Behind The Metrics
In this house, we believe
All teams entering a season should be in control of their own destiny. When they lose, then we turn to the metrics.
Data powered by https://collegefootballdata.com/ (has CBB data too)
There are no team banners for offensive stats, defensive stats, or margin of victory. We celebrate the upsets, the comebacks, and the champions. The games have to matter.
Trying to crown the "best" is a terrible pursuit, a meter different for every human alive. The champion is the most deserving, the one who won under the circumstances given. The north star of every league must always be rooted in crowning the most deserving instead of the best. If the best team in your eyes loses, that is part of the beauty of sports.
The Ent Metric gets us back to the basics in a world where committee bias alters the weight of each metric on the fly. This started as I tried to research the math behind existing CFP metrics, yearning for common sense in a sea of hypotheticals.
The point system for this metric is solely based on the record each team brings to the matchup. In victory, a team earns in points the number of wins the opponent has. In defeat, a team losses in points the number of losses the opponent has.
Ent = points awarded based on records entering the matchup
End = points awarded based on records at the end of the season
The ideal metric envisioned is the Ent metric, with FCS / D2 opponents omitted from a teams record they carry into future matchups. If an FCS / D2 opponent were to face multiple FBS / D1 opponents in a season, then only their record against FBS / D1 opponents would be the points eligible for those matchups.
Let the ball do the talking.
But but but
"We Played A Really Good Team Close"
You want a cookie? Cookies are for the victors only. If your team has zero wins all season, but loses by one score in every game, then your coach is fired.
"They Haven't Played Anybody"
Then schedule them. Previously no upside, now with the Ent lots of points you can win by scheduling teams you think are frauds.
"We Both Beat That Opponent, So We Should Get Rewarded The Same"
The more games are played, the more a team evolves, and the more film teams have on each other. The Ent naturally values outcomes closer to the postseason, whereas the End puts the same value on early season matchups as end of season. A league should commit to one of these schools of thought and not bend from it. An advantage of the Ent from a viewer standpoint is that it encourages high profile early season scheduling, while still rewarding success.
"You Know They Won't Win Now That Their Star Player Is Injured"
If a team went winless in the entire regular season, then their star player returns from injury in the last game and they win by 50, do you think they deserve a spot in the postseason? Should a team advancing in the postseason be swapped out if their star player gets injured in the quarter finals? No