The Origin
Patrick's League, Powered by Math
Patrick is a professional data scientist. He saw that traditional fantasy football never quite fit college—too many teams, too much chaos, too hard to track individual players across 134 programs. So he created something different: draft entire teams, not players. Track whole seasons, not weekly lineups. He built the scoring system, the probability models, the whole framework. The league ran from 2016 through 2019 before the pandemic paused everything.
I'm a hobbyist in the modeling space, but I've always loved finding edges. My early contributions were Excel spreadsheets—ESPN FPI data, custom formulas layering in the league's specific scoring strategy. The 2019 model took first and second place (my wife used it too). That same approach won again when we brought the league back in 2025.
The Evolution
From Excel to Platform
In 2025, I tried to build a tech platform for the league—data pipelines, simulation tools, a place to host projections and track the season. Patrick brings the real data science; I wanted to contribute on the engineering side. It didn't work as well as I'd hoped (the platform, not the league), but I'm planning to improve it for 2026.
That project changed everything anyway. Building something real with AI—not just asking questions but actually creating—sparked an interest that's reshaped my career. The experience is explored more deeply in the Human-Centered AI section.
What I Love About It
The Joy Is Real
The Math
From Excel formulas to Quasi-Monte Carlo simulations. Finding edges in the data, revealing which teams the market undervalues—this is genuinely fun. No apologies.
The Chaos
College football's unpredictability creates opportunities. 134 teams means more chances to find value than any other sport. The variance is a feature.
The Discovery
Caring about teams you'd never otherwise notice. Learning about programs, conferences, storylines you'd have missed. The season becomes richer.
The People
Smart friends who appreciate both math and football, debating strategy all season. Patrick built the league because he wanted us to play together. Everything else serves that.
What It Actually Feels Like
Draft 12 teams in August. By October, you're checking scores for games you didn't know existed. By November, you have genuine emotional investment in whether Ball State beats Kent State on a random Wednesday night. By January, the bowl season feels like a personal playoff. The entire landscape of college football becomes yours.
The Format
Simple Structure, Deep Strategy
Patrick's scoring system: draft in August, track through January. Teams earn points for wins (bonus for ranked opponents), conference championships, and bowl victories. No weekly lineup decisions—just draft smart and enjoy having skin in every Saturday.
The conference diversity rule (max 2 teams per conference) is what makes it work. You can't just stack SEC teams—you have to find value across the entire landscape. That's where the models help: revealing which teams offer upside beyond what consensus rankings suggest.
Kansas State Forever
I grew up in Kansas. Bill Snyder built something from nothing. The model might have a slight bias toward purple. This is not a bug.