May the better team have better odds

Pair-wise comparisons and arbitrary labels

All of us have probably thought sometime during the football season that there must be a Rasch analysis in here somewhere. Every team in the National Football League plays a different selection of opponents but rankings are based, mostly[1], on a simple count of games won. We certainly know better than that. Here’s my answer.

Click here to continue reading On Any Given Sunday.

Previous: IIIc. Hot and Cold                       Home

[1]There are more rules for resolving ties in the rankings but these are designed more to create excitement and sell tickets than to ensure that the best team wins.