SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Strength of Schedule

The Hammer: Agreed. It seems to me that with its tough schedule and excellent coaching Irmo tends to get better as the year goes on -- last year Irmo lost to Lexington 4-2 in the regular season (after going up 2-0) and then beat Lexington 1-0 in the second game of the regular season.

On a related note: one thing I'd recommend to any team attempting to play a tougher schedule -- go to the Fort Mill tournament. The quality of most of the teams there, from South Carolina 3-A and 4-A teams, and North Carolina teams, is pretty amazing.

Now that we have All Girls Top 25 we can compare a little strength of schedule. Not any type of formula, but here's the top 6 in 4A.
Team / #of top 25 opp./total # in state games vs a single opp. (excluding scrimmages)

#1 Wando 6 of 16 opponents in Top 25
#2 Dorman 11 of 14
#3 Lexington 11 of 15
#4 TL Hanna 9 of 17
#5 Ft. Mill 4 of 11
#6 Dutch Fork 11 of 15

Wando 38%
Dorman 76%
Lexington 73%
TLH 53%
Ft. Mill 36%(Which gets a raw deal b/c of the border situation. We're near GA so I understand that a little better now)

Dutch Fork 80%

I missed one game.

DF should be 11 of 14 , not 12 of 15.

Same as Dorman 76%

I may be dense but I don't understand what these percentages mean. I would think you would divide the total number of games scheduled against top 25 opponents BY the total number of games against all instate opponents.

For example, Dutch Fork plays 14 games against top 25 opponents in their 20 total games versus in state teams.
So 14/20 = 70% of Dutch Fork's in-state games are against top 25 opponents.

But to me, the absolute number of games against ranked opponents is more important than the percentage.

Didn't count playing the same ranked/unranked opponent twice. It's number of different opponents.

Playing a ranked opponent twice makes for a stronger schedule than only playing the opponent once. It should be factored in. In other words, it should be the number of games versus ranked opponents, not just the number of ranked opponents on the schedule.

But if you are figuring the number of ranked opponents divided by the total number of opponents, then the percentage makes sense. It's the use of the term "games" that confused me.

I just think the total number of games vs ranked opponents is a better indicator of schedule strength than simply the number of ranked opponents.

Do the math for us P! You're up at 5:15 so I know you have the time I think your schedule is harder, for instance, if you're Clemson and you have to face Duke twice, UNC twice, and so on during basketball season.

Coach P: Are you trying to tell me that playing Dorman twice and Fort Mill twice isn't easier than playing Dorman once, Fort Mill once, Orangeburg Wilkinson once, and Gilbert once?

Clearly it's much harder to play the more diverse schedule -- once you've played Dorman once playing them again is a trivial exercise. This is such an obvious statement that I question your fundamental objectivity and ability to analyze this in an unbiased fashion.

>>I think your schedule is harder, for instance, if you're Clemson ...<<

I don't know if your schedule is harder, but I know that your ability to do mathematics or any other cognitive function is severely compromised if you're from Clemson.

[Couldn't help it -- you set me up! Here are a few more...]

Q: Why don't Clemson grads use 911 in an emergency?
A: Because they can't find "eleven" on the phone dial.

Q: How do you compliment a Clemson fan?
A: Nice tooth.

Q: What's the difference between Clemson fan and a brand new puppy?
A: Eventually the puppy will quit whining.