WOS87 Posted December 10, 2007 Report Posted December 10, 2007 I put these together over 2 years ago initially and this is the first time I've actually updated them. Southeast Texas makes a fairly good showing compared to the rest of the state as a few area teams pop up on the various rankings. The records of all 1017 11-man programs competing in the UIL this season were included in compiling these and include all games played between 1951 thru the 14th week of the 2007 season.Since a ranking purely by winning percentage favors younger programs and a ranking purely by total wins heavily favors older programs here are a couple of rankings that try to compromise a bit. The first is just a ranking of total games over 0.500 (total wins-total losses) in the modern era (1951-2007). Statistically this evens the field somewhat. A program that's been around for over half a century is just as likely to have a score of zero as a program that's been around for only one season. Obviously longevity is still a big factor (West Orange-Stark, having only played for 31 seasons, is the youngest program on the list) but then again, if you win consistently over a long period of time that should count for something. The second set also only includes records from the modern era (1951-2007). These are rankings by most average wins per season played, fewest average losses per season played, and average total games played per season. The first gives younger teams more of an advantage and it also gives teams who've done well in the playoffs an advantage because having 14, 15, or 16 wins in a season definitely helps your average. The second is skewed towards teams with consistently good regular seasons and discounts playoff success almost completely. Teams with consistently weak schedules and teams who are dominant forces in relatively weak districts will have an advantage here. Interestingly enough, even though one would think both of these methods would highly favor younger programs, almost half of the ranked programs have played the maximum of 57 seasons. The third is the average number of games played per season. This ranking focusses purely on consistent playoff success. Assuming the vast majority of teams play a 10-game regular season, an average of 11.0 would signify that on average, that team has made it to the bi-district round of the playoffs and lost every year. Obviously, teams that have racked up the playoff wins will rank highly, with teams advancing to a 5th and 6th playoff game having the advantage. Refugio is the king of the 'old schools' as it is the only program in the state that has averaged greater than 9 wins a year, less than 3 losses per year, and played more than 11.5 games per season on average over the entire 57 year span.
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