More observations on the 2018 USTA League Nationals format - Which gender/level should I simulate first?

With some of the Nationals events having their schedules updated, it appears things really are getting finalized, and that means actual teams and schedules are showing up on TennisLink.

That means I have details to be able to do some real and not just hypothetical simulations of who has the best chance of making the semis based on not just strength of roster, but also who has the most difficult or easiest schedule.

I'm doing some trial simulations using top-8 averages from my ratings right now and am seeing a few things that are interesting.  These include:

• Not only is it possible for 5 teams to finish undefeated and one team be left out of the semis on a tie-breaker, but for some of the events, 6 can finish undefeated!  It seems while it was possible to ensure at most 5 could finish undefeated, the schedules were not done this way.  To be fair, what I've seen so far is the chances of it happening are no more than 1 in 100,000, but it is still possible.
• The chances of a tie for 4th can be pretty high, I've seen greater than 90%.
• The chances of a 6-way tie for a semi spot can be pretty high, I've seen 10%.
• The chances of a large tie for 4th is not zero, I've seen 10 or 11 way ties show up occasionally.
• The highest rated team is not always the favorite to make the semis, and correspondingly I've seen some mid-pack teams have very good chances at semis.  This is all due to "luck of the draw" and top teams having hard schedules, or mid-pack teams having easy schedules.

I'll be posting more details on my simulations soon, and I'll start with the gender/level that has the most interest, so leave a comment here or on Facebook and let your voice be heard!