Saturday, June 10, 2006

2006 Strength of Schedule

Versions A-D of the BCS used Strength of Schedule as part of the equation, as we all know. The formula was 2/3 your opponent's winning percentage (oW & oL) and 1/3 your opponenet's opponent's winning percentage (ooW & ooL). (There's a good breakdown of the specifics here at Strength of Schedule Explained.)

According to this formula, here's how the SoS component would've looked in 2006...

RankConf.TeamWLoWoLooWooLSoS%Q-Pts
1Pac10USC10277518236940.58190.04
2Big10Michigan11178507467240.57540.08
3Pac10Stanford11175517827110.57140.12
4SECFlorida11181557997670.56710.16
5Pac10UCLA7573548076940.56240.20
6Big10Minnesota5671486957450.55860.24
7SECSouth Carolina6570497127200.55790.28
8SECTennessee9372537737220.55640.32
9Pac10Arizona5671547676790.55550.36
10BigEastCincinnati6571496857410.55460.40
11SECLSU10272557867210.55180.44
12Pac10Washington5772567977070.55160.48
13SECKentucky6569537217220.54360.52
14Pac10California8366567916690.54120.56
15Big12Texas8369526757630.53660.60
16Pac10Oregon6567577766970.53580.64
17SECAuburn10270587707310.53560.68
18BigEastConnecticut3868536667240.53440.72
19ACCFlorida State6671567237700.53410.76
20Pac10Oregon State8473618067680.53390.80
21IndyNotre Dame10269597817220.53260.84
22BigEastLouisville11166567377050.53100.88
23Big10Penn State7466547097380.53000.92
24Pac10Washington State6666608136870.52990.96
25Big10Ohio State12066597637000.52581.00
26SECArkansas9371638077540.52561.04
27BigEastSyracuse4866587457210.52421.08
28Big10Indiana5765556967340.52331.12
29SECMississippi State2964577197140.51991.16
30Big10Illinois11065566917490.51811.20
31ACCNorth Carolina2964556737480.51641.24
32Big12Oklahoma State5668566417780.51621.28
33Big10Iowa5662556987390.51521.32
34ACCNorth Carolina State2964556827780.51431.36
35ACCBoston College8365586857520.51121.40
36BigEastWest Virginia9263586907150.51081.44
37SECVanderbilt3861617516900.50711.48
38SECMississippi3863597107470.50671.52
39Big12Oklahoma11268668007910.50591.56
40Big12Nebraska8469637308200.50551.60
41BigEastRutgers9262586737270.50471.64
42Big10Michigan State4863647727100.50431.68
43Pac10Arizona State6561627537030.50301.72
44ACCVirginia Tech9263606717570.49811.76
45WACUtah State11166606718320.49801.80
46SECAlabama6663657627350.49781.84
47IndyTemple11166626948090.49771.88
48MtnWestAir Force4865616747930.49711.92
49ACCMaryland7463616747520.49631.96
50SECGeorgia7459627307030.49492.00
51Big10Northwestern4861606907600.49472.04
52ACCClemson8461647527360.49382.08
53ACCGeorgia Tech8467667248130.49292.12
54CUSATulane4863637207850.49282.16
55BigEastPittsburgh5659616857190.49042.20
56Big12Baylor3860616677540.48702.24
57Big12Texas Tech6561626597600.48542.28
58Big12Texas A&M8359616837650.48502.32
59ACCDuke01259616727560.48462.36
60ACCMiami (FL)5659626847480.48432.40
61CUSARice7561667227710.48142.44
62Big12Missouri7462646437660.48022.48
63MACBuffalo21064666938480.47812.52
64CUSATulsa7462636138280.47252.56
65ACCVirginia5758687307460.47172.60
66MtnWestSan Diego State3959605998170.47152.64
67CUSASouthern Miss7564717318540.46982.68
68Big12Colorado21056626527650.46982.72
69WACFresno State4859666968040.46932.76
70Big12Kansas State6555626557530.46852.80
71Big12Iowa State3855636607440.46742.84
72MACCentral Michigan9465747658770.46702.88
73Big10Purdue7562757597900.46502.92
74ACCWake Forest10258727747700.46452.96
75BigEastSouth Florida7453646807260.46323.00
76CUSAUCF3857656577890.46293.04
77MtnWestBrigham Young10257686987720.46233.08
78IndyArmy2959676227850.45953.12
79MtnWestUtah6556666487880.45643.16
80WACLouisiana Tech21062716808900.45523.20
81MACMiami (OH)21065776888450.45483.24
82MtnWestWyoming6657706847840.45453.28
83CUSAEast Carolina7556686808000.45423.32
84Big10Wisconsin10153707067260.45163.36
85MACEastern Michigan11160696408740.45103.40
86MACBall State5755666628380.45013.44
87SunBeltMiddle Tennessee6557666018200.44993.48
88CUSAUAB3956706838100.44883.52
89WACBoise State11056676308240.44803.56
90MtnWestUNLV11057696108080.44503.60
91CUSAHouston9358757068600.44103.64
92CUSASouthern Methodist5655686198350.44003.68
93WACHawaii9357736969060.43713.72
94WACIdaho3854726488100.43393.76
95MtnWestNew Mexico6651676258140.43293.80
96Big12Kansas5650696417670.43193.84
97MACAkron5754756918340.43013.88
98CUSAMemphis11053726348050.42953.92
99CUSAMarshall4752736457770.42853.96
100MACOhio8456756969250.42814.00
101MACWestern Michigan8453787098230.42404.04
102CUSAUTEP5750756748080.41834.08
103MACNorthern Illinois6552786708060.41804.12
104MtnWestColorado State3851746177970.41754.16
105MtnWestTCU9248726367700.41744.20
106MACBowling Green4852796878510.41354.24
107WACNevada8449756708220.41314.28
108SunBeltFlorida International01250746318400.41184.32
109MACToledo4750726048650.41034.36
110SunBeltLouisiana-Monroe3848725968340.40564.40
111WACSan Jose State7446766617810.40424.44
112SunBeltNorth Texas3948766428390.40264.48
113SunBeltLouisiana-Lafayette5650775908300.40104.52
114IndyNavy8342767037370.40004.56
115SunBeltFlorida Atlantic4747756017990.39994.60
116SunBeltTroy6547766078280.39574.64
117WACNew Mexico State2848765658220.39384.68
118SunBeltArkansas State6644796468310.38434.72
119MACKent State6642867098100.37434.76

So we've got USC, Michigan, Stanford (who played 8-4 San Jose St, 9-3 Navy, and 10-2 Notre Dame), and Florida in 4th. Many people have been saying that Florida's schedule was the toughest in the country this year, mainly because they think the SEC was the toughest conference. I'm not saying that these standings disprove that (mainly because I don't think this "2/3 + 1/3" is very accurate), but the argument against them can be made.

Let's look at what Florida's SoS would have been had they not played 2-9 Western Carolina in the second to last week...

RankConf.TeamWLoWoLooWooLSoS%Q-Pts
1SECFlorida11181467887100.60050.04
2Pac10USC10277518236940.58190.08
3Big10Michigan11178507467240.57540.12
4Pac10Stanford11175517827110.57140.16
5Pac10UCLA7573548076940.56240.20

(For easy visual reference, here's the top 5 from above with Western Carolina included.)

RankConf.TeamWLoWoLooWooLSoS%Q-Pts
1Pac10USC10277518236940.58190.04
2Big10Michigan11178507467240.57540.08
3Pac10Stanford11175517827110.57140.12
4SECFlorida11181557997670.56710.16
5Pac10UCLA7573548076940.56240.20

My, my. If Florida would have just not played Western Carolina and gone 11-1, they would have jumped from 4th to 1st in the SoS. Their Opponent's Wins didn't go up at all (because Western Carolina didn't have any wins against D1-A opponents). Their Opponent's Losses would have dropped from 55 to 46, and while their ooW would have dropped from 799 to 788, their ooL would have plummeted from 767 to 710 (since Western Carolina's oW-oL was 11-57). Quite interesting...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting analysis. What if W. Carolina decided to forfeit the game? Would that have made Florida's games against LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, etc. any easier?

Let's face it - that game was a scrimmage. Just throw it out. Count it as preseason. Call Florida 11-1 and not 12-1. Florida played the toughest schedule in the country... ADDING an extra game (no matter HOW bad the opponent) can not WEAKEN the other 12 games of the schedule. If anything, it gives UF another 0.000001% chance to lose, and an extra week risking injury.

In this case, it is easy to throw the game out, since Florida played 12 other games (12 chances to lose/get injured), the same as all the teams they are being compared to. Without the SECCG, you would have to count the weak game, because other teams had to play 12 teams.

Why not let those teams with the added hurdle of a championship game just drop their worst opponent from SOS calculations? Sounds fair (and logical) to me, and we can compare 12 games to 12 games.

Ed Gunther said...

I agree - in a roundabout way. I'm definitely not a fan of the "2/3 + 1/3" SoS, maily because it still only looks at winning percentage.

It's true that adding another game to Florida's schedule (even if it was a cupcake) represented another possible loss and makes their run "harder" to human eyes. But that game didn't affect the other games individually - it affected the overall SoS total. In addition, the above SoS system doesn't take number of games into account, only winning percentage. So a team (theoretically) could play a 4-game schedule against USC, Michigan, Ohio State, & Florida and have the highest SoS in the country, even though it only played 4 games. That's one of the flaws in the system and that's why adding Western Carolina dropped Florida down.

I understand where you're coming from with the "dropping games" idea, and it might work in a different system. But I think the problem with this particular SoS is bigger than just # of games played. (I'd just prefer that teams dropped Western Carolina and all other non-D1-A schools from their schedules altogether.) Dropping this SoS as an individual component was probably a good move by the committee.