Week 6. We are almost at the halfway point of the season. Sad it’s moving so fast. This week, I want to put a quick blurb on Strength of Schedule. Hated by those with a weak one and doing well, and hope for those with a hard one and doing poorly.
My formula for the Strength of Schedule (SOS) is blind on purpose. It doesn’t consider records, it just looks at how you would do if you had the 13 other team’s schedules. In more ways than what I want to dive into right now, SOS is a check engine light for your team. If you’re seeing your record near the bottom of everyone else’s schedule but your own, that may mean you’re just enjoying short term success. There is still 8 weeks left of the season.
Now to make this timely to this week, it’s hard not to notice that the top 3 teams in record also have the top 3 easiest schedules. Now I can already anticipate the comments coming. “Well thats the only schedule that matters. The one that counts.” I get it. You’re right. But you’re also not spending your time reading the NUT Report or anything else on this website if you were satisfied looking at everything for face value. ESPN is there for you for that.
Reality is, SOS is the most maligned stat in this entire league. It’s become easily dispelled as a falsehood rather than a potential warning sign. And to any team that isn’t seeing consistent results across other team’s schedule and only on their own, should probably look a little deeper than face value. Even if that means admitting that things are as perfect as they seem.
And now, the Week 6 report.