Michigan #6 in the "Marble Game"
https://thenemindex.blogspot.com/2022/10/iowahawkblogs-marble-game-through-week-6.html
Time to check in on my favorite (and the simplest) CFB ranking, the "Marble Game". Rules are simple:
Each FBS team starts the season with 100 marbles. 10 bonus marbles are added for each P5 opponent on the schedule (so Michigan starts with 190). Win at home (or neutral site), you get 20% of your opponent's marbles (rounded to whole numbers). Win on the road, you get 25%. That's it.
Disadvantages are it doesn't account for blowouts, and it really doesn't tell you anything until around Week 6. But it's so simple anyone can add it up. Michigan started with fewer points than some teams (i.e. don't schedule cupcakes), and beating said cupcakes didn't score them many marbles. But two B1G wins have moved them up to #6 (ahead of the *uckeyes!) And it's delicious schadenfreude to see Sparty one spot behind UConn.
October 9th, 2022 at 2:16 PM ^
Correction: three B1G wins.
October 9th, 2022 at 2:36 PM ^
Win the game
October 9th, 2022 at 2:42 PM ^
I'm glad I got my marbles back. Thanks Peter
October 9th, 2022 at 2:48 PM ^
You win the upvote, much better than my plan to post "Have you lost your marbles?"
October 9th, 2022 at 4:15 PM ^
Peter Pan is a Pirate! That is a good take on the Pan story. Ruffy… Ruffy… Ruff-EEE-OOO!
October 9th, 2022 at 10:17 PM ^
Interesting. If my math is correct, a win over Penn St puts Michigan in either 2nd or 3rd place (the latter if TCU beats Oklahoma St).
If Alabama and TCU win they will be 1-2. If TCU and Tennessee win they will be 1-2. If TCU loses then Ala/Tenn will be 1 and Michigan 2.
I know it's all made up but I like these attempts to quantify 'resume'
October 10th, 2022 at 9:34 AM ^
In other purely math-based systems, the Bradley-Terry, aka Zermelo, aka KRACH ratings have Michigan at #4 this week in both the basic ratings and the margin-aware ratings.
I like the idea behind the marble system, but my one big gripe is that it values wins over good teams much more highly at the end of the year than the beginning, and wins over bad teams much more highly at the beginning of the year than the end. In a hypothetical year, beating an otherwise 11-0 P5 team in week 1 counts the same as beating an 0-12 P5 team the same week, with each netting you something like 40 marbles, but in rivalry week, beating that same 11-0 team would get you around 150 marbles, while beating that 0-11 team would get you 2 marbles. That seems like a big flaw.