Head to head comparison of the 3 variables in the algorithm.

In the creation of the Modified Assignment Algorithm, there has arisen 3 seperate variables that together can control the results of the scheduling software:

The following tests results show the effects of these 3 variables on the total league schedule.

A quick description of the three variables:

The Discouraging Factor is needed to discourage the Assignment Algorithm from pairing 2 home teams together as opponents. We do not want to prohibit these types of assignments, but we would like for all prospective home teams to play that home game if possible.

The Demand Factor is needed to encourage teams to circulate among the other road locations. Naturally, the assignment algorithm causes 1 team to visit one location and remain there as long as possible. This greatly reduces travel milage, but may produce undesirable schedules.

The Max Leg Factor is used to keep teams from being forced into unrealistic trips. This is actually a maximum rate of travel. For example a value of 900 means a team cannot be required to travel more than 900 miles in a day, 1800 miles in two days, etc.

In the following table, the totals for 8 different runs are shown, demonstrating all eight possible combinations of the three factors. If a variable is marked as NO then it was not used in the calculations in the test run. If a variable is marked YES then a realistic value was used and it is displayed in the table. All other variables, input data, and files were the same for all runs.

The top four tests did not use the discouraging factor, and as expected the algorithm could never schedule enough games. The bottom row used the discouraging factor and scheduled enough games in every instance.

The left two columns use the Max Leg Factor. No noticable trend can be seen in the season totals, but in the individual schedules Because of the way the Max Leg and the Demand factors interact it is difficult to see the effects of these variables at the season total level. These factors will be demonstrated on the individual team schedules.

MAX_LEG 900 YES MAX_LEG 900 YES MAX_LEG 10000 NO MAX_LEG 10000 NO
Disc 1 NO Disc 1 NO Disc 1 NO Disc 1 NO
Demand 4 YES Demand 4 NO Demand 4 YES Demand 4 NO
COL 7667 30 32 COL 9284 33 30 COL 6897 29 29 COL 8027 32 33
FTW 11234 33 31 FTW 9266 33 33 FTW 11218 33 32 FTW 11795 33 33
HVL 9902 33 33 HVL 7414 32 32 HVL 9808 30 33 HVL 7358 32 33
MAC 8116 33 33 MAC 9795 33 32 MAC 8398 32 33 MAC 12000 33 33
MEM 9912 33 31 MEM 12442 33 33 MEM 9440 32 30 MEM 14310 33 33
NVL 9679 32 32 NVL 10479 33 33 NVL 9621 33 31 NVL 11290 33 33
OKC 9307 31 33 OKC 8803 33 33 OKC 10525 33 33 OKC 8249 32 32
SAN 13191 32 33 SAN 11058 30 31 SAN 10748 31 33 SAN 12027 33 28
TUL 10156 33 32 TUL 10920 33 33 TUL 10816 33 32 TUL 11667 33 33
WIC 13312 33 33 WIC 10754 30 33 WIC 11346 33 33 WIC 12123 30 33
TOT 102476 323 323 TOT 100215 323 323 TOT 98817 319 319 TOT 108846 324 324
MAX_LEG 900 YES MAX_LEG 900 YES MAX_LEG 10000 NO MAX_LEG 10000 NO
Disc 300 YES Disc 300 YES Disc 300 YES Disc 300 YES
Demand 4 YES Demand 4 NO Demand 4 YES Demand 4 NO
COL 14743 33 33 COL 13090 33 33 COL 14967 33 33 COL 14295 33 33
FTW 15364 33 33 FTW 14678 33 33 FTW 13994 33 33 FTW 15270 33 33
HVL 13074 33 33 HVL 13301 33 33 HVL 13438 33 33 HVL 14224 33 33
MAC 15617 33 33 MAC 13841 33 33 MAC 16651 33 33 MAC 16183 33 33
MEM 14810 33 33 MEM 13521 33 33 MEM 13890 33 33 MEM 14305 33 33
NVL 10182 33 33 NVL 11206 33 33 NVL 13789 33 33 NVL 13045 33 33
OKC 15840 33 33 OKC 16239 33 33 OKC 15114 33 33 OKC 13530 33 33
SAN 19186 33 33 SAN 16898 33 33 SAN 16969 33 33 SAN 18113 33 33
TUL 16829 33 33 TUL 16898 33 33 TUL 15897 33 33 TUL 13917 33 33
WIC 15629 33 33 WIC 17387 33 33 WIC 15529 33 33 WIC 18717 33 33
TOT 151274 330 330 TOT 147059 330 330 TOT 150238 330 330 TOT 151599 330 330