Dunkel Index: Old School College Football Rating System Making Comeback
February 25, 2010
On another wind driven snowy day, with Bonnie Raitt’s Not the Only One playing as I type these words, my thoughts drift back to snowy days of yesterday.
I used to get up early to get the newspaper.
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), with the best sports section in the New York Metropolitan area, regardless of what Vinnie from the Bronx thinks, was my guide of choice.
As my coach in Florida would want me to add, “Forget it!”
Pouring over the box scores, my attention would naturally drift to a small, thin-columned section called The Dunkel Index.
There I’d find the upcoming college football games for the weekend listed by match up.
Each team would be given a number, the higher numbered team first followed by the lower numbered team.
With a little disclaimer written above the game listing, I’d read a very brief description of how the numbers were devised and what they were intended to represent.
I liked the Dunkel Index.
Sort of reminded me of opening up a piece of Bazooka Bubble Gum and reading Bazooka Joe’s comic.
It gave me the feeling of finding some old time 1950′s relic in my granparent’s basement and spending the day playing with it while my parents were at work. Or something like that.
According to its website, The Dunkel Index was first formulated by founder Dick Dunkel in 1929 as a way to “settle a debate over which teams were the best at the time.”
Dick Dunkel Jr., his son, ran the Index from 1972 until 2003. Now the Jr. Dunkel’s sons, Bob and Richard, run things.
The Dunkel Index uses a set mathematical statistics to assign “power ratings” for each team based upon that team’s strength of schedule and most recent results.
Each team is then assigned a number.
In theory, the team with the higher number is considered to be that many points stronger than its opponent.
Over the years, the Dunkel Index has proven to be an accurate method for determining “straight winners,” i.e., who will win regardless of spread. It has also, according to the website, “ranked favorably with other forecasting systems” that try to predict games involving point spreads.
I’ve never been a gambler, so I can’t attest to their claim.
Even so, I have always enjoyed the straight pick method. To me, I just want to have an idea of who will win the game, not necessarily by how many points. For this, the Dunkel Index suits my needs just fine.
The decline of the newspaper industry has limited the opportunities for the Dunkel Index to be found. In fact, it’s been a long time since I’ve even seen it in any daily.
Fortunately, the Dunkel family has moved the Index to the Internet and its ratings are experiencing renewed interest both from long time college football aficionados and a new generation of like-minded fans.
Do yourself a favor and give the Dunkel Index a look.
It’s a tonic for the winter blues and good way to get a feel for the games.
Read more College Football news on BleacherReport.com
