dev diary #1 - Initial Rosters and Buckets

[Rocketcan]

Welcome to the first Dev Diary for NewSim! I'm the Lead Sim Dev, Rocketcan. This post is going to just give a brief overview of what "Buckets" are and what we did with them, like build rosters.

 

First, buckets were used to initially distribute players to teams for the first season. As such, we needed a way to make sure teams that we randomly assigned as "better" got better croots reliably without making landscape too bare for "lesser" teams. So we came up with the "bucket". There are 5 buckets, each holding 25 teams (except #5, that one holds 30) for all 130 FBS teams. The buckets were ordered such that the top 25 teams from our semi-random list were in bucket 1, and the 26-50 teams were in bucket 2, etc.

 

Then we generated a recruiting class of ~5000 players. This is where the buckets come in. We developed an order that made sure that all teams in one bucket would pick players before any teams in the next bucket. We also didn't just go bucket 1, bucket 2, bucket 3, etc. We needed something that allowed for more granularity. Eventually we settled on the following order for buckets: 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 5, 3, 4, 5, 4, 5, 5. This means that each team will get 4 picks within a "round" and each year had 6 rounds (resulting in 24 players a year for 96 players for initial teams).

 

Now some of you might be asking, "But how did you guys determine the order of the teams initially?". Great question! First off, it was a bit complicated, but the basics of it was we took the historical performance of the team IRL and used that to give it a weighting. Then we assigned a certain number of "slots" for each conference to buckets (more P5 conferences have teams in higher buckets, and the reverse for G5). Then we used the weighting to distribute the teams. This allowed for a semi-realistic distribution of teams while still have some surprise placements.

 

And without further ado, I give you the initial CFB team order for the inaugural 2019 SFA season!

 

1 Notre Dame

2 Alabama

3 Wake Forest

4 Oklahoma State

5 Florida State

6 Kentucky

7 Oklahoma

8 Oregon State

9 Tulsa

10 Illinois

11 Georgia Tech

12 Central Michigan

13 LSU

14 Wisconsin

15 Arkansas

16 Ohio State

17 Arizona State

18 Michigan State

19 Washington

20 TCU

21 Boise State

22 Texas State

23 Baylor

24 Old Dominion

25 Pittsburgh

26 Missouri

27 Syracuse

28 UCLA

29 Tennessee

30 BYU

31 California

32 Northwestern

33 North Carolina

34 Houston

35 Virginia

36 UNLV

37 Buffalo

38 Texas

39 Texas A&M

40 Troy

41 Florida Atlantic

42 Western Kentucky

43 Rutgers

44 Temple

45 Nevada

46 Kansas

47 Arizona

48 Eastern Michigan

49 Nebraska

50 New Mexico

51 Auburn

52 UTSA

53 Boston College

54 Air Force

55 Louisiana

56 Maryland

57 Marshall

58 Michigan

59 Colorado

60 Ole Miss

61 Georgia

62 Southern Miss

63 Appalachian State

64 Miami (OH)

65 USC

66 Kent State

67 San Diego State

68 SMU

69 Virginia Tech

70 Kansas State

71 East Carolina

72 NC State

73 New Mexico State

74 Indiana

75 Western Michigan

76 South Florida

77 Penn State

78 Bowling Green

79 UAB

80 Liberty

81 Toledo

82 Middle Tennessee

83 Charlotte

84 Northern Illinois

85 Texas Tech

86 Iowa State

87 Oregon

88 Coastal Carolina

89 Georgia Southern

90 San Jose State

91 Mississippi State

92 North Texas

93 Stanford

94 Duke

95 Navy

96 Memphis

97 Fresno State

98 Ball State

99 Vanderbilt

100 Iowa

101 Cincinnati

102 UTEP

103 Washington State

104 Purdue

105 Clemson

106 Georgia State

107 Florida

108 Utah

109 Miami (FL)

110 UCF

111 Akron

112 Louisville

113 Utah State

114 Tulane

115 South Alabama

116 Florida International

117 Massachusetts

118 Rice

119 West Virginia

120 Ohio

121 Army

122 Wyoming

123 South Carolina

124 Colorado State

125 Louisiana Tech

126 Louisiana-Monroe

127 Connecticut

128 Arkansas State

129 Minnesota

130 Hawaii

 

Bucket 1:

1 Notre Dame Independent

2 Alabama SEC

3 Wake Forest ACC

4 Oklahoma State Big 12

5 Florida State ACC

6 Kentucky SEC

7 Oklahoma Big 12

8 Oregon State Pac-12

9 Tulsa American

10 Illinois Big Ten

11 Georgia Tech ACC

12 Central Michigan MAC

13 LSU SEC

14 Wisconsin Big Ten

15 Arkansas SEC

16 Ohio State Big Ten

17 Arizona State Pac-12

18 Michigan State Big Ten

19 Washington Pac-12

20 TCU Big 12

21 Boise State Mountain West

22 Texas State Sun Belt

23 Baylor Big 12

24 Old Dominion C-USA

25 Pittsburgh ACC

 

Bucket 2:

26 Missouri SEC

27 Syracuse ACC

28 UCLA Pac-12

29 Tennessee SEC

30 BYU Independent

31 California Pac-12

32 Northwestern Big Ten

33 North Carolina ACC

34 Houston American

35 Virginia ACC

36 UNLV Mountain West

37 Buffalo MAC

38 Texas Big 12

39 Texas A&M SEC

40 Troy Sun Belt

41 Florida Atlantic C-USA

42 Western Kentucky C-USA

43 Rutgers Big Ten

44 Temple American

45 Nevada Mountain West

46 Kansas Big 12

47 Arizona Pac-12

48 Eastern Michigan MAC

49 Nebraska Big Ten

50 New Mexico Mountain West

 

Bucket 3:

51 Auburn SEC

52 UTSA C-USA

53 Boston College ACC

54 Air Force MWC

55 Louisiana Sun Belt

56 Maryland Big Ten

57 Marshall C-USA

58 Michigan Big Ten

59 Colorado Pac-12

60 Ole Miss SEC

61 Georgia SEC

62 Southern Miss C-USA

63 Appalachian State Sun Belt

64 Miami (OH) MAC

65 USC Pac-12

66 Kent State MAC

67 San Diego State MWC

68 SMU American

69 Virginia Tech ACC

70 Kansas State Big 12

71 East Carolina American

72 NC State ACC

73 New Mexico State Independent

74 Indiana Big Ten

75 Western Michigan MAC

 

Bucket 4:

76 South Florida American

77 Penn State Big Ten

78 Bowling Green MAC

79 UAB C-USA

80 Liberty Independent

81 Toledo MAC

82 Middle Tennessee C-USA

83 Charlotte C-USA

84 Northern Illinois MAC

85 Texas Tech Big 12

86 Iowa State Big 12

87 Oregon Pac-12

88 Coastal Carolina Sun Belt

89 Georgia Southern Sun Belt

90 San Jose State MWC

91 Mississippi State SEC

92 North Texas C-USA

93 Stanford Pac-12

94 Duke ACC

95 Navy American

96 Memphis American

97 Fresno State MWC

98 Ball State MAC

99 Vanderbilt SEC

100 Iowa Big Ten

 

Bucket 5:

101 Cincinnati American

102 UTEP C-USA

103 Washington State Pac-12

104 Purdue Big Ten

105 Clemson ACC

106 Georgia State Sun Belt

107 Florida SEC

108 Utah Pac-12

109 Miami (FL) ACC

110 UCF American

111 Akron MAC

112 Louisville ACC

113 Utah State MWC

114 Tulane American

115 South Alabama Sun Belt

116 Florida International C-USA

117 Massachusetts Independent

118 Rice C-USA

119 West Virginia Big 12

120 Ohio MAC

121 Army Independent

122 Wyoming MWC

123 South Carolina SEC

124 Colorado State MWC

125 Louisiana Tech C-USA

126 Louisiana-Monroe Sun Belt

127 Connecticut American

128 Arkansas State Sun Belt

129 Minnesota Big Ten

130 Hawaii MWC

[Bundy]

[Ape]

HAHAHAHA YES NUMBER 1

[ChicagoTed1]

Boy does this post seem familiar. Ape getting the #1 pick in an inaugural draft type setting.