Weighted Wins

NCAA Division I Football Standings

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Comparing top 12 teams: WW vs. CFP

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1998-2013

16-year WW summary

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Criteria for Weighted Wins

The criteria for Weighted Wins are built on wins and the quality of those wins. Defeating a winning team adds to your weight, while losing to a losing team reduces your weight. The following criteria incorporate the logic of the system:

  1. The Initial Weight (IW) of a team reflects its own record. (All games against Division I-A teams and losses to Non-Division I-A teams are counted in determining IW.)
  2. The Final Weight (FW) of a team reflects the strength of schedule of that team based on the given conditions:
    1. Defeating a winning team increases the winning team's Final Weight.
    2. Defeating a losing team does not increase the winning team's Final Weight.
    3. Losing to a winning team does not reduce the losing team's Final Weight.
    4. Losing to a losing team reduces the losing team's Final Weight.
    5. Losing to a Non-Division 1-A team reduces the losing team's Final Weight.
  3. In the computing process, losses are counted first.
  4. Games against Non-Division 1-A teams do not count if a victory occurs, however, losses to Non-Division 1-A teams are penalized.
  5. Because all teams do not play the same number of games, only ten games are counted towards the Weighted Wins (WW) in a regular eleven game season. Although most teams play more than ten games, the effectiveness of the system is not diminished by omitting games against one weaker team. This allows some crossover between Division 1-A and other divisions. In the event of an expanded schedule, if all top ten teams have played twelve games, then eleven games could be calculated.
  6. All games played throughout the season are treated equally. A quality team that defeats another quality team early in the season receives as much credit as a quality team that defeats another quality team late in the season. The season ending record is what ultimately counts.
  7. During the season, standings are determined by calculating the Initial Weights and Final Weights based on the games played up to that point.