Do rankings from one season carry over into the next season? If a player won season XII, does that automatically give him a leg up for the next season, or does everyone start out at 0. I have a record of 7 wins-1 loss right now, but the player above me has 3 wins-4 losses. I'm just trying to figure out why that is.

Do rankings from one season carry over into the next season?

Nope, everyone starts fresh.

I have a record of 7 wins-1 loss right now, but the player above me has 3 wins-4 losses. I'm just trying to figure out why that is.

The ladder doesn't rank based on a straight win-loss record. The ratings of the players who were defeated are taken into account, too. See http://wiki.warlight.net/index.php/Ladder_Ranks_and_Ratings

Okay, well good to know everyone starts out equal. It still does seem like a 7-1 record would gain a higher rank than a 3-4, but I guess things might even out a bit more when there is a larger sample size for the algorithms to go on.