Cap and Wires

I decided to replace my distributor cap and rotor. The new cap had a "1" for the number one wire. When I went to take the wires off the old distributor I noticed that the old cap had it too but that's not where the wire was. The Number 1 wire was in the number 8 spot, 8 was in the 4 spot, and so on clockwise around the cap. Not having enough time to dispute it(i was leaving for work), I just put the wires on the same way on the new cap. What's the deal?

-Alex