Welcome back college sports fans! Since the inception of what would become the GCR (which means Gettys Computer Rankings, fyi) around 2011, it’s been about college football. For those who have never met me, I am much too small-statured to play, but I have always loved football. However, I lived in Charlotte with the original Hornets (now the New Orleans Pelicans) were an expansion team. Thanks to a really good friend who died about 15 years ago, I got to see Magic, Kareem, Bird, and Jordan play.
…..
In the past decade or so, when my South Carolina Gamecock football (except last year), baseball (most of the time), and Men’s basketball (except 2017) were routine disappointments, the Women’s basketball team has become a mega-elite team year in and year out. Add the fact that my brother-in-law and niece are major basketballs fans (albeit it the pro level and specifically, the Lakers), and basketball has been in the back of brain as an addition in the GCR for some time.
…..
I’ll come back to basketball. Let me get the changes and upgrades to the 2025 GCR college football explained first. When I started, the formula was relatively simple with the quality of the opponent (calculated by number of wins and league), location (home/neutral/away), and outcome (win/loss). Over time, I added complexities like score differential and regression for picking winners etc. The issue I had was the Strength of Schedule was never quite right. An FCS 0-12 team never was last (and they should be) because that team played Baylor or LSU or somebody which overinflated the SOS. The other issue is the formula was so cumbersome it took a long time to debug or to make adjustments. For the 2024-25 season I rewrote both SOS and performance scores for simplification. Then I ran both programs simultaneously. The rankings were different and much more logical top to bottom. I’ve also added an RPI, slightly modified from the basketball version, which I think is interesting as well. The old program is now officially retired. I think you’ll enjoy the rankings more with this new model. At the end of this post, I’ll share the 2025-26 routine for posts.
…..
Back to basketball. While I was testing the new football math, I thought I’d see if it worked for basketball (the answer is yes). For the last month or so, I’ve been playing catch up. You see, there are 263 (264 next year) Division I football teams who play 12 games over roughly 15 weeks, once a week, before the championships, playoffs, and bowl games. Women’s basketball has 362 teams who play roughly 30 games each before championships and postseason. Men’s basketball has 364 (Citadel and VMI don’t have women’s squads) who play roughly 32 games each. It’s not uncommon for a team to play 2-3 times in a week, especially once conference games start. Tournaments early in the season can impact the schedule because we don’t know who is going to win to advance. But the math works. I’ve now coded, input, and balanced everything so starting next week, the GCR will include both Women’s and Men’s college basketball. I also have RPI very similar to the official version. What I won’t have are game-by-game predictions like in football, but there will be a solution for that – the rating differential plus/minus home court advantage is a close approximation. I also won’t do the preseason strength of schedules this year like I do with football a) because there are a ton of teams and conferences, b) the schedule can change mid-season because of those pesky but fun tournaments, and c) September and October football will be the focus then. It’s an exciting time for the father and daughter team here at the GCR as we finally are able to expand.
…..
Here is our fiscal year plan (tentative for now):
| Month | Actions | Football | WBB | MBB |
| May | Prepping for football | Coding schedules (no posts) | — | — |
| June | Pre-season football | Pre-season SOS by conference prep | — | — |
| July | Pre-season football | Pre-season SOS | — | — |
| August | Football kickoff | Pre-season SOS and first week of the season | — | — |
| September | Football season Basketball prep | Sun: weekly rankings Thu: weekly predictions | Coding schedule | Coding schedule |
| October | Football season Basketball prep | Sun: weekly rankings Tue: weekly predictions | Coding schedule/ verification | Coding schedule/ verification |
| November | Seasons | Sun: weekly rankings Tue: weekly predictions | Mon: weekly rankings | Wed: weekly rankings |
| December | Football championship week and bowls Basketball season | Final season ranking Bowl/playoff predictions (day of games) | Mon: weekly rankings | Wed: weekly rankings |
| January | Finalize football Basketball season | Final bowl/playoff games with day of game predictions Final football ranking | Mon: weekly rankings | Wed: weekly rankings |
| February | Basketball season | — | Mon: weekly rankings | Wed: weekly rankings |
| March | Basketball end of regular season March madness | — | Mon: weekly rankings | Wed: weekly rankings |
| April | Basketball end of season | — | Final ranking post Final Four | Final ranking post Final Four |
…..
This is much closer to a year-round model which is missing with the one-sport focus. I hope you enjoy. One last thing. For the remainder of this fiscal year (end of basketball season), I will retain the picture I’ve used which is my wonderful friend JW in the foreground. We were not only friends and bandmates, but also sports enthusiasts. In fact, our daughters thought we should do play by play for a living. He passed away to colon cancer last April and the picture is a salute to his friendship and the arguments about every sport out there we had so many times. Please make sure you get your colonoscopies, listen to your bodies, and don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor about any changes in habits. It could save your life.
…..
Thank you for reading and sharing with others. We are excited about the new upgrades and additions. We hope you will be as well. As always, send us a comment for any suggestions or comments. We aim to get better every year. The GCR team: G and J.
