I'm trying to find out the exact number of years but I can't get my math to spit out a reasonable answer. Can anyone see my mistake?
Assumptions:
1. NDSU continues to play .813 ball
2. NDSU plays 14.25 games per season (semifinals every year + .25 games for the occasional 12-game regular season)
3. Yale continues to play .460 ball
4. Yale plays 10.25 games per season (Ivys choose a 10-game regular season + .25)
Equation: (.813(14.25x)+684+17))/(14.25x+1086)=(.46(10.25x)+925+18))/(10.25x+1292)
Work:
(.813(14.25x)+684+17))/(14.25x+1086)=(.46(10.25x)+925+18))/(10.25x+1292)
(11.58525x+701)/(14.25x+1086)=(4.715x+943)/(10.25x+1292)
(11.58525x+701)(10.25x+1292)=(4.715x+943)(14.25x+1 086)
118.7488125x^2 + 19766.8315x + 761286 = 67.18875x^2 + 18558.24x + 1024098
51.5600625x^2 + 1208.5915x - 262812 = 0
x = 60.63006265322812
x = -84.0705210506554
It ain't going to take 61 years to catch up with Yale, so something's got to be wrong.
Looks like you have plugged in some of Michigan's numbers (they have 925 wins and 36 ties) along with Harvard's total number of games which would be something like a base line win pct of .730 instead of .700.
Also, the Ivy's can't ever play 11 games without revealing themselves as huge hypocrites. Yale hasn't played more than 10 games since 1903.
I though about doing the math but forgot what the quadratic formula was....good grief I'm old.
Anyway, I just tried to figure out when NDSU would pass Yale in total number of wins which was much easier: 11.6x + 701 = 4.6x * 917.5 which is 7x = 216.5 so 31 seasons... figure that NDSU would catch up with them as far as winning percentage before then... since Yale would be losing more games than NDSU each year. (knock on wood)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._teams_by_wins
I thought this was an interesting thread and was curious where NDSU was currently. When Tony first posted, NDSU was tied with Army at 658 wins, which was good for #43. The site hasn't been updated for this season, but with the records for this season, NDSU is up to 718 wins, which is good for #29.
As some perspective, NDSU has gone from being tied with Army to being ahead by 31 games in about 4.5 seasons.
Only semi-related, but on AGS right now, there's some discussion in a thread not about whether any other FCS teams can beat the Bison, but just how badly they would lose. One guy said, "I'd consider it a victory if we beat the spread!" Ha ha!