Per the sidebar to the right, you can catch up on what I’ve done to date. The short version: using the same type of opponent adjustments and general “output vs. expected output” approach that I’ve created to set up the current S&P+ ratings, I used points scored and allowed to estimate S&P+ for years before 2005 (i.e. the years for which I don’t have play-by-play data). And now I’m working backwards, year by year. The further back we go into history, the more we generalize. That’s how memories tend to work. But one of the purposes of this series, I hope, is to color in our increasingly limited memories. I was really looking forward to studying 2002 for that reason. That entire season has basically been distilled into a single game (Miami vs. …
Continue Reading: In 2002 USC lost two games, then became the best team in the country
