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A New Iterative Method for Ranking College Football Teams

Author

Listed:
  • Wigness Maggie B

    (Pacific University)

  • Williams Chadd C

    (Pacific University)

  • Rowell Michael J

    (Pacific University)

Abstract

This paper introduces a new iterative model for ranking college football teams. It is first presented as a general model with a number of parameters. We then introduce two learning methods that use past data to predict the optimal values of the parameters for the model. Our learning algorithms are then implemented using data from 1998-2008. We analyze the accuracy of our rankings by considering bowl game outcomes for each season. We also compare our results with the Bowl Championship Series computer ranking system. We close with a discussion of possible directions for future work.

Suggested Citation

  • Wigness Maggie B & Williams Chadd C & Rowell Michael J, 2010. "A New Iterative Method for Ranking College Football Teams," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 6(2), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:jqsprt:v:6:y:2010:i:2:n:7
    DOI: 10.2202/1559-0410.1242
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Itay Fainmesser & Chaim Fershtman & Neil Gandal, 2009. "A Consistent Weighted Ranking Scheme With an Application to NCAA College Football Rankings," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 10(6), pages 582-600, December.
    2. Gill Ryan & Keating Jerome, 2009. "Assessing Methods for College Football Rankings," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 1-21, May.
    3. Steven Caudill, 2009. "OSU and LSU: easy to spell but did they belong? Using the method of paired comparisons to evaluate the BCS rankings and the NCAA football championship game 2007-08," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(25), pages 3225-3230.
    4. West Brady T & Lamsal Madhur, 2008. "A New Application of Linear Modeling in the Prediction of College Football Bowl Outcomes and the Development of Team Ratings," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 4(3), pages 1-21, July.
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