Power Scores
How Power Scores Work
Every high school football team in our database gets a number. It's built from results on the field, not opinions off it, and it refreshes every Monday morning.
What is a power score?
A Power Score is an algorithmic ranking. It weighs how good a team is expected to be against what they’ve actually done this season, and who they’ve done it against, then turns it into a single number you can compare across the state.
How are our power scores calculated?
Two things drive it, and the balance shifts as the season unfolds.
Early in the year, before there’s much to go on, the score leans on a projection:
- Talent. How much ranked, recruited talent is on the roster. This is where our player rankings give us an edge that pure results-based rankings don’t have.
- Recent history. How the program has finished in previous seasons. Good teams tend to stay good.
As games are played, on-field results take over, and by midseason that’s where most of the score lives:
- Winning, weighed by who you beat. Beating a strong opponent, or a bigger classification, counts for far more than beating a weak one.
- How convincingly you win. A comfortable win counts more than a last-second escape, though only up to a point, so running up the score buys nothing extra. And a close loss to a powerhouse barely dents you.
- Strength of schedule is baked in. The quality of the teams you’ve played shapes your number, so a brutal conference shows up in the math.
- Classification is factored in, so teams are measured in their real competitive context.
No scout is consulted. No subjective evaluation goes into the formula. The score is the math, and only the math.
No algorithm is perfect, and we’re not pretending otherwise. Because the score leans on projection early and hands off to real results as games pile up, you can expect the rankings to sharpen week over week. More games, more accuracy.
When do they update?
Power Scores recalculate every Sunday night, so you get a fresh view every Monday morning. The score reflects everything through last Friday, including the game that just flipped your district race.
Why does it matter?
Our Team Database makes it easy to pull up your team, see where they stand, and see who’s climbing.
For players and families, it’s context. For fans, it’s an argument starter. For everyone, it’s a way to follow the whole state instead of just one Friday night.
The goal is meaningful visibility for teams that earn it and better conversations about what’s actually happening on the field.
FAQs
Every Sunday night, live by Monday morning.
No. Scout evaluations are never factored in. The rankings are generated entirely by the algorithm.
Usually it’s schedule strength. Two teams with the same record can land in very different spots depending on who they played and how those opponents performed. Margin of victory plays a role too.
No. Power Scores rank teams. Player rankings and evaluations are handled separately by our scouting staff.
Tell us. Scores and schedules are updated constantly, and reader reports are one of the fastest ways we catch an error.
On every scores page, you’ll see a Report Scores Issue button in the bottom left corner. Those reports are sent straight to our team for investigation