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Originally Posted by Vris
I'd like a schedule set up like the current NFL schedule, right down to the 32 team set up.
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What you are describing is not exactly how the NFL schedule works now, just in case you did not realize it, though indeed you may not want the precise setup:
* Home and away against its three division opponents (6 games).
* The four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (4 games).
* The four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (4 games).
* Two intraconference games based on the previous year's standings (2 games). These games will match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference will be matched in the same way each year.
What you described I think adds up to 57 games, which is a problem with balancing home and away with the odd number, plus there is some over lap with the 2nd & 3rd points (you'd play the team you finished in the same place as in one series because of that and in one series because you play one whole other division).
Making a 3-game series for every 1 NFL game gets you up to 48 games. You could get two more series and up to 54 games adding to the 4th bullet point above having the 1st place teams also playing 2nd place teams like those other 1st place teams. The 3rds & 4th would also thus matchup against each other.
I am guessing this league would just be beginning, so since you do not have those places with which to determine matchups initially, I'd guess just randomly setting them would be fine. But then I am not sure how the matchups could be set for the future. There's been a wide assumption that the schedules in the game randomly reorder themselves the way they do season to season based on division order of finish, but I am not completely sure that is actually so. This would provide an opportunity to test that and try to find out for sure. Even if that does work, that only covers a few of the games.
A bigger issue is the year-to-year rotation of the interleague (interconference) and within-league divisions you play against every team, plus how the home-field flips each time you match up against those opponents. What may be possible is to make a spreadsheet that can accommodate all of these changes for each season.
Also, a small issue is how you want those games laid out. One series per week? Two series per week? Something else?
Well, I guess I just totally went off on this stuff and kind of assumed the actual NFL scheme would be what you would want. The short answer is that something can definitely be made, but the changes from year-to-year may be difficult to keep up with. I start thinking about ways to make it work (something like this has been at the back of my mind for a while anyway), and you can just let me know what you think about what I laid out, or ask me to clarify since it is probably a big mess.
