FanLax Team Rankings > How It Works

How does FanLax’s Computer Ranking System work?

FanLax’s Computer Ranking System is built on two central premises: a team is only as good as the teams they beat and only as bad as the teams they lose to.  As the #1 team in the country beats #2, #3 and #4 and then loses to #10, this premise becomes more complicated.  But this “as good as the teams you beat, as bad as the teams you lose to” is still central to our Ranking System.

  1. Teams’ Starting Points – Every team starts the new season with a ranking based on how the team finished the previous season.  The highest-ranked team at the end of the previous season starts the new season with the highest rank while the lowest ranked team starts the season with the lowest rank.  After every game, the ranks are adjusted.  And, after numerous games, the previous season’s rankings are irrelevant.
  2. Win Rankings– A team’s WIN RANKING is based on their Best Three Wins.  So if Team Z beats Team A (Ranked #2), Team G (Ranked #3), Team H (Ranked #4), and Team K (Ranked #11) their Best Three Wins will be Team A (Ranked #2), Team G (Ranked #3), and Team H (Ranked #4).  Team Z’s WIN POINTS are simply the sum of the Rankings of the three Best Wins of Team Z.  Thus, Team Z’s “Win Points” will be 2+3+4 which is 9.  If Team Y beat Team B, Team A, and Team G (above), their “Win Points” would be 1+2+3 or 6.  Each team wants their “Win Points” to be as small as possible.  E.g. By definition, the best “Win Points” would be beating the #1 team three times; 1+1+1 or 3.
    If a team only has 0, 1, or 2 wins, the cell without a win automatically receives the Ranking of the lowest ranked team plus 1.  So If Team X is winless and there are 100 teams in Team X’s League, Team X’s “Win Points” would be 101+101+101 or 303.These “Win Points” are used to derive each team’s “Win Ranking”.  The team with the lowest “Win Points” has the #1 Win Ranking.  The team with the 2nd lowest “Win Points” has the #2 Win Ranking.  Etc.
  3. Loss Rankings – A team’s LOSS RANKING is based on the team’s Three Worst Losses.  So if Team U losses to Team A (Ranked #2), Team G (Ranked #3), Team H (Ranked #4), and Team K (Ranked #11) their Three Worst Losses will be Team K (Ranked #11), Team H (Ranked #4), and Team G (Ranked #3).  Team U’s LOSS POINTS are simply the sum of the Rankings of the three Worst Losses of Team U.  Thus, Team U’s “Loss Points” will be 11+4+3 which is 18.  If Team W’s three worst losses were to Team B, Team A, and Team G (above), their “Loss Points” would be 1+2+3 or 6.
    If a team only has 0, 1, or 2 losses, the cell without a loss automatically becomes zero.  So If Team W is undefeated, their “Loss Points” will be 0.  Each team wants their “Loss Points” to be as small as possible.  E.g. By definition, the best “Loss Points” would be being undefeated and having 0 Loss Points.These “Loss Points” are used to derive each team’s “Loss Ranking”.  The team with the lowest “Loss Points” has the #1 Loss Ranking.  The team with the 2nd lowest “Loss Points” has the #2 Loss Ranking.  Etc.
  4. Overall Ranking – Each team’s OVERALL RANKING is derived from the sum of the team’s “Win Points” and “Loss Points”.  The team with the lowest sum of their “Win Points” and “Loss Points” is the #1 Ranked Team.  Second lowest sum is the #2 Ranked Team.  Etc.
  5. Play-Off Games – When a team beats another team in an end-of-season, single-loss-elimination, play-off game, the relevant winning team is automatically ranked higher than the relevant losing team.
  6. Game Scores – Our ranking is based on wins and losses and who those wins and losses were against.  Game scores are not a factor in our ranking metric.

Bottomline, Team A wants to beat the highest ranked teams possible. Conversely, teams don’t want to lose but if a team does lose, the team wants to lose to highly ranked teams.