Tie Breaker System

[75Fan]

I don't like the way we do tie breakers, especially in an unbalanced schedule.

I think one way that would be a better way to do this is to use CSOS weighted by a teams Conference Standing.

For the OVC, the standings as of today are as follows.....

Standing Value      Team			
12.0 Points         Belmont
11.0 Points         Morehead State
10.0 Points         Eastern Kentucky
 9.0 Points         Jacksonville State
 7.5 Points         Austin Peay *
 7.5 Points         Murray State *
 6.0 Points         SIU Edwardsville
 5.0 Points         Southeast Missouri
 4.0 Points         Eastern Illinois
 3.0 Points         UT-Martin
 1.5 Points         Tennessee State *
 1.5 Points         Tennessee Tech *

* Austin Peay & Murray State are tied in the standings. So is Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech.

Now multiply the Point value of your opponent for each by game location modifier.....

1.4 for away games
1.0 for neutral games
0.6 for home games

Now, sum up the results for each team.




Doing this yields these results (as of today).....

CSOS		Opponent		
100.8		SIUE 
100.1		Tennessee Tech 
 90.3		UT Martin 
 88.2		Eastern Illinois 
 84.0		Jacksonville State 
 81.9		Murray State 
 76.3		Morehead State 
 74.9		Eastern Kentucky 
 67.9		Tennessee State 
 65.8		Austin Peay 
 61.6		Southeast Missouri 
 54.6		Belmont 

Using this table, one can easily determine how easy or hard it was for two teams to have the same record, and therefore, resolve a tie in the standings.

Tennessee State only played Belmont once - at Tennessee State, but Tennessee Tech had to play Belmont both at home and on the road.

The same holds true for Murray State and Austin Peay. Peay only played Belmont once - in Clarksville, but Murray State had to play Belmont both home and away.

The table above both reflects and corrects this disparity should there be a tie.

Head-to-Head results are not indicative of how tough the rest of the conference schedule is or is not and it's a shame this isn't being accounted for in the current tie-breaker system, IMO.

I think we can all agree that 3 wins against the top 3 teams in the conference on the road is not the same as 3 wins against the bottom 3 teams in the conference at home.

Right?

[smidge34]

Haha

[75Fan]

Great Band Smidge!

Rather than just complain about things, I usually try to offer up solutions.

Still, I know there are other opinions and other solutions out there.

Surely nobody thinks a coin toss is an appropriate solution to a tie.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane Smidge!

[Tick21]

If everyone just played everyone else twice that would solve a lot of problems, not to mention, is the most fair approach as well.

[smidge34]

I hear ya Tick and agree 100% we should be playing a round robin conference schedule but you still are gonna have H2H splits that won’t solve a tie like us and Peay this season. I actually think H2H against the first place, then 2nd, etc is a fair way to break ties and one of the few things this conference actually gets right.

[Tick21]

I agree.

[smidge34]

But I also agree 100% with this:

Head-to-Head results are not indicative of how tough the rest of the conference schedule is or is not and it's a shame this isn't being accounted for in the current tie-breaker system, IMO.

I think we can all agree that 3 wins against the top 3 teams in the conference on the road is not the same as 3 wins against the bottom 3 teams in the conference at home.

I’d for sure like to see a round robin schedule now that we are down 2 teams and at least solve part of what 75’s saying. I see merit in his proposed system but personally find it a bit complicated for lack of a better word.

[75Fan]

Alternatively, one could just pick a system (Ken Pomeroy, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin, etc.) and add up the opponents rankings.

The lowest number has the toughest schedule.

IF there is still a tie, then add weight to the home and away games as I proposed.