How do any experts out there setup your spreadsheets to help you with the game. (ie recruiting, player distribution, etc)

I type in the ratings for recruits I am looking at in Excel, and I have a formula with a multiplier for the different attributes at different positions. For example for a PG I might multiply speed x 4 and shot blocking by 1. Then I end up with a numeric figure for each prospect at each position which helps me determine which players are best at this particular moment in time. I then color code the cells by potential. Once I do that, I look at the list and try to go for the highest possible players with good potential. It makes it easier for me to see which recruits are better than other ones. As the season goes along, I update the values for my current players, and as one passes another on my rating system I move them up on the depth chart.

thanks has it worked for you?

I will definitely try this next season. Any spreadsheets for actual game planning or distribution?

I do the same as both others above - enter ratings in, adjust with a formula, color code for potential.  I find it easiest to cut and paste ratings from the recruiting comparison window (have to do it 10 at a time).  I once noticed that this works better from Chrome than from Firefox for some reason.  

I don't use my formulas as iron-clad priorities either, just to help guide my priorities.

As for game planning, I have tried spreadsheets and still use one, but I have no idea what works.

Same with me - They are not Iron clad. If I feel that two players are relatively close, then I will attempt to project what their final stats will be. I do tweak it over time as well, as I feel that certain attributes might be overrated or underrated. When I first started playing I didn't think defense was that important, but now it has one of the highest multipliiers. The multipliers are a little different among my different teams depending on what offense and defense they play.  It really helps me, because I tend to start out with 30-70 players on my watch list, and I can eliminate about 25% right off the bat once I plug them in.

Posted by rednation58 on 4/22/2012 10:55:00 AM (view original):
thanks has it worked for you?

Red, check out Chapel's resume.  I'd say it's worked okay for him!

Oh wow! Guess I should start then. Only with so many recruits to look at it seems like a lot of work like a lot!! I guess I should start now...

Since coming back to HD I feel I have been pretty successful and a lot of that has to do with the time I have spent putting into recruiting and prioritizing players. I started looking at all the top teams and identifying what cores those players had and started recruiting to mirror those top teams. 

Chapelhillne has definitely been a team I have watched and tried to mirror my Nebraska Wesleyan Tark team after.

Posted by chapelhillne on 4/21/2012 11:12:00 PM (view original):
I type in the ratings for recruits I am looking at in Excel, and I have a formula with a multiplier for the different attributes at different positions. For example for a PG I might multiply speed x 4 and shot blocking by 1. Then I end up with a numeric figure for each prospect at each position which helps me determine which players are best at this particular moment in time. I then color code the cells by potential. Once I do that, I look at the list and try to go for the highest possible players with good potential. It makes it easier for me to see which recruits are better than other ones. As the season goes along, I update the values for my current players, and as one passes another on my rating system I move them up on the depth chart.

This is what I do.  I have a "Core" formula - one for bigs and one for guards, and the "Core" lists whichever one is higher.  Then I sort on Core, and in general (not always), the top 10 or 12 on the sorted list are the recruits I aim for.

I haven't figured out a way to get Excel to easily factor in potential or I'd have that as well.  But in some cases (transfers, unscouted states) I don't know the potential and it would skew the sort if I did that so I rely on a color coding system identical to HD (Blue, black, red) to highlight potentials.

As for game planning, you can import the ratings table from a team into a spreadsheet in Excel using the "Data" menu.  Then create one tab that lines up each position to look at starting matchups and calculate a difference for each rating.  It's much easier to see where you or your opponent has an advantage (provided you research their schedule and make sure they don't switch starters often).

Here's a Google Doc of one game from my D2 team last January to demonstrate the layout:  docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc

Not an expert by any means.  I use an excel spreadsheet for recruiting.  I copy/paste (from Chrome) to keep the potential colors intact and then have formulas that calculate a predictive rating.  I use the colorindex formula in excel for the calculation.  It works pretty good for me.