2012-11-04

NCAA Football Power Rankings, Week 10

I could almost rewrite last week's post with regard to the top and bottom of the rankings. Notre Dame remains a bit behind Ohio State. Ohio State played a weaker opponent than Notre Dame this week, and so the difference in their relative strengths of schedule is tightening. And Southern Miss remains winless, now at 0-9 and a stranglehold on the #120 ranking.

Mizzou...lost again. However, I really thought Florida would come out swinging and take their anger about last week's loss out on the Tigers. Instead, they let the Tigers take a 7-0 halftime lead before scoring 2 TDs to win the game 14-7. Unfortunately, a loss is a loss, so Mizzou drops to #67

1Ohio State10-0
2Notre Dame9-0
3Alabama9-0
4Kansas State9-0
5Oregon9-0
6Florida8-1
7Louisville9-0
8Georgia8-1
9Clemson8-1
10Florida State8-1
11Northern Illinois9-1
12Toledo8-1
13Oregon State7-1
14Texas A&M7-2
15LSU7-2
16Nebraska7-2
17Kent State8-1
18Utah State8-2
19South Carolina7-2
20Stanford7-2
21Louisiana Tech8-1
22UCLA7-2
23Texas7-2
24San Jose State7-2
25Northwestern7-2
26Rutgers7-1
27Mississippi State7-2
28Ohio8-1
29San Diego State7-3
30Boise State7-2
31Oklahoma6-2
32Cincinnati6-2
33Texas Tech6-3
34Fresno State7-3
35Penn State6-3
36UCF7-2
37Tulsa7-2
38Michigan6-3
39Wisconsin6-3
40North Carolina6-3
41Arizona5-4
42Navy6-3
43USC6-3
44Duke6-4
45Ball State6-3
46Washington5-4
47West Virginia5-3
48TCU6-3
49Miami (FL)5-4
50Arkansas State6-3
51Middle Tennessee6-3
52Iowa State5-4
53East Carolina6-4
54Western Kentucky6-3
55Louisiana-Monroe6-3
56Ole Miss5-4
57Michigan State5-5
58Oklahoma State5-3
59Nevada6-3
60Arizona State5-4
61Minnesota5-4
62Bowling Green6-3
63Wake Forest5-4
64Brigham Young5-4
65Vanderbilt5-4
66North Carolina State5-4
67Missouri4-5
68Louisiana-Lafayette5-3
69Baylor4-4
70Syracuse4-5
71Arkansas4-5
72Iowa4-5
73Tennessee4-5
74Indiana4-5
75Utah4-5
76Air Force5-4
77Virginia Tech4-5
78Pittsburgh4-5
79Miami (OH)4-5
80Western Michigan4-6
81Georgia Tech4-5
82Houston4-5
83Southern Methodist4-5
84Purdue3-6
85Marshall4-5
86South Florida3-6
87New Mexico4-6
88Temple3-5
89Maryland4-5
90Virginia3-6
91California3-7
92Troy4-5
93Central Michigan3-6
94Rice4-6
95North Texas3-6
96Illinois2-7
97Auburn2-7
98Buffalo2-7
99Connecticut3-6
100Army2-7
101UNLV2-8
102Wyoming2-7
103Washington State2-7
104Florida Atlantic2-7
105Boston College2-7
106Colorado State2-7
107Kentucky1-9
108UTEP2-7
109UAB2-7
110Kansas1-8
111Florida International2-8
112Tulane2-7
113Eastern Michigan1-8
114Colorado1-8
115Memphis1-8
116Idaho1-8
117Hawaii1-7
118Akron1-9
119New Mexico State1-8
120Southern Miss0-9

2012 History

2012-11-02

Superbowl XLVII Projection, Week 9, Thursday

San Francisco over Houston

One neat thing about the NFL's division setup and short season is the way it makes division games extremely meaningful. Kansas City had a measly 0.305% chance of winning the division until last night, and now have a 0.027% chance, less than 10% of the original value. That's because they played San Diego, and knocked themselves down a peg in many tiebreakers with the loss. San Diego's odds improved while all 3 division teams lost ground, because they pulled away from Oakland and got closer to Denver, again tipping some tiebreakers in their favor.

I've got an extra place of precision in some numbers I don't publish here, and that puts KC at a 0.0002% chance of winning the Superbowl, which rounds to the 0.000 you see below. As a reminder, or for anyone who didn't follow along last year, a minus sign (-) will be displayed instead of 0.000 when the value is truly 0 out of all the millions of simulations. 0.000 indicates a value that rounds below 0.001%

TEAMRecordStrengthDivPlyffWCQtrSemiChamp
SF6-20.68094.71297.16476.72943.95625.00314.605
CHI6-10.65971.54994.09975.24141.15222.09112.390
HOU6-10.64395.43499.20294.38856.08631.66316.096
NE5-30.64269.52688.03468.25339.47221.82711.082
NYG6-20.62787.42493.27567.78833.72916.5988.739
ATL7-00.62596.52598.69686.24744.65021.67511.382
DEN4-30.59172.39283.63656.81828.37413.8856.294
GB5-30.57317.14561.69531.36613.4815.8932.779
SD4-40.56024.00952.53129.40313.3026.1292.591
TB3-40.5593.24322.88410.1664.2031.7780.814
MIA4-30.55626.48062.25736.62316.8257.6393.200
PIT4-30.54838.81259.72734.43315.1206.7272.763
MIN5-30.53610.53144.43120.6318.1223.2551.415
BAL5-20.52556.24776.44949.22420.8818.7303.401
SEA4-40.5162.81224.1189.7363.6691.4030.584
WAS3-50.4763.74313.2404.8411.6300.5610.212
DET3-40.4750.7759.4853.4301.1490.3960.149
CIN3-40.4613.95012.9245.5681.9360.7130.236
ARI4-40.4591.75312.5674.4061.4270.4730.171
NO2-50.4590.2152.5240.8720.2810.0930.034
DAL3-40.4464.49413.8284.7401.4700.4660.163
NYJ3-50.4362.11410.5634.0641.3400.4680.144
CLE2-60.4310.9922.5941.0000.3150.1070.033
IND4-30.4284.37428.95311.7813.8081.3010.393
PHI3-40.4204.3399.0312.9540.8500.2500.082
CAR1-60.4170.0180.1580.0470.0130.0040.001
BUF3-40.4121.8818.8963.3431.0420.3400.099
OAK3-40.4093.57211.1294.1961.2730.4090.117
STL3-50.3930.7222.8040.8070.2180.0600.018
TEN3-50.3500.1682.5700.7540.1890.0520.012
JAC1-60.3430.0240.4720.1340.0330.0090.002
KC1-70.3230.0270.0630.0170.0040.0010.000

First to 10% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 20% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

First to 80% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 90% Chance of Playoffs: Houston, Atlanta (Week 4, Sunday)
First to 99% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

[Week 1]
[Week 2, Thursday]
[Week 2, Sunday]
[Week 2, Final]
[Week 3, Thursday]
[Week 3, Sunday]
[Week 3, Final]
[Week 4, Thursday]
[Week 4, Sunday]
[Week 4, Final]
[Week 5, Thursday]
[Week 5, Sunday]
[Week 5, Final]
[Week 6, Thursday]
[Week 6, Sunday]
[Week 6, Final]
[Week 7, Thursday]
[Week 7, Sunday]
[Week 7, Final]
[Week 8, Thursday]
[Week 8, Sunday]
[Week 8, Final]

2012-11-01

2012 World Series Projections Wrapup

Here's a nice little graph of the changing championship odds through the playoffs. I started to color the lines by team, but there was way too much orange and red to make it worthwhile.



Worst position for San Francisco: 2.2%, when they were down 0-2 in the NLDS
Best position for Detroit: 47.89%, when the World Series was tied 0-0
Best position for an LCS Loser: 52.55%, when St. Louis was up 3-1 on San Francisco
Best position for an LDS Loser: 24.09%, when Washington was up 1-0 on St. Louis
Best position for a Wildcard Loser: 6.24% for Atlanta, narrowly above the 6.22% for Texas

Seeing that St. Louis line so high reminds me how a lot of St. Louisans felt, that the Cardinals were destined to make and even win the World Series when they were up 3-1 in the NLCS, and when they had the comeback against the Nationals. But, we ran out of magic, and San Francisco won an impressive 7 games in a row to finish the NLCS and sweep the World Series.

By the way, the Sweep-and-get-swept the Tigers pulled off has actually happened twice before. First, in 1990 when Oakland swept Boston, then got swept by Cincinnati. Then, just 5 years ago in 2007, Colorado swept the Diamondbacks (with aid of Matt Holliday), then got rolled over by the Yankees in 4 straight.

2012-10-30

Superbowl XLVII Projection, Week 8, Final

San Francisco over Houston

With a big win last night, San Francisco is the top NFL team again, and is favored to beat Houston in the Superbowl. The Cardinals, along with the Rams and even Seattle, now have pretty poor chances of winning the NFC West, the only division really affected by last night's game.

TEAMRecordStrengthDivPlyffWCQtrSemiChamp
SF6-20.68094.71497.15976.71343.95024.99714.619
CHI6-10.65971.55794.07175.22041.14322.08712.407
HOU6-10.64395.50699.26694.59556.68332.08616.308
NE5-30.64269.50888.66769.10240.18122.29011.316
NYG6-20.62787.42593.26367.78633.72916.5998.755
ATL7-00.62596.41098.67486.20544.63621.67011.396
DEN4-30.59179.11286.25958.99129.53214.4826.564
GB5-30.57317.14161.58831.31513.4575.8842.780
TB3-40.5593.36023.52410.4614.3251.8280.838
MIA4-30.55626.43163.72237.70317.3777.9143.319
PIT4-30.54838.51361.53035.78815.7447.0312.890
MIN5-30.53610.52844.29920.5818.1033.2481.416
BAL5-20.52556.66378.37251.21321.8129.1473.563
SD3-40.52216.12737.89219.2817.9463.3711.302
SEA4-40.5162.81424.0379.7083.6541.3960.581
WAS3-50.4763.74413.1744.8181.6210.5570.211
DET3-40.4750.7749.4433.4091.1420.3930.149
CIN3-40.4613.89613.6805.9252.0590.7620.253
ARI4-40.4591.75012.5224.3921.4220.4710.170
NO2-50.4590.2122.4930.8610.2750.0910.033
DAL3-40.4464.49313.7894.7301.4650.4640.163
NYJ3-50.4362.18811.7504.5431.4960.5240.162
CLE2-60.4310.9282.6641.0380.3270.1120.034
IND4-30.4284.30029.95412.2133.9561.3580.410
PHI3-40.4204.3379.0062.9480.8470.2500.082
CAR1-60.4170.0170.1610.0480.0140.0040.001
BUF3-40.4121.8739.6173.6361.1340.3710.107
OAK3-40.4094.45612.6864.8031.4610.4710.134
STL3-50.3930.7222.7970.8050.2180.0600.018
KC1-60.3510.3050.5180.1630.0410.0110.003
TEN3-50.3500.1692.8910.8550.2140.0590.014
JAC1-60.3430.0250.5330.1530.0380.0100.002

First to 10% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 20% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

First to 80% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 90% Chance of Playoffs: Houston, Atlanta (Week 4, Sunday)
First to 99% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

[Week 1]
[Week 2, Thursday]
[Week 2, Sunday]
[Week 2, Final]
[Week 3, Thursday]
[Week 3, Sunday]
[Week 3, Final]
[Week 4, Thursday]
[Week 4, Sunday]
[Week 4, Final]
[Week 5, Thursday]
[Week 5, Sunday]
[Week 5, Final]
[Week 6, Thursday]
[Week 6, Sunday]
[Week 6, Final]
[Week 7, Thurssday]
[Week 7, Sunday]
[Week 7, Final]
[Week 8, Thursday]
[Week 8, Sunday]

2012-10-29

Superbowl XLVII Projection, Week 8, Sunday

Chicago over Houston

Chicago is favored to make the Superbowl by a slim margin over Atlanta, because Atlanta has much more of a lock on the NFC South and a leg up for a first round bye, counteracting most of Chicago's strength advantage.

Carolina is now at a 1 in 100,000 chance based on the displayed numbers, though there could be rounding putting them as low as 5 in 1,000,000, or 1 in 200,000.

But, Carolina is better than several teams when you use the scoring metrics I use, including my Rams after that abysmal loss to New England in Old England. Still, we're 3-5, so not out of it yet. But it's going to take some surprising wins to keep saying that after the next few weeks.

TEAMRecordStrengthDivPlyffWCQtrSemiChamp
CHI6-10.65971.99893.62076.69043.43224.02613.491
HOU6-10.64395.51699.25994.55356.63932.03716.744
NE5-30.64369.70189.07769.64840.52222.47411.733
SF5-20.63980.25288.14062.30832.62617.1319.258
NYG6-20.62787.42993.06969.12235.55218.0779.531
ATL7-00.62596.20198.49487.32246.44823.38712.296
DEN4-30.59179.12286.23458.79229.38914.4126.737
GB5-30.57316.60558.84331.44213.9196.2842.968
TB3-40.5593.53522.24710.3494.3981.9220.881
MIA4-30.55626.55264.57938.25417.6238.0233.471
PIT4-30.54838.51761.40335.61015.6426.9842.966
MIN5-30.53610.66243.80321.4828.7283.6121.572
BAL5-20.52556.66178.28851.03121.7019.0933.663
SD3-40.52216.12637.82619.2227.9163.3581.342
SEA4-40.5165.14022.4349.6483.7191.4700.611
ARI4-30.51613.29830.57614.0005.4262.1440.893
WAS3-50.4763.74612.6464.8191.6720.5980.225
DET3-40.4750.7358.4343.2051.1050.3940.149
CIN3-40.4613.89413.5815.8722.0380.7540.259
NO2-50.4580.2452.5150.9180.3030.1040.038
DAL3-40.4464.49113.3484.7821.5320.5050.177
NYJ3-50.4361.94111.0534.2581.3990.4900.157
CLE2-60.4310.9282.6471.0310.3240.1110.035
IND4-30.4284.29229.86812.1623.9351.3470.422
PHI3-40.4204.3348.5892.9080.8670.2670.087
CAR1-60.4170.0190.1400.0440.0130.0040.001
BUF3-40.4121.8069.6663.6461.1350.3720.111
OAK3-40.4094.44812.6224.7681.4480.4650.138
STL3-50.3931.3113.1000.9600.2630.0750.023
KC1-60.3510.3050.5150.1610.0410.0110.003
TEN3-50.3500.1692.8580.8430.2110.0580.015
JAC1-60.3430.0240.5250.1500.0370.0100.002

First to 10% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 20% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

First to 80% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 90% Chance of Playoffs: Houston, Atlanta (Week 4, Sunday)
First to 99% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

[Week 1]
[Week 2, Thursday]
[Week 2, Sunday]
[Week 2, Final]
[Week 3, Thursday]
[Week 3, Sunday]
[Week 3, Final]
[Week 4, Thursday]
[Week 4, Sunday]
[Week 4, Final]
[Week 5, Thursday]
[Week 5, Sunday]
[Week 5, Final]
[Week 6, Thursday]
[Week 6, Sunday]
[Week 6, Final]
[Week 7, Thurssday]
[Week 7, Sunday]
[Week 7, Final]
[Week 8, Thursday]

2012-10-28

NCAA Football Power Rankings, Week 9

Ohio State keeps winning, but so does Notre Dame. Florida dropped from #3 to #7 with a loss to a very strong Georgia team. Oklahoma is ranked surprisingly low, well below some 3-loss teams, despite one of their losses coming this week to #2 Notre Dame. And Southern Miss is now the only Division 1 - er, excuse me, FBS - team without a win.

Mizzou got their first SEC win, but it was pretty much a gimme at home against Kentucky. Still, they're at 4-4, and may salvage bowl eligibility yet.

1Ohio State9-0
2Notre Dame8-0
3Kansas State8-0
4Alabama8-0
5Oregon8-0
6Florida State8-1
7Florida7-1
8Louisville8-0
9Toledo8-1
10LSU7-1
11Northern Illinois8-1
12South Carolina7-2
13Georgia7-1
14Clemson7-1
15Northwestern7-2
16Rutgers7-1
17Mississippi State7-1
18Stanford6-2
19Boise State7-1
20Oregon State6-1
21Utah State7-2
22Kent State7-1
23Texas Tech6-2
24Texas A&M6-2
25Nebraska6-2
26Tulsa7-1
27San Jose State6-2
28Louisiana Tech7-1
29Arizona5-3
30Wisconsin6-3
31Texas6-2
32North Carolina6-3
33UCLA6-2
34Ohio7-1
35USC6-2
36Duke6-3
37Cincinnati5-2
38Fresno State6-3
39West Virginia5-2
40Ball State6-3
41Iowa State5-3
42Oklahoma5-2
43Louisiana-Monroe6-2
44San Diego State6-3
45Western Kentucky6-2
46Michigan State5-4
47Penn State5-3
48Michigan5-3
49UCF6-2
50Navy5-3
51Oklahoma State5-2
52Minnesota5-3
53Ole Miss5-3
54Arizona State5-3
55North Carolina State5-3
56Washington4-4
57Nevada6-3
58Bowling Green6-3
59Brigham Young5-4
60Arkansas State5-3
61Miami (FL)4-4
62TCU5-3
63Middle Tennessee5-3
64Iowa4-4
65East Carolina5-4
66Syracuse4-4
67Missouri4-4
68Air Force5-3
69Miami (OH)4-4
70Virginia Tech4-4
71Wake Forest4-4
72Vanderbilt4-4
73Pittsburgh4-4
74Baylor3-4
75New Mexico4-5
76Louisiana-Lafayette4-3
77Houston4-4
78Purdue3-5
79Maryland4-4
80Southern Methodist4-4
81Tennessee3-5
82Utah3-5
83Arkansas3-5
84Indiana3-5
85Troy4-4
86California3-6
87Central Michigan3-5
88Temple3-4
89Western Michigan3-6
90North Texas3-5
91Marshall3-5
92Georgia Tech3-5
93South Florida2-6
94Connecticut3-5
95Rice3-6
96Illinois2-6
97Colorado State2-6
98Virginia2-6
99Washington State2-6
100Florida Atlantic2-6
101Boston College2-6
102Tulane2-6
103Kentucky1-8
104Auburn1-7
105UTEP2-7
106Kansas1-7
107Wyoming1-7
108Buffalo1-7
109Eastern Michigan1-7
110UNLV1-8
111Colorado1-7
112Army1-7
113Hawaii1-6
114UAB1-7
115Memphis1-7
116Idaho1-7
117New Mexico State1-7
118Florida International1-8
119Akron1-8
120Southern Miss0-8

2012 History

2012 World Series Projection, October 28

World Series
DET 0-3 SF

League Championship Series
STL 3-4 SF
DET 4-0 NYY

Divison Series
STL 3-2 WAS
SF 3-2 CIN
BAL 2-3 NYY
DET 3-2 OAK

Wildcard Round
STL 1-0 ATL
BAL 1-0 TEX

TeamStrengthWin
SF0.546894.22
DET0.53725.78

It's looking like I may need to write my final World Series wrap-up post sooner than I thought. San Francisco has been relentless in shutting down the Tigers offense, and now stands a 94% chance of winning one of the next (up to) 4 games. Now I wonder if any team since the LCS started has swept their LCS but been swept in the World Series. If it happens tonight, I'll have that stat tomorrow. If not, forget I said anything.

2012-10-27

Free Card Friday at Jaybarkerfan's Junk

The title pretty much says it all. Go leave a comment on this post for a chance to win these cards:

That's really hard to see, so here's the list straight from the post.
2011 Topps Pro Debut Evan Chambers
2012 Bowman Platinum Jeurys Familia
2011 Bowman Kurt Suzuki
2011 Topps Heritage Max Scherzer
2009 UD Spectrum Aaron Rowand
1999 Stadium Club Roger Clemens

And 3 more

2011 Bowman Chrome Brandon Belt
2011 Bowman Chrome Evan Crawford
2011 A&G Jersey Elvis Andrus


If 25 people enter, the prize gets bigger next week, so do us both a favor and go enter now.

2012-10-26

Superbowl XLVII Projection, Week 8, Thursday

Chicago over Houston

The Bears became even more solid in their playoff spot as Minnesota lost at home to Tampa last night, giving them a 70% chance at the division, up from 61% last week. The Vikings blew their chance to be one of the 3 6-win teams, and instead now sit at 5-3 at their halfway point, with a 14% chance at their division. Tampa jumped up to a 6% chance of winning the division from under 3% last week, with Atlanta obviously still dominating the odds at 6-0 and 92%.

TEAMRecordStrengthDivPlyffWCQtrSemiChamp
CHI5-10.65069.96989.37173.30841.89423.39813.465
HOU6-10.64496.39099.45096.32260.64136.86419.786
SF5-20.63974.12184.17362.53434.18018.53710.455
NYG5-20.61872.48483.96362.18632.39916.6379.020
ATL6-00.60492.40895.76481.31342.16420.79210.961
NE4-30.58961.25679.96357.81131.12715.9037.628
TB3-40.5595.88120.24110.1304.4882.0250.975
DEN3-30.55761.10074.57049.13024.20911.5235.154
GB4-30.55515.49547.09625.51711.2695.0522.414
MIN5-30.53613.93641.02621.8329.2523.9741.826
SEA4-30.52910.17234.60917.2767.1973.0341.373
BAL5-20.52567.01983.21559.68527.92712.2155.090
SD3-30.52233.82358.30934.65715.5276.8742.839
PIT3-30.51726.95847.96227.50112.0185.2742.151
ARI4-30.51611.50826.98413.2855.3932.2130.973
MIA3-30.50722.23146.46226.25911.4004.8861.949
WAS3-40.5028.55620.7919.2873.5931.4170.603
NO2-40.4911.5996.1762.7261.0320.4000.166
NYJ3-40.47812.88231.59315.6486.2052.5160.934
STL3-40.4734.1989.7154.0341.4600.5410.216
DET2-40.4660.6004.5601.8150.6400.2330.091
CIN3-40.4615.28017.4258.2733.0711.2090.430
DAL3-30.45510.08419.4398.1002.7920.9770.372
PHI3-30.4478.87615.6356.5012.1970.7530.282
CLE1-60.4350.7432.0600.8770.2970.1110.037
IND3-30.4212.90424.13310.3143.4221.2420.397
CAR1-50.4190.1120.4580.1580.0500.0160.006
BUF3-40.4123.63111.8654.9681.6430.5710.177
OAK2-40.3963.5868.8363.5851.1240.3750.111
KC1-50.3711.4902.5960.9530.2750.0860.024
TEN3-40.3670.6199.7343.3990.9450.2970.082
JAC1-50.3630.0861.8290.6180.1680.0530.014

First to 10% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 20% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

First to 80% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 90% Chance of Playoffs: Houston, Atlanta (Week 4, Sunday)
First to 99% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

[Week 1]
[Week 2, Thursday]
[Week 2, Sunday]
[Week 2, Final]
[Week 3, Thursday]
[Week 3, Sunday]
[Week 3, Final]
[Week 4, Thursday]
[Week 4, Sunday]
[Week 4, Final]
[Week 5, Thursday]
[Week 5, Sunday]
[Week 5, Final]
[Week 6, Thursday]
[Week 6, Sunday]
[Week 6, Final]
[Week 7, Thurssday]
[Week 7, Sunday]
[Week 7, Final]

2012 World Series Projection, October 26

World Series
DET 0-2 SF

League Championship Series
STL 3-4 SF
DET 4-0 NYY

Divison Series
STL 3-2 WAS
SF 3-2 CIN
BAL 2-3 NYY
DET 3-2 OAK

Wildcard Round
STL 1-0 ATL
BAL 1-0 TEX

TeamStrengthWin
SF0.546882.43
DET0.537217.57

With another big win at home, the Giants are now over 80% likely to win their second world series in 3 years. However, they must now go on the road, something this model doesn't take into account. Even so, at worst they can lose 3 in Detroit, and they'll come back to San Francisco needing to only win their home games to be champs.

2012-10-25

2012 World Series Projection, October 25

World Series
DET 0-1 SF

League Championship Series
STL 3-4 SF
DET 4-0 NYY

Divison Series
STL 3-2 WAS
SF 3-2 CIN
BAL 2-3 NYY
DET 3-2 OAK

Wildcard Round
STL 1-0 ATL
BAL 1-0 TEX

TeamStrengthWin
SF0.546867.41
DET0.537232.59

In game 1, the Panda outplayed the Tiger, and the Giants took a 1-0 lead. They're now over 2:1 favorites to win 3 more before Detroit can win 4.

2012-10-23

Superbowl XLVII Projection, Week 7, Final

Chicago over Houston

Finally, a Monday night game that causes some movement. Chicago is the strongest team again, and now is favored to win the NFC, and would be favored over the AFC favorite, Houston. Houston has a better overall chance of winning, because the competition is tighter atop the NFC. Even though Chicago is the traditional rival of St. Louis in baseball and hockey, I don't have any particular dislike for the Bears. I guess it's because the Rams haven't been here long enough or played the Bears enough times to really build a rivalry. So, with that, go Bears.

TEAMRecordStrengthDivPlyffWCQtrSemiChamp
CHI5-10.65061.23987.95870.08639.82322.19312.767
HOU6-10.64496.26199.41296.15160.51136.78919.730
SF5-20.63974.38383.83361.10233.28118.01510.165
NYG5-20.61872.28283.10460.57531.41116.0968.727
ATL6-00.60495.37096.95882.13942.28620.83710.984
NE4-30.58961.24279.88157.74131.06915.8847.607
MIN5-20.57625.40762.86938.88718.1398.5024.248
DEN3-30.55761.12074.81449.44324.38111.6025.183
GB4-30.55512.92343.79923.39210.3434.6222.208
SEA4-30.5299.82232.91116.2566.7762.8501.290
BAL5-20.52566.99983.12559.54227.86512.1975.072
TB2-40.5242.7708.6633.9571.6150.6720.301
SD3-30.52233.84858.71434.95415.6696.9322.858
PIT3-30.51726.97247.80927.39511.9785.2592.144
ARI4-30.51611.58226.17512.6465.1402.1030.924
MIA3-30.50722.24646.38326.20611.3874.8821.946
WAS3-40.5028.53819.9498.8073.4121.3400.570
NO2-40.4911.7255.9822.6250.9970.3840.159
NYJ3-40.47812.88331.47515.5906.1842.5090.929
STL3-40.4734.2139.1883.7781.3720.5070.202
DET2-40.4660.4314.1621.6310.5770.2090.082
CIN3-40.4615.28717.3438.2343.0591.2030.427
DAL3-30.45510.04718.4787.6102.6290.9180.350
PHI3-30.4479.13415.5116.3522.1490.7360.275
CLE1-60.4350.7432.0500.8720.2950.1100.037
IND3-30.4213.00124.16810.3473.4381.2490.398
CAR1-50.4190.1350.4610.1570.0490.0160.005
BUF3-40.4123.62811.8094.9461.6360.5700.177
OAK2-40.3963.5908.9873.6521.1480.3830.114
KC1-50.3711.4412.5530.9370.2710.0840.023
TEN3-40.3670.6479.6643.3770.9420.2960.080
JAC1-50.3630.0901.8140.6130.1670.0520.014

First to 10% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 20% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

First to 80% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 90% Chance of Playoffs: Houston, Atlanta (Week 4, Sunday)
First to 99% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

[Week 1]
[Week 2, Thursday]
[Week 2, Sunday]
[Week 2, Final]
[Week 3, Thursday]
[Week 3, Sunday]
[Week 3, Final]
[Week 4, Thursday]
[Week 4, Sunday]
[Week 4, Final]
[Week 5, Thursday]
[Week 5, Sunday]
[Week 5, Final]
[Week 6, Thursday]
[Week 6, Sunday]
[Week 6, Final]
[Week 7, Thurssday]
[Week 7, Sunday]

2012 World Series Projection, October 23

World Series
DET 0-0 SF

League Championship Series
STL 3-4 SF
DET 4-0 NYY

Divison Series
STL 3-2 WAS
SF 3-2 CIN
BAL 2-3 NYY
DET 3-2 OAK

Wildcard Round
STL 1-0 ATL
BAL 1-0 TEX

TeamStrengthWSWin
SF0.5468100.0052.11
DET0.5372100.0047.89

When they were down 0-2 to Cincinnati, the Giants had a 2.3% chance of winning the World Series, and now are favored over Detroit. Winning 6 elimination games in a single postseason is pretty impressive. I don't know if the Cardinals got overconfident, the Giants turned up the intensity, or just the randomness of baseball played went against the Cardinals this time. I'm a little conflicted about who to root for in the World Series. The Giants are the NL team, and they beat my Cardinals, tempting me to want to be beaten by the best team. On the other hand, it's hard to flip from rooting against a team to rooting for them so quickly, and Detroit has a few guys I like, such as Prince Fielder and Jim Leyland. I think I'll root for the AL team this year, since I'd like to see Jim Leyland get one more World Series, and San Francisco did just win in 2010. Either way, I think I'll enjoy this World Series on the nights I get to watch it.

2012-10-22

Superbowl XLVII Projection, Week 7, Sunday

Houston over Atlanta

Houston reasserted its dominance in the NFL, and is now the top team in terms of strength as well as Superbowl odds. They are the first team of the year to crack the 20% mark for that, as well as being over 99% likely to make the playoffs. On the other end, Carolina is going to need another decimal place to show their chances pretty soon. They're at about 1 in 16,667 now.

The Rams spoiled me by getting over .500 for the first time in a few years, and now we're back in the slums at 3-4. Maybe the trip to Old England to play New England will turn out surprisingly well and get us back to .500.

TEAMRecordStrengthDivPlyffWCQtrSemiChamp
HOU6-10.64496.32399.42296.20560.55536.81920.043
SF5-20.63974.61084.38962.80534.85219.19710.826
CHI4-10.62649.12478.06858.11631.38416.7179.194
NYG5-20.61872.30683.29961.80332.61517.0349.237
ATL6-00.60495.31796.93782.96843.33421.80711.490
NE4-30.58961.26579.91257.76131.07915.8907.739
MIN5-20.57732.02964.45541.46119.7449.3874.692
DEN3-30.55761.14174.82949.46424.39711.6105.276
GB4-30.55516.78744.63324.57611.0815.0272.402
SEA4-30.5299.75033.58316.9127.1903.0821.394
BAL5-20.52567.00583.12659.53427.85612.1815.163
TB2-40.5242.7988.7434.0581.6930.7160.320
SD3-30.52233.83858.72234.95415.6686.9332.912
PIT3-30.51726.97547.79427.38411.9665.2492.178
ARI4-30.51611.51226.80113.1975.4682.2781.003
MIA3-30.50722.23246.39626.20711.3794.8801.982
WAS3-40.5028.53320.1139.0673.5871.4380.612
NO2-40.4911.7436.0852.7071.0530.4150.173
DET2-30.4802.0609.1974.0171.5120.5780.235
NYJ3-40.47812.87831.47815.5836.1842.5050.947
STL3-40.4734.1289.1113.8341.4270.5380.215
CIN3-40.4615.27717.3228.2183.0511.2020.436
DAL3-30.45510.03418.4827.7872.7500.9800.374
PHI3-30.4479.12715.6056.5202.2560.7890.294
CLE1-60.4350.7422.0470.8700.2950.1100.037
IND3-30.4212.93423.96810.2443.3971.2340.402
CAR1-50.4190.1420.4990.1720.0550.0180.006
BUF3-40.4123.62611.7964.9361.6300.5680.180
OAK2-40.3963.5828.9683.6441.1450.3810.116
KC1-50.3701.4382.5480.9360.2700.0840.024
TEN3-40.3670.6569.8803.4540.9610.3020.085
JAC1-50.3620.0871.7920.6060.1650.0520.014

First to 10% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 20% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

First to 80% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 90% Chance of Playoffs: Houston, Atlanta (Week 4, Sunday)
First to 99% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 7, Sunday)

[Week 1]
[Week 2, Thursday]
[Week 2, Sunday]
[Week 2, Final]
[Week 3, Thursday]
[Week 3, Sunday]
[Week 3, Final]
[Week 4, Thursday]
[Week 4, Sunday]
[Week 4, Final]
[Week 5, Thursday]
[Week 5, Sunday]
[Week 5, Final]
[Week 6, Thursday]
[Week 6, Sunday]
[Week 6, Final]
[Week 7, Thurssday]

2012 World Series Projection, October 22

League Championship Series
STL 3-3 SF
DET 4-0 NYY

Divison Series
STL 3-2 WAS
SF 3-2 CIN
BAL 2-3 NYY
DET 3-2 OAK

Wildcard Round
STL 1-0 ATL
BAL 1-0 TEX

TeamStrengthWSWin
DET0.5372100.0044.43
STL0.576553.0131.08
SF0.546846.9924.48

As exciting as a Game 7 is, I'd really have preferred to wrap this up without the threat of elimination. The Cardinals will have a tough task against Matt Cain, but at least Kyle Lohse has had a strong few weeks. Hopefully he's got at least one more strong start in him.

Detroit is now the favorite to win, but that's just because the NL representative is as close to 50/50 as it can get right now. Whichever team wins tonight, they will start the World Series as favorites.

2012-10-21

NCAA Football Power Rankings, Week 8

Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Florida hold on to their #1, #2, and #3 seeds, and Alabama, Kansas State, and Oregon shuffle around a bit between #4, #5, and #6, keeping the top of the rankings relatively static this week. Missouri didn't even play this week, giving me no chance to throw my pity party this week.

It looks like my closest match in the first week of the BCS standings is Florida, which is #2 in the BCS. Ohio is ineligible of course, so I'd be dead on if I dropped out the ineligible teams.

1Ohio State8-0
2Notre Dame7-0
3Florida7-0
4Kansas State7-0
5Oregon7-0
6Alabama7-0
7LSU7-1
8Rutgers7-0
9Florida State7-1
10Mississippi State7-0
11Toledo7-1
12Oregon State6-0
13Texas Tech6-1
14Louisville7-0
15Northern Illinois7-1
16South Carolina6-2
17Tulsa7-1
18Ohio7-0
19Wisconsin6-2
20Clemson6-1
21Stanford5-2
22USC6-1
23Boise State6-1
24Duke6-2
25Georgia6-1
26West Virginia5-2
27Northwestern6-2
28Texas A&M5-2
29Cincinnati5-1
30Oklahoma5-1
31Utah State6-2
32Louisiana Tech6-1
33Kent State6-1
34Penn State5-2
35Texas5-2
36San Jose State5-2
37Nebraska5-2
38Nevada6-2
39North Carolina State5-2
40Michigan5-2
41North Carolina5-3
42Arizona State5-2
43UCLA5-2
44Iowa State4-3
45Ball State5-3
46Arizona4-3
47TCU5-2
48Western Kentucky5-2
49Fresno State5-3
50San Diego State5-3
51Louisiana-Monroe5-2
52East Carolina5-3
53Miami (FL)4-4
54UCF5-2
55Iowa4-3
56Minnesota4-3
57Bowling Green5-3
58Michigan State4-4
59Oklahoma State4-2
60Ole Miss4-3
61Wake Forest4-3
62Navy4-3
63Virginia Tech4-4
64Maryland4-3
65Brigham Young4-4
66Arkansas State4-3
67Washington3-4
68Troy4-3
69New Mexico4-4
70Louisiana-Lafayette4-2
71Purdue3-4
72Baylor3-3
73Missouri3-4
74Syracuse3-4
75Middle Tennessee4-3
76Temple3-3
77California3-5
78Tennessee3-4
79Arkansas3-4
80Air Force4-3
81Vanderbilt3-4
82Miami (OH)3-4
83Pittsburgh3-4
84North Texas3-4
85Marshall3-4
86South Florida2-5
87Western Michigan3-5
88Southern Methodist3-4
89Houston3-4
90Georgia Tech3-4
91Connecticut3-5
92Utah2-5
93Illinois2-5
94Central Michigan2-5
95Indiana2-5
96Virginia2-6
97Washington State2-5
98Kentucky1-7
99UTEP2-6
100Rice2-6
101Auburn1-6
102Kansas1-6
103UAB1-6
104Hawaii1-5
105Wyoming1-6
106Eastern Michigan1-6
107Buffalo1-6
108UNLV1-7
109Colorado State1-6
110Memphis1-6
111Tulane1-6
112Army1-6
113Florida Atlantic1-6
114Boston College1-6
115Colorado1-6
116Idaho1-7
117New Mexico State1-6
118Florida International1-7
119Akron1-7
120Southern Miss0-7

2012 History

2012-10-20

2012 Heritage Blaster #3

I took advantage of Target's discounted $11.99 blasters they've had out lately, but only found one 2012 Heritage box. Still, since I gladly paid $19.99 for my two previous blasters, I figured it was worth buying another. Here's my favorite stuff from the box: the Cardinals, Short Prints, and Inserts.

First we have the base card Cardinals. There were 9 current and 2 former Cardinals in the box, including Adron Chambers twice on two different Rookie Stars cards, and Dan Haren's regular and League Leaders card.

2012 Topps Heritage
#83 Lance Berkman
#95 2012 Rookie Stars
#97 Kyle Lohse
#142 Craig "Pinches" Rangers in Opener
#206 Lance Lynn
#250 Jon Jay
#306 Star Receivers
#321 2012 Rookie Stars
#375 Daniel Descalso
I'm now 3 for 3 in choosing blasters with a Descalso.

2012 Topps Heritage
#8 AL Pitching Leaders
#231 Dan Haren
Haren seems to be the most common former Cardinal I find in current products, maybe he's just the biggest star we've let go recently, other than he-who-must-not-be-named-until-we-win-a-World-Series-without-him.

2012 Topps Heritage
#472 Alfonso Soriano SP
#476 Prince Fielder SP
Two big stars on the Short Prints here. I hope Fielder remains ringless through 2012 though, if the Cardinals can defeat the Giants at least.

2012 Topps Heritage
Baseball Flashbacks - #BF-SKO Sandy Koufax
News Flashbacks - #NF-VT Valentina Tereshkova
Sometimes I like to think I'm really into the history of space travel, then I learn that a Russian Cosmonaut was the first woman in space. It sure seems like a real space buff would have known that.

2012 Topps Heritage
Then and Now - #TN-KB
More non-number card numbers. This shouldn't bother me so much. Curiously, Killebrew was the 1963 HR leader, the year this set is supposed to mimic, but Bautista is the 2011 leader. Shouldn't a 1963 tribute set show the 1962 leader? I guess that seems wrong too, but in a different way.

2012 Topps Heritage
Stick-Ons - #5 Jose Reyes
Maybe I'll have these guys adorn my plain white cardboard storage boxes. That'd be somewhat appropriate.

2012 Topps Heritage
Chrome Parallel - #HP61 David Price
And we'll finish this pack off strong with the Chrome Parallel. Everyone loves shiny things, and that this is a David Price is an extra bonus.

This blaster seemed to have a bonus helping of Cardinals along with its regular number of inserts, so that made it extra nice for my $12. Heritage seemed to be unpopular this year, so I'll be keeping my eye out for more deals in the coming weeks.

2012 World Series Projection, October 20

League Championship Series
STL 3-2 SF
DET 4-0 NYY

Divison Series
STL 3-2 WAS
SF 3-2 CIN
BAL 2-3 NYY
DET 3-2 OAK

Wildcard Round
STL 1-0 ATL
BAL 1-0 TEX

TeamStrengthWSWin
STL0.576577.9245.69
DET0.5372100.0042.81
SF0.546822.0811.50

Watching the game last night, it felt like San Francisco made several really great defensive plays, and of course the Cardinals had one crucial bad play, when Lynn tried to throw the ball to 2nd. I cringed as soon as he turned to throw, as it seems pitchers often make a bad throw to any base but first, and sure enough, it bounced off the bag and went into center field. After a day off today, we'll have to go win 1 of 2 in San Francisco to face the Tigers next week in the World Series.

2012-10-19

Superbowl XLVII Projection, Week 7, Thursday

Atlanta over Houston

San Francisco won a low-scoring game against Seattle, and is now considered the strongest team in the league, though that's partially due to having played 2 more games than Chicago at the moment. With both teams starting the night at 4-2, that game wasn't going to really affect the Rams chances much differently either way, since there would be a 5-2 and 4-3 team in front of them in both cases.

TEAMRecordStrengthDivPlyffWCQtrSemiChamp
SF5-20.63966.93381.97162.14134.96819.46711.256
CHI4-10.62658.88979.87861.57033.76118.18010.255
NYG4-20.61060.72573.26152.11927.08313.9767.650
ATL6-00.60492.61796.11483.32744.22722.52612.187
HOU5-10.60293.71497.67588.79351.30128.46614.396
NE3-30.58346.63468.68247.32124.68612.9676.302
BAL5-10.58281.44292.99878.65443.35422.58010.938
MIN4-20.56025.56450.17230.79514.2736.6183.290
DEN3-30.55761.68773.34047.28823.37411.5625.311
TB2-30.5406.18419.3359.9204.3541.9330.921
GB3-30.53712.59530.53616.2577.1013.1291.480
ARI4-20.53517.56341.99123.44510.2634.5072.125
SEA4-30.5298.14931.26016.1466.9373.0111.402
SD3-30.52234.16356.49033.16115.0806.9112.933
WAS3-30.50819.66131.55515.8596.4582.6541.181
MIA3-30.50722.46046.10625.64811.2144.9822.046
PIT2-30.50210.21428.78115.2576.6172.9131.183
STL3-30.4977.35519.5079.2693.7021.4940.650
NYJ3-30.48423.47642.93122.6249.3703.9451.530
DET2-30.4802.9539.9214.5071.7220.6690.280
NO1-40.4790.8383.0411.3370.5130.1990.083
CIN3-30.4757.53129.87914.8115.9992.4850.945
PHI3-30.44711.41516.9007.2842.5440.9000.347
DAL2-30.4478.19912.8805.3931.8810.6650.256
CLE1-50.4460.8134.8262.0770.7740.3020.106
CAR1-40.4330.3601.6800.6320.2130.0730.027
IND2-30.4214.58617.7227.7972.7661.0130.334
BUF3-30.4127.42921.4189.4673.2611.1550.372
OAK1-40.3962.5555.5152.1960.7190.2460.076
JAC1-40.3730.7404.9131.7910.5480.1760.051
KC1-50.3711.5952.5290.9220.2780.0880.025
TEN2-40.3680.9606.1952.1930.6600.2090.059

First to 10% Chance of Superbowl win: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)

First to 80% Chance of Playoffs: Houston (Week 2, Sunday)
First to 90% Chance of Playoffs: Houston, Atlanta (Week 4, Sunday)

[Week 1]
[Week 2, Thursday]
[Week 2, Sunday]
[Week 2, Final]
[Week 3, Thursday]
[Week 3, Sunday]
[Week 3, Final]
[Week 4, Thursday]
[Week 4, Sunday]
[Week 4, Final]
[Week 5, Thursday]
[Week 5, Sunday]
[Week 5, Final]
[Week 6, Thursday]
[Week 6, Sunday]
[Week 6, Final]

2012 World Series Projection, October 19

League Championship Series
STL 3-1 SF
DET 4-0 NYY

Divison Series
STL 3-2 WAS
SF 3-2 CIN
BAL 2-3 NYY
DET 3-2 OAK

Wildcard Round
STL 1-0 ATL
BAL 1-0 TEX

TeamStrengthWSWin
STL0.576589.6352.55
DET0.5372100.0042.04
SF0.546810.375.41

The Yankees certainly fell fast after losing Jeter, and Detroit makes their second World series since the 2006 season. I'm hoping for a rematch and repeat of that year of course, when the Cardinals beat them in 5 games. But first, we'll have to get past the Giants, and we've got up to 3 chances to do it, starting tonight.

2012-10-18

2012 World Series Projection, October 18

League Championship Series
STL 2-1 SF
DET 3-0 NYY

Divison Series
STL 3-2 WAS
SF 3-2 CIN
BAL 2-3 NYY
DET 3-2 OAK

Wildcard Round
STL 1-0 ATL
BAL 1-0 TEX

TeamStrengthWSWin
STL0.576573.1342.18
DET0.537290.9439.21
SF0.546826.8713.74
NYY0.58529.064.87

I can't decide if I'm happy about the Yankees-Tigers rainout or not. On one hand, it keeps the winner from having one more off day before the World Series than the NL winner. On the other hand, Detroit had a long layoff in 2006, while the Cardinals went to 7 games in the NLCS, and that worked out pretty well.

Most important was the Cardinal win of course, putting us back in the likeliest winner seat.

2012-10-17

2012 World Series Projection, October 17

League Championship Series
STL 1-1 SF
DET 3-0 NYY

Divison Series
STL 3-2 WAS
SF 3-2 CIN
BAL 2-3 NYY
DET 3-2 OAK

Wildcard Round
STL 1-0 ATL
BAL 1-0 TEX

TeamStrengthWSWin
DET0.537290.9440.25
STL0.576555.6332.09
SF0.546844.3722.69
NYY0.58529.064.97

That was a pretty strong performance from Verlander last night, and the Yankees are down 3-0. They've got just a 9% chance of winning 4 in a row to make the World Series, giving us a decent chance of seeing Miguel Cabrera win the Triple Crown, AL MVP, and World Series MVP in the same year.