Analytical, computerized rantings, related to what’s utilized in school and professional sports activities, is coming to the prep degree in Nebraska, starting with basketball
Highschool basketball in Nebraska is residence to Hurrdat Sports activities and now, NebPreps, a newly launched, analytical and computerized rankings resolution. Software program pushed sport polls are frequent all through school and professional sports activities; nevertheless, the prep panorama was noticeable naked of such a digital asset. Prep basketball in Nebraska debuted this Hurrdat Sports activities designed, complete laptop rankings system constructed to scale throughout highschool athletics, a number of weeks in the past starting with basketball. The Sports activities Techie group weblog chatted with Mike Sautter, Reporter and Content material Creator for NebPreps, in regards to the want for such a sports activities know-how product in 2026, the way it compliments human complied coaches’ polls, and what the way forward for the modern creation appears like. Phrases like ‘fact-based’ and ‘clear’ describe their cutting-edge rankings system that gives followers, coaches and the media with a strong new device up to date on a weekly foundation constructed to judge groups and rank them, throughout Class A, B, C-1, C-2, D-1 and D-2 all through the season.
“Highschool sports activities followers deserve the identical analytical instruments that school and professional sports activities followers have had for years,” Sautter stated. “This fills a spot in Nebraska highschool sports activities protection with clear, fact-based rankings that may spark dialog and provides followers a deeper understanding of the aggressive panorama.”
NebPreps Path
NebPreps mannequin evaluates groups throughout six key classifications primarily based on sport outcomes, energy of schedule, margin of victory and timing. The system was designed by information analyst, Jeff Swanson, @jeffgswanson, in a couple of months’ time, to enrich conventional coaches’ polls whereas decreasing subjective bias and figuring out underrated applications.
An increasing number of choices are data-driven so it’s no shock to see this pattern lengthen into youth and highschool sports activities. The novel idea was to make use of algorithms to reshaping analysis techniques past the professional degree, from recruiting to playoff seeding. This new platform is now obtainable to colleges, sports activities followers, reporters and recruiters.
NebPreps laptop rankings for girls and boys basketball can be found at https://hurrdatsports.com/nebpreps/computer-ratings/. Search for weekly updates revealed each Monday all through the common season with extra sports activities akin to soccer, to be added within the close to future.
Why Pc Scores Matter
Pc rankings cut back subjective bias from the rating course of. Whereas human editorial polls depend on notion, status and restricted observations, the NebPreps laptop rankings will consider each group primarily based solely on what occurs on a court docket, diamond or discipline. The result’s a complete evaluation that:
- Rewards high quality wins whereas accounting for energy of schedule.
- Identifies underrated groups which will fly below the radar.
- Gives consistency every week with clear methodology.
- Predicts future efficiency higher than win-loss information alone.
- Informs playoff discussions with goal seeding insights.
NebPreps, which offers complete protection, polls and awards for Nebraska highschool sports activities, will proceed to publish a weekly coaches ballot to present followers each conventional and analytical views. The pc rankings will present an goal complement to human-driven polls, just like fashions utilized in school sports activities.
How the Scores System Works
The NebPreps laptop rankings system is constructed on a points-based effectivity mannequin that evaluates groups by means of these key dimensions:
- Recreation outcomes: Each win and loss from the season.
- Opponent energy: Who a group beats (or loses to) issues extra than simply profitable.
- Margin of victory: By how a lot does a group win or lose.
- Recreation location: House vs. away impacts the worth of outcomes.
- Recreation timing: Current video games carry barely extra weight than early-season outcomes.
“We waited till week 5 of the highschool basketball season to launch the ranking system to permit for ample information assortment,” Sautter stated. “Early-season rankings with restricted sport samples will be unreliable and unstable. By week 5, basketball groups have sometimes performed six to eight video games, which offers sufficient info for significant preliminary assessments, whereas nonetheless leaving many of the season forward.”
Scores are recalculated after every week’s video games, so each consequence issues. A ranking of fifty represents a median group in every class, whereas increased rankings point out stronger groups.
Limitations, Context
The pc rankings have limitations:
- They don’t find out about accidents or different roster modifications that have an effect on group energy.
- They deal with all sport situations equally, akin to climate and journey.
- Early season rankings are much less dependable resulting from small pattern sizes.
- They don’t substitute human analysis. They complement it.
“Our rankings are one lens by means of which to judge groups,” Sautter stated. “We encourage followers and analysts to contemplate rankings alongside conventional polls, professional opinions and their very own observations. The most effective evaluation combines a number of views.”
Trying Forward
Because the season progresses, the NebPreps laptop rankings system will:
- Grow to be extra correct and secure with bigger information samples.
- Assist determine the strongest groups, no matter document.
- Present context for playoff seeding discussions.
- Allow evaluation of schedule energy and aggressive stability.
“We’re excited to carry this analytical dimension to Nebraska highschool sports activities,” Sautter stated. “We encourage followers to observe NebPreps for weekly updates and be part of the dialog as we observe the 2025-26 highschool sports activities season by means of data-driven insights.”
Hurrdat Sports activities
Hurrdat Sports activities presents spectators a brand new, partaking technique to devour native sports activities media in Nebraska. Masking athletic occasions from Nebraska, Creighton, UNO and every part in between, Hurrdat Sports activities strives to generate podcasts, video and social media content material that accommodates in-depth protection, participant views and experience that may’t be discovered anyplace within the state.
Comply with Hurrdat Sports activities on social media at:
Fb, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube
Media Contact: Kevin Schuster, 402-917-6001, kschuster@lukaspartners.com
Sports activities Techie, I loved talking with Mike, he’s a very simple going, well-spoken and down-home dude. After doing my due diligence on NebPreps and Hurrdat Sports activities, I can share the next with definitely. These individuals pump out related content material prefer it’s no one’s enterprise. They produce nonstop posts, movies and interviews about skilled, collegiate and highschool sports activities in Nebraska at a formidable tempo. Due to this, the logical query to pose to Mike was whether or not he will get any sleep? He laughed, and acknowledged at instances, not a lot!
A key level he emphasised a number of instances was how the pc polls purpose to turn out to be a praise to human polls, one which retains coaches ballot worth in place despite the fact that they have a tendency to rank groups the identical, week in and week out. The system presents a extra complete scope that appears at extra metrics, whereas trying to take away bias. The brand new, data-driven mannequin measures quite a lot of metrics akin to all video games, win and losses, margin of victory, opponent energy, residence and away, and timing – which means barely extra weight is given to later video games within the schedule in comparison with early season matchup outcomes.
The mannequin is programmed to be extra secure 4 or 5 weeks into the hoops season which is about 8 video games and after vacation tournaments. He believes it may well additionally provide a greater gauge in each divisions and courses. Extra information equals extra accuracy leading to a extra improved technique of figuring out one of the best groups going ahead. Predicting future efficiency utilizing the software program is a superb information for districts and state playoffs.
An attention-grabbing information level to be taught was that boys’ rankings are gathering extra traction than the women. As a result of ladies and woman sports activities are hovering in reputation, I anticipate it would flip the opposite method due to the recognition of the WNBA and girls’s school basketball and throughout ladies’ highschool and youth hoops.
One product purpose is to exchange the wildcard factors system utilized by the NSA for playoff seeding by complimenting it by utilizing a deeper dive and extra real perspective offered by NebPreps information.
Mike additionally was according to sharing the system’s limitations. A key metric akin to all of the each day accidents that happen are an excessive amount of handbook date entry work at the moment, as are getting into continually altering climate elements like snow and wind, along with quite a lot of journey elements. With sufficient demand, changes will be made in time for the subsequent soccer season making NebPreps extra of a real metric measurement and in the end, a brand new normal of highschool athletics polls.
Mike has by no means seen a media entity akin to NebPreps and he has coated highschool sports activities in Nebraska for 15 years. So far as he is aware of, different states don’t provide something prefer it. Jeff is a developer and took a couple of month to design, program and roll out the platform again in August. Mike talked about their inner instruments are a key characteristic, it has information not at present obtainable to the general public but. He discovered the lists to be ‘wonderful’ and likes the flexibility to go looking the information utilizing a drop-down menu that uncovers extra statistics.
I requested couple extra questions. First, is it obtainable to buy? Mike talked about. “The backend is completed however the laptop rankings system must be finetuned earlier than promoting by means of to different states. It’s not at present obtainable for buy.” The place he sees an excellent quick match is as a alternative for a wild card playoff dedication.
I requested whether or not a product sponsor was a consideration. He stated, “Maybe, because it (NebPreps) attracts extra consideration, we’ll have a look at the numbers, it is just 2 weeks (now 3 weeks) into it. So far it’s fairly good from an engagement aspect, it’s a wait and see earlier than we run the numbers. The interplay on social media, particularly Instagram, has been a optimistic, with a number of feedback liking the pc rankings over the coach’s ballot.”
One cause for that is NebPreps can determine groups that fly below the radar higher than the coach’s ballot. A group will be ninth within the subjective ranking however second within the laptop rankings.
Sautter additionally talked about one of many foremost causes to create NebPreps was to extend engagement and to this point, it appears to be working, particularly on Instagram.
Typically instances engagement comes with damaging feedback. I questioned how they plan to deal with posted complaints about matters like improper rankings or the factors and ensuing metrics. Sautter understood my thought and shared, “Hurrdat Sports activities celebrates the story otherwise, we rejoice athletes and groups, emphasizing positivity, in a novel method.”
I voiced a priority in regards to the margin of victory metric. As soon as coaches understood the system, what prevents faculties from operating up scores, too usually in an unsportsmanlike method, to control the algorithms for higher rankings. Mike stated, “Victory margin is a play on school basketball and internet rankings.” He defined that they hadn’t spherical tabled this thought however felt it was not one thing of quick concern.
NebPreps is shared on Mondays, this week would be the third ballot launch. Their Nebraska coaches’ ballot is launched on Sundays, and Mike believes that along with the pc rating, this distinctive mixture can drive engagement and discussions.
My son and I drove from Georgia to Idaho two summer season in the past together with driving right through Nebraska. It’s cool to place this story about NebPreps subsequent to reminiscences of driving by means of the state with household, going to see extra household, as a method of understanding the rankings, satisfaction and progress of prep sports activities all through the state.
My gratitude goes out to NebPreps, Hurrdat Sports activities and to Mike, for sharing this sports activities tech story.
Computerized highschool rankings might quickly be obtainable in your state.
So long sportstechie in Seattle, Atlanta and all over the world!
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