a fan of college sports, this is a very common tool used in determining the brackets in both men's and women's basketball, and more recently, the college football playoff.

We're using it for the same purposes here, to give you the best idea of exactly how your favorite team is doing.

There are several ways RPI comes in handy, especially in determining the Super 8 field come late February.

For example, two teams may have identically strong records, say 16-3-1. You may wonder, how is it possible that Team A's 16-3-1 record has a better RPI than Team B's?

They key strength of schedule, which factors in to 75 percent of RPI.

MHL's RPI uses the following formula for each team: 25 percent of their winning percentage, plus 21 percent of their opponent's winning percentage, plus 54 percent of the winning percentage of their opponents' opponents.

For an example, we'll use Natick and Waltham, each team off to strong 6-2-1 starts. Why is Waltham's RPI .573, No. 16 in Division 1, and Natick's .553, No. 26 in Division 1? Waltham's schedule so far has been filled with stronger opponents, and the teams Waltham has played have also played stronger opponents. This isn't a knock on Natick by any means, but rather a game of numbers that fluctuates from year to year.

And could also fluctuate as the season goes along. Natick has already played Needham and Norwood, ranked Nos. 51 and 54 in Div. 1 RPI, respectively. Waltham has already played Westford Academy and Acton-Boxboro, ranked Nos. 52 and 53. Natick will face Norwood again, as well as Brockton (No. 50), while Waltham also faces Brockton, as well as Westford Academy and Acton-Boxboro again.

Marquee opportunities await the two teams, however. Natick has already played Walpole (No. 11) and will face them again. Waltham will face Chelmsford (No. 13) and Arlington Catholic (No. 14). That's why you hear the phrases "marquee wins" and "bad losses" thrown around so much, especially as we get closer to February.

Hopefully this clears some of the information up, and by all means keep checking back for RPI updates each day!

Boys Div. 1 RPI:
https://www.myhockeylive.com/miaa/2015-16/boys-division-1/rankings

Boys Div. 2 RPI:
https://www.myhockeylive.com/miaa/2015-16/boys-division-2/rankings

Boys Div. 3 RPI:
https://www.myhockeylive.com/miaa/2015-16/boys-division-3/rankings

Boys Div. 3A RPI:
https://www.myhockeylive.com/miaa/2015-16/boys-division-3a

Girls Div. 1 RPI:
https://www.myhockeylive.com/miaa/2015-16/girls-division-1/rankings

Girls Div. 2 RPI:
https://www.myhockeylive.com/miaa/2015-16/girls-division-2/rankings