You play the #8 WIS rated team and your SOS drops by more than 30. And that #8 team? They're now rated #5.

Do you know how SOS works? It takes into account all of your opponents at the current time, so your other 4 opponents have gone a combined 6-14. 3 of them lost today.

i get the principal of it, caesari. just question how it's implemented, as in the actual formula or algorithm used here. don't recall seeing it in the developer chats, though it's been a while since I've read through those. have you come acrossed it?

I can't remember the exact formula, but it is your opponent's win percentage and their opponent's win percentage to varying degrees.

I'll see if I can't find it in the forums before I make a fool of myself guessing at the exact calculation.

EDIT: From WIS ticket sent in two years ago:

Strength of Schedule is based on Opponents' winning percentage (OWP) and Opponents' Opponents' winning percentage (OOWP) with OWP being weighted heavier (about twice as much) more than OOWP.

cool. thanks, caesari. very helpful.

amazing insight, ebel. thanks.

Games 3-6 in your regular season bring wild swings in rankings. Rankings mean nothing until you get to about game #8 or 9.

Posted by FB_Trap on 10/21/2016 11:07:00 PM (view original):
amazing insight, ebel. thanks.

simai teams and human teams you have no chance to beat are the worst teams to schedule for noncon. and those are all you schedule

Focus on WINS...not SOS.

SOS might get you a day or two of bragging rights...but WINS gets you into the playoffs, gets you more vision so you can get to more recruits.

i appreciate the feedback, guys. i typically do schedule my own noncon, but aside from scheduling ETBU for this season, i let it slide and the game ended up picking the opponents. this information, though, is useful. it's altered my thoughts on how to select noncon opponents, especially Sim AIs.

So reading the response from that ticket I'd assume Home vs. Away means nothing in regards to SOS? I always thought Away games that you lose don't affect you as much as Home losses do. Or am I confusing SOS with rankings? Just trying to clarify.

dodge, I do think you are right about home vs away...but the differential is so minor, its not worth thinking about. Again, SOS is a minor factor in itself. A record of 7-6 with #1 SOS won't do anything for you. A 13-0 with the worst SOS will likely give you at top 5 ranking and improve your vision tremendously for recruiting purposes.

It is really WINS that matter, any way you can get them. The rest is just fluff.

Do NOT schedule a team that you have no chance of beating. Its OK to schedule one or two that are questionable, but you think you can pull it off.

SOS, like all GD formulas, is a secret formula that ranks up there with the one for Coca Cola.

Harris is correct especially for a rebuild...get wins...increase vision....recruit better players.