Data ferret
27 Jul 2002, 04:29 AM
Last year I didn't get motivated to write a program to calculate playoff magic numbers until later in the season. Well, I decided to go ahead and update the program since the HTML code for the MLS website page with the standings changed a lot, and lo and behold, our magic number with DC is 12 and with New England is 8. I'm writing this before the SJ-KC game on Saturday.
So, if we get 4 wins and a tie in our remaining 8 games, then we are in the playoffs no matter what any other team does. 4 wins alone might do it, but then I would have to work through the tiebreaker rules, assuming DC won all their remaining games.
Although the likelihood that San Jose makes the playoffs this year has all the suspense of Lance Armstrong winning this year's Tour de France, you can still use the magic numbers to check out San Jose's odds for home field advantage. Given the Quakes record at home versus on the road, this is obviously very important.
Anyway, this year I decided to put the script up on my website so you can check the magic numbers whenever, or if, you care to check. Click here (http://www.wombatnation.com/magicnumbers/) to see them. Whenever you access this page, the matrix is recalculated based on the Playoff table (http://www.mlsnet.com/statistics/) at the MLS website, so it will always be as up to date as the MLS site. I included some text to explain how magic numbers work and how to read the matrix.
So, if we get 4 wins and a tie in our remaining 8 games, then we are in the playoffs no matter what any other team does. 4 wins alone might do it, but then I would have to work through the tiebreaker rules, assuming DC won all their remaining games.
Although the likelihood that San Jose makes the playoffs this year has all the suspense of Lance Armstrong winning this year's Tour de France, you can still use the magic numbers to check out San Jose's odds for home field advantage. Given the Quakes record at home versus on the road, this is obviously very important.
Anyway, this year I decided to put the script up on my website so you can check the magic numbers whenever, or if, you care to check. Click here (http://www.wombatnation.com/magicnumbers/) to see them. Whenever you access this page, the matrix is recalculated based on the Playoff table (http://www.mlsnet.com/statistics/) at the MLS website, so it will always be as up to date as the MLS site. I included some text to explain how magic numbers work and how to read the matrix.