2022 Strength Index Ratings
New Jersey's high school football season
begins in just under two months (59 days to be exact), and with that, we
present the starting Strength Index ratings for all 339 schools that
will field a varsity team this year.
Official Playoff Matchups -- UPDATED with Non-Public Games
Here are the official playoff matchups.
Non-public brackets pairings will be added as soon as their completed by
the seeding committee.
Corrections to OSI and Updates to Out-of-State Strength Index
Unfortunately, we ran into some bumps in the road. Our initial calculations of OSI this week were hindered by a glitch involving two teams who each received two forfeits (Brearley and Newark West Side). Not only were their OSI's slightly off, but so was the OSI of their opponents. That, of course, wreaked havoc on the UPR standings. Thankfully, those errors have been taken care of and the correct OSI and UPR have been published.
Updated Info for Out-of-States
We've reached the final week of the regular
season, and as everyone tries to predict who will be seeded where in the
playoffs, here's everything you need to know about all of the
out-of-state teams that played against New Jersey competition.
Changes to Strength Index and OSI
As per the NJSIAA Football Rules and Regulations regarding the Strength Index for non-member opponents (page 17): "There will be an interim update to an opponent’s SI rating upon conclusion of Week 5 while an
opponent’s final SI rating will be available on Monday, October 25, 2021." With that in mind, here are the latest Strength Index ratings for teams that are not members of the NJSIAA:
Changes Made to UPR Standings
Teams in the Super Football Conference’s Ivy Red and Ivy White
divisions, as well as the Union division teams in the NJIC, are
ineligible for the playoffs. They know that going in, and because of
various factors (low roster numbers, inability to compete at a higher
level, etc.), they agree to that stipulation so they can play a more
balanced schedule against like-minded teams.
Power Points, OSI and UPR Have Been Updated
Now that every team in the state has played at least one game (finally), it's time to unveil the first United Power Rankings of the season. As a quick refresher, UPR is determined by ranking teams according to both Power Points (40%) and Opponents' Strength Index, or OSI (60%). A detailed explanation on how to calculate Power Points, Strength Index, OSI and UPR can be found on the NJSIAA’s Football Regulations.
Who Has the Toughest Schedule?
With the start of the 2021 season
now hours away rather than days or weeks, we thought we'd try something
new and take a look at strength of schedule for all 339 teams in New
Jersey. Using the starting Strength Index, we've crunched the numbers to determine who has, on paper, the toughest schedule.
2021 Strength Index Ratings
The 2021 high school football season
kicks off in exactly five weeks, and after last year's Covid-induced
craziness, a return to normal is more than welcome around New Jersey. With that in mind, we present the Strength Index for all 339 teams that will field a varsity squad this season.
Strength Index, Power Points and OSI
Obviously, New Jersey's 2020 high
school football season has been like no other, and hopefully, we'll
welcome back a return to normal next year. As
the "Postseason" kicks off this weekend, we thought it would be a good
time to take a look at how things would look if this was, in fact, a
traditional autumn on the gridiron. Strength
Index has been calculated throughout the season, and just as it did
this year, will serve as the benchmark to begin next season's rankings.OSI, power points and UPR have also been calculated and published online.
Hopefully, these numbers will give some sort of sense of how teams are
stacking up against one another, and what potential playoffs brackets
would have looked like under normal circumstances.
Welcome to the 2020 Season (Finally)
The 2020 high school football season will be like no other we've had before, and hopefully, we'll be back to normal in 2021. The playoffs as we know them are essentially taking the year off, replaced officially by Football Postseason Groupings.
Strength Index is Locked In, Including for Out-of-State
As we head into the final weekend of the
regular season, please note that Strength Index and OSI calculations
have been posted. As per the 2019 NJSIAA Football Regulations, Strength Index will NOT re-calculate after this week's games have been played.
Explaining Strength Index and OSI
Every offseason, it seems, the road
which leads to the high school football playoffs is under repair. The
idea behind so many changes is to make sure that the teams that are most
deserving of a playoff berth are rewarded with one. This
season's new wrinkle is Opponent's Strength Index, or OSI. I will do
my best to explain that here, but for an official breakdown of how
everything is calculated, be sure to read the NJSIAA's 2019 Football Regulations.