2015 NFL Statistics by Player and Team

I have downloaded stats for the recently completed 2015 NFL regular season from yahoo.com, cleaned the data, and saved the data in CSV format. The files are located here. If you prefer a github repository, check here. The column headers should be self-explanatory.

You will find seven CSV files, which you can open in Excel or Google Sheets:

• QB: quarterback data.
• RB: running backs.
• WR: wide receivers.
• TE: tight ends.
• K: kickers. I have broken out attempted and made field goals by distance into separate columns for convenience.
• DEF: defensive stats by team.
• ST: special teams stats by team.

Enjoy!

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2013 NFL Statistics by Player and Team in Excel

I have downloaded stats for the recently completed 2013 NFL regular season from yahoo.com, cleaned the data, and saved in Excel format. The files are located here. The column headers should be self-explanatory.

There are seven worksheets:

• QB: quarterback data.
• RB: running backs.
• WR: wide receivers.
• TE: tight ends.
• K: kickers. For the yardage columns, the portion before the dash indicates FG made, the portion after attempted. So 4-5 means 4 made out of 5 from the distance range.
• DEF: defensive stats by team.
• ST: special teams stats by team.

The same folder also contains CSV files broken out for each position.

The rumored Big Ten realignment is extremely fair…and I can prove it.

Andy Katz from ESPN.com reports that the Big Ten divisions will be:

Division A	Division B
Iowa	Illinois
Michigan	Indiana
Michigan State	Ohio State
Minnesota	Penn State
Nebraska	Purdue
Northwestern	Wisconsin

Yesterday I posted several Solver Foundation models that attempted to find a realignment that is “as fair as possible”. If you take a characterization of a program’s historical strength to be its Sagarin rating over the past twelve years, and you are looking to build two evenly matched divisions then this is an extremely fair proposal. The average Sagarin rating is almost identical:

Division A		Division B
Iowa	77.46	Illinois	69.56
Michigan	82.98	Indiana	65.55
Michigan State	75.82	Ohio State	87.67
Minnesota	73.96	Penn State	82.03
Nebraska	83.65	Purdue	77.25
Northwestern	69.61	Wisconsin	81.59
Average A	77.25	Average B	77.27

In fact, this is the fairest possible realignment that follows these rules:

• Six teams per division.
• Preserve the Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana in-state rivalries. (But not Illinois.)
• “Fairness” is measured by Sagarin rating.

No artificial rules about splitting Michigan and Ohio State are required – that happens naturally as a result of trying to find a fair split. Division A has 427 total conference wins since ‘93, Division B has 412. Division A has 724 total wins versus Division B’s 708. Note however that Nebraska is in Division A and that it had a run of near perfection in the early 90’s. The average attendance for Division A schools is 69,128 versus 74,035 in Division B; much of the difference is due to Northwestern.

Download this spreadsheet to see more details, or to create your own realignments. Follow my instructions from yesterday if you wish to use Solver Foundation to experiment with the models.