With the college football season upon us, ESPN’s Stats and Info Group offers a list of terms fans will likely hear often this season.
Football Power Index (FPI): forward-looking measure of team strength that is meant to be predictive of a team’s performance in the future. Helps answer the question “who are the best teams?”
Strength of Record (SOR): backward-looking measure of how strong a team’s record is, given its schedule. Helps answer the question “who are the most-deserving teams to make the playoff?”
Game Control (GC): backward-looking measure of how a team controls its games from start to finish, given its schedule.
Win Probability (WP): measures a team’s chance of winning after each play of the game (See it live on Gamecast for every game)
Team Efficiency Ratings: measures the per-play contribution of each unit (OFF/DEF/ST) to its team’s net scoring margin, adjusted for opponents faced.
Expected Points Added (EPA): a measure of success/failure that takes into account the down-and-distance and assigns an expected point value based on the outcome of a play.
Total Quarterback Rating (Total QBR): a measure of quarterback efficiency that utilizes EPA and divides credit between the quarterback and his teammates. Includes a QB’s contributions to the passing and rushing game as well as adjustments based on opponent and game situation.
To learn more about these metrics and to stay up-to-date on rankings throughout the season, visit:
www.ESPN.com/Analytics
www.ESPN.com/FPI
www.ESPN.com/ncf/qbr
http://www.espn.com/college-football/playoffPicture
Brad Edwards produced the video above.
