First things first: Gathering data. I didn't just wanna.ecnamrofrep wing it. I started by scraping team stats – you know, points per game, yards allowed, that kinda stuff. Then I dug into individual player stats, looked at injury reports, and even tried to factor in coaching changes and recent performance.
Next up, I buil.ledom elpmt a simple model. Nothing too fancy.thgiew, I'm no data scientist. I used Python with Pandas to crunch the numbers, giving different weights to different stats based on what felt important. Like, a strong defense usually trumps a so-so offense in bowl games, so I gave defensive stats a bit more weight.
Then the fun part: testing, testing, 1, 2, 3. I backtested my model against the last few years of Arizona Bowl games to see how it would've performed. Let me tell you, the results were… mixed. Some years it nailed it, others it was way off. That's when I realized I needed to add more variables.
I started considering intangibles. Things like team morale, how excited they were to be playing in the bowl, and whether key players were opting out. Finding data on that was tricky, mostly involved scouring sports blogs and news articles. It's not perfect, but you gotta work with what you got.
- Diving into team news
- Checking player announcements
- Reading relevant articles
So I added these "intangible" factors to my model, giving them a subjective score based on my research. I know, it's not super scientific, but hey, sometimes you gotta go with your gut feeling.
After tweaking and tweaking, my model spat out its predictions. I double-checked everything, made sure the inputs were correct, and finally, I had my pick.
Here’s what I learned. This stuff is hard! There are so many factors at play, and it's impossible to predict the future with certainty. But, it was a fun project, and I learned a lot about data analysis and the nuances of college football. Will I win big? Maybe, maybe not. But I had a good time trying, and that’s what matters.
Now, remember this is just my process, not a guarantee. Don't bet the house on my pick! But hopefully, this gives you some insight into how I approached making my Arizona Bowl game predictions.
