A Lightweight Approach to Scheduling

Links (7)

Cheap Shots #106.
Published 2/12/2008 by Signal to Noise at Signal to Noise
... Brand New Season, Same Old Cupcakes: The Wizard of Odds has made a point of griping about the patsies big time Div. I-A schools schedule for non-con games, and they contacted a friend to construct some charts on just which conferences play the most I-AA schools. ...

SAINT ANDREW'S NET: SEXY GEOMETRY!
Published 2/12/2008 at With Leather
... The Wizard of Odds presents the lightweight approach to scheduling.  You could read this post for a practical application of statistics, or you could see how lovely ...

Fresh from the oven: Which conferences love cupcakes?
Published 2/12/2008 at Fanblogs.com
With the conference schedules firming up for the 2008-2009 football season, The Wizard of Odds and CFBStats have a conference-by-conference breakdown of games scheduled against DI-AA opponents during the last three seasons. The biggest offenders? The WAC, Big XII, and SEC. According to the study, the WAC scheduled 16.1% of their games against DI-AA teams, with the Big XII Conference just behind (15.6%). The SEC (15.2%) finished comfortably ahead of the Big East (14.5%) and Conference USA (13.4%), who round out the top five. But ...

Scheduling Insight From Around the Nation
Published 2/12/2008 by Scott at Georgia Tech Sports
An interesting look at scheduling trends by conference - here. While the ACC ended up with three teams with two I-AA opponents on their schedule (GT, Clemson, FSU), it turns out that the conference still stacks up in terms of their willingness to travel and their willingness to play quality opposition. The Big12 and the SEC continue to prove that they are content to kill one another and live off that reputation instead of putting themselves out there on a more consistent basis against quality competition (outside their league). ...

Surfing fodder…your weekly best of the web!
Published 2/15/2008 by Rick at WaitingForNextYear
... is a must read every year. SEC fans may want to lighten up on the “the Big Ten schools schedule cupcakes” banter. The Wizard of Odds has some interesting data. Oh yeah, there was that whole ...

More Big Ten Hate Mail
Published 3/26/2008 by Paterno Lives! at The Big Eleventh
... Anyway, back to the point. Yes, the Big Ten played some cupcakes. Not as many as other conferences, but I agree they struggled at the top end this year with the faltering of Notre Dame and Washington (although the very surprising rise of Oregon and Missouri might compensate). ...

On Contracts
Published 4/2/2008 by TB <info@bringonthecats.com> at Bring On The Cats: Front Page Posts
... Commentators such as the aforementioned Wizard of Odds consistently bemoan the boring schedules of BCS programs across the country.  I can't really disagree that I would much rather see competitive teams in non-conference games, such as the Cal game in 2003, the USC games in 2001 and 2002, the Louisville game in 2006, or the Auburn game in 2007.  But a program like K-State, which is so dependent on its income from home football games, simply can't afford to forgo that income just to 'prove its toughness' by traveling to the ends of the earth to play elite ...