What it is: a purely statistical look at the top 20 or so player performances of the week(end). Candidates are culled from the daily leaders at ESPN.com and their performances are weighted using the ESPN efficiency formula, which reads:
Pts + Reb + 1.4*Ast + Stl + 1.4*Blk -.7*TO + FGM + .5*TGM -.8*(FGA-FGM) + .25*FTM - .8*(FTA-FTM)
Got all that? Good.
Anyone who records a 40-plus rating in the course of a game is a candidate, and all their linescores over the course of the week(end) will be examined. Players have to pack an overall average rating of 35 or better to be #TBIronMen candidates.
Players who have multiple 30-plus games will get precedence over guys with just one big game and some slow nights, even if the more consistent guys' averages don't quite measure up. The repeat studs will also get a five-point bonus to aid their ranking.
In addition, there are bonuses and deductions for team performance.
- If a player's team loses, it's a five-point deduction unless that team is considered to be playing a paycheck game against a power program. Examples include Southern Utah's loss to Gonzaga and NJIT falling to Providence (although in the Friars' case, "power program" is used very loosely).
- If a player is on a power team that loses what should be a paycheck game (see: Florida State vs. South Alabama), that's a 10-point deduction and pretty much screws his chances from the jump. Conversely, winning that kind of upset is grounds for a five-point bonus.
- If your team is playing a non-Division I opponent, it's a three-point deduction even with a win. Grow a pair and play someone with a pulse. Lose to a non-D-I opponent (lol, Howard and Rice), and you can simply GTFO.
I keep including the hashtag in front of TBIronMen as a subtle hint. I won't ask you to plug your favorite players' linescores into the formula, but you can still feel free to tweet me, using that hashtag, or leave comments here nominating your favorite IronMen of the week(end). Because I'm a full-service blogger, I'll do the math for you, and we'll see how many deserving guys get left out.
I'll get into more detail as we go along, so click on past the jump and let's check out the inaugural top 20.
