dev diary #20 - Who plays who during the season?

[subsequent]

From the desk of [uSER=7]@Jamarquan[/uSER]:

 

Howdy everyone, while the SimFBA season isn't underway yet, @Tazer, [uSER=42]@llamas[/uSER], @Bellwood, @subsequent, and myself are hard at work creating the inaugural schedule, as well as a formula that will make matchups flexible and easy to create, while still stay adherent to real life.

 

To that end, we've decided to chop the (as of now) 15 week schedule into three fairly simple sections: OOC Window, Conference Play, and Rivalry Time. Here's how it works:

 

The OOC Window is the first few weeks - in this case, Weeks 0, 1, 2, and 3 - where you can schedule whoever you'd like as long as they have the open date. While you won't necessarily be able to directly schedule games for Week Zero, the most high-profile matchups will be showcased there for prominence. Each team also has one bye week for this window, though for most schools it will be in Week Zero.

 

The next window is Conference Play, the duration of which is from Weeks Four to Twelve. Inside, teams will play their conference schedule as normal, but with one bye week / open date interspersed. The conference scheduling formula is true to life in terms of protected matchups, as well as the rotation of cross divisional games thus far. At the time of writing, the Big Ten and Big 12 are finished, and the ACC is being worked on. The other conferences and independents continue to be considered as well to ensure everyone has a schedule they can make do with.

 

You may be wondering at this point how teams with nine game schedules can play a 9 game schedule in the same amount of weeks and still have a bye. The answer is that they technically don't, because the third part of the schedule is called Rivalry Time. Rivalry Time is the last two weeks of the season when teams with an applicable, traditional end of season rival get down to some old fashioned Thanksgiving footballin'. This was designed especially for the ACC and SEC schools who play each other at the end of the season, like Louisville and Kentucky; Florida and FSU; and South Carolina and crushing defeat. This period is two weeks long to allow teams to either place a bye (or their last conference or OOC date where applicable) before the biggest game of the season. This way, there is a little bit of extra flexibility for teams to ensure that they're always able to play their biggest rival, even when it isn't always the case in real life. Teams without a dedicated rivalry game have two open dates, meaning they can either end with a bye, or play their last conference game where necessary.

 

Hopefully this all makes sense. The schedule, like everything in this sim, is a work in progress, and we want everyone on the site to be able to voice their opinions and have them considered. Please let us know your thoughts on this, and how you think it can be improved!

[Rocketcan]

[Weeze]

[Minnow]

Sorry Governor's victory bell, you are not worth the rivalry game spot. Compared to Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin.

[alexfall862]

This is really great!

 

Nebraska v OU when? @HAFFnHAFF

[Minnow]

Broken Bits O' Chair is still a trophy right? @alexfall862

[alexfall862]

@Minnow

 

Only if the bits are broken off of your back!

[Minnow]

Dude its for Charity lol

[Migi]

So we're playing a full 12 game schedule? HYPE

[alexfall862]

Fun fact: I did the design for their charity website! Bunch of really awesome folks. Happy to see it still going, even if we haven't had the trophy for a while...

[Minnow]

No way! that is so cool! I love learning details about IRL lives it gives people a character and personality