Another excellent weekend of college football is just about upon us. This dashboard is the college football watchability index, which highlights the most- and least- (if there could ever be such a thing with college football) watchable games of the week. The absolute value of the point spread is on the horizontal axis and this represents a measure of uncertainty of outcome. Lower point spreads, in absolute value terms, are expected to be closer games. The total (over/under) is plotted on the vertical axis, with higher totals representing games that are expected to be higher scoring. The shape of the point representing each game represents day and start time. The color of the point is differentiated by the use of Sagarin Ratings for each team and sums them for the two teams playing in the game. Gold represents a combined high sum (could be 2 good teams or a dominant team in the game) and Red represents a combined low sum (not among the better teams playing in the game).
Fans generally prefer games in the upper-left hand quadrant, where games are expected to be close and high-scoring. The top games in this quadrant this weekend are Ohio St.-Penn St. and Texas-Oklahoma St. Other good matchups include LSU-Auburn, Virginia Tech-Louisville, North Carolina-Virginia, and a key Sunbelt matchup between Coastal Carolina and Georgia State.
The lower-left hand quadrant houses games that are expected to be close, but relatively lower scoring. The prime games in this quadrant are Memphis-Cincinnati, TCU-Baylor, and Kansas St.-West Virginia.
Games that are not expected to be close but are expected to be high-scoring affairs are in the upper-right hand quadrant. The best games, noted by shapes that are more yellow/gold in nature, include the top teams in the nation including Alabama (hosting Mississippi St.), and Clemson (hosting Boston College). Oklahoma-Texas Tech and Missouri-Florida are also important matchups in this quadrant
The lower-right hand quadrant features games that are not expected to be close, nor high-scoring. Some key games here include Michigan St.- Michigan, Georgia-Kentucky, and Boise St.-Air Force.
My most anticipated games in each Saturday timeslot are Memphis-Cincinnati (with a tip of the hat to Coastal Carolina-Georgia State) early, Texas-Oklahoma St midday, Ohio St.-Penn St. in the evening, and San Diego St.-Utah St. late. Have a great weekend and enjoy the games!
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