Brian sez...

You state that the higher ranked team is not necessarily better and/or may have tired outt their best starters qualifying for the playoffs. This is more likely to make my argument; the higher ranked teams were most likely already in and the lower team is more likely to have to have used their top guys in the last few games. This is another argument for the home team winning these games.

Erle sez...

Not necessarily. Having a better record doesn't always mean you are better able to rest players down the stretch.

Of course, not necessarily. I never said that the higher ranked teams ALL had better teams and better rested rotations. I said that on the whole they seemed more likely to have qualified earlier and been able to rest their players. Of course there will be exceptions.To give a specific example when we're talking about a general situation is useless.