I friend of mine and myself are in the same division in d3 Yost. 4 seasons ago, we decided to proceed with 2 different practice plans. I (Mass Maritime) took over the 204th ranked team and practiced 100% of my time on individual skills. My friend took over a team ranked about 100th (Worcester State) and practiced 20 mins on 1 offensive formation (pro set) and 20 mins on 1 defensive formation (3-4) with the rest on individual skills. We did this for 4 seasons. We just met in game 12 in season 4. My players are on average 6 points better then his (guess ratings), but I have formation IQ's of about 10. He has formation IQ's in the high 30's. He did NOT game plan differently for me, but I did set my defense up for him. He beat me handily.
I also took a loss to a 1-8 sim team that I game planned the second half for.
The study leads me to believe (I understand that it is a small sample size) that Formation IQ is more important than I believe it to be. I was under the impression that it was about 5% of a difference, but judging from my success (or lack there of) at Mass Maritme with a team that now has the 7th ranked roster (guess ratings) I believe that fomation IQ is more important than the 5%. Any thoughts?