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If you need to contact me, I can be reached at ratings at kenpom.com. Unfortunately, I cannot respond to every message I receive. (This operation is literally just me. There is no customer support team here.) This is especially true during February and March. You will have a better chance of a response if you keep your messages brief. Please see if your question is answered below.

How are your ratings calculated?

The ratings are a proprietary algorithm, so I don't reveal the exact formula. However, I've discussed various aspects of the system over the years. This is a good place to start.

What does [this abbreviation] mean? How is it calculated?

Please check out the help links, labeled 'help' or with a '?', on the page in question for more information.

Where do you get your data?

STATS Perform supplies the box score and schedule data. Play-by-play data is gathered from the NCAA. If you need a list of scores to feed your own ratings efforts, I provide one here.

When will you release your preseason ratings?

Usually this occurs around the time the preseason AP poll is released in late October.

When is the influence of preseason ratings removed from the system?

The weight of the preseason ratings decreases through the season, going to zero after a team's 27th D-I game. The proper weighting has been determined from historical testing - deisgned so that there's no bias in terms of the preseason rating holding a team back or propping it up during the season.

Why do the preseason ratings have influence after the season begins?

That is covered here.

Why is [team] ranked [in some place]?

As unsatisfactory as the answer is, according to my system, [team] has played well enough to be ranked [in some place]. It's nothing personal. The system is designed to be purely predictive. A good reality check on a team's rating is to compare future predictions with the betting line. If they are close, then chances are the team's ranking is reasonably accurate. One can also use Evan Miyakawa's ratings for additional support.

Can you add [this feature]?

The ideas I receive range from pretty good to...not as good. If you really feel like you have an idea that will be of use to people evaluating teams and players, then by all means send it along.

While I appreciate the many ideas people submit, many people submit ideas. And I have my own ideas. And I usually want to work on my ideas more than yours. So rarely is it possible for me to implement a good user-submitted idea very quickly.

I paid, so why isn't my account activated?

If you drew funds on a bank account (an eCheck in PayPal parlance), it takes a few days for the payment to clear and for PayPal for credit the payment to my account. Once that happens, you'll get access immediately. But this process can take 3-5 days.

If you are paying directly from PayPal or using a credit card and your account has not been activated, send me an e-mail.

What can I do to help you?

It's really tough to incorporate outsiders into my operation. If you have some programming experience or feel like you bring something unique to table, I'm willing to listen. But I'm kind of a control freak and turn down most of these requests.