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Strength of schedule
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Strength of schedule
In sports, strength of schedule (SOS) refers to the difficulty or ease of a team's/person's opponent as compared to other teams/persons. This is especially important if teams in a league do not play each other the same number of times.
The strength of schedule can be calculated in many ways. Such calculations are the basis of many of the various tie-breaking systems used in Swiss-system tournaments in chess and other tabletop games.
In the National Football League (NFL), the strength of schedule (SOS) is the combined record of all teams in a schedule, and the strength of victory (SOV) is the combined record of all teams that were beaten in that schedule. For example, opponents of the 2016 New England Patriots had a combined record of 111–142–3 (a win percentage of 0.439, the SOS), and Patriots' wins came against teams with a combined record of 93–129–2 (a win percentage of 0.424, the SOV).
Before the 2004 season, in the American college football Bowl Championship Series (BCS) the SOS was calculated as shown at right, where OR is the opponents' record, while OOR is the opponents' opponents record.
Other calculations include adding the opponent's power ratings and multiplying them by the number of games, or a modification by assigning weights (higher weights for "stronger" teams).
Furthermore, several more factors may be added, such as the position of the team in the league, the strength of the team's division or conference, which games count in the formula and which do not (vital in the Bowl Championship Series), the locations of the games (see home team and home advantage) and others.
The now defunct BCS previously used the SOS in its formula to determine which teams will play in BCS Bowls, and more importantly, to the BCS National Championship Game. On the contrary, several leagues do not incorporate SOS directly into team standings. For most leagues, however, the team standings are typically affected by the overall strength of the conference the team plays in. The strength of the conference largely depends on the number of NFL players the conference produces. For instance, from 1992 to 2011, of 1,874 college athletes who entered the NFL, roughly 31% came from the SEC compared to only 0.64% from the MAC-EAST conference. Therefore, playing a team in the SEC would likely increase a team's SOS as compared to playing a team in the MAC-EAST.
The NFL uses strength of schedule as a secondary tie-breaker for divisional rankings and playoff qualification, and as a primary tie-breaker for the NFL draft. While the NFL has 32 teams, each team plays only 17 games against 14 other teams. This limited scheduling makes strength of schedule a relevant metric for breaking ties, if primary tiebreakers such as head-to-head records do not break a tie.
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Strength of schedule AI simulator
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Strength of schedule
In sports, strength of schedule (SOS) refers to the difficulty or ease of a team's/person's opponent as compared to other teams/persons. This is especially important if teams in a league do not play each other the same number of times.
The strength of schedule can be calculated in many ways. Such calculations are the basis of many of the various tie-breaking systems used in Swiss-system tournaments in chess and other tabletop games.
In the National Football League (NFL), the strength of schedule (SOS) is the combined record of all teams in a schedule, and the strength of victory (SOV) is the combined record of all teams that were beaten in that schedule. For example, opponents of the 2016 New England Patriots had a combined record of 111–142–3 (a win percentage of 0.439, the SOS), and Patriots' wins came against teams with a combined record of 93–129–2 (a win percentage of 0.424, the SOV).
Before the 2004 season, in the American college football Bowl Championship Series (BCS) the SOS was calculated as shown at right, where OR is the opponents' record, while OOR is the opponents' opponents record.
Other calculations include adding the opponent's power ratings and multiplying them by the number of games, or a modification by assigning weights (higher weights for "stronger" teams).
Furthermore, several more factors may be added, such as the position of the team in the league, the strength of the team's division or conference, which games count in the formula and which do not (vital in the Bowl Championship Series), the locations of the games (see home team and home advantage) and others.
The now defunct BCS previously used the SOS in its formula to determine which teams will play in BCS Bowls, and more importantly, to the BCS National Championship Game. On the contrary, several leagues do not incorporate SOS directly into team standings. For most leagues, however, the team standings are typically affected by the overall strength of the conference the team plays in. The strength of the conference largely depends on the number of NFL players the conference produces. For instance, from 1992 to 2011, of 1,874 college athletes who entered the NFL, roughly 31% came from the SEC compared to only 0.64% from the MAC-EAST conference. Therefore, playing a team in the SEC would likely increase a team's SOS as compared to playing a team in the MAC-EAST.
The NFL uses strength of schedule as a secondary tie-breaker for divisional rankings and playoff qualification, and as a primary tie-breaker for the NFL draft. While the NFL has 32 teams, each team plays only 17 games against 14 other teams. This limited scheduling makes strength of schedule a relevant metric for breaking ties, if primary tiebreakers such as head-to-head records do not break a tie.