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Linear Programming Solutions to the Linear Ordering Problem in Major American Sports Cover

Linear Programming Solutions to the Linear Ordering Problem in Major American Sports

By: B.J. Coleman  
Open Access
|Mar 2026

Figures & Tables

Solution results for MinV and CLP for seven major American sports, using win counts; Opt = optimal objective function value; Secs = seconds of solution time; Gap = gap between solution and optimal solution_

Non-ZerosMinVCLP
SportTeamsOptZerosMeanSDSecsGapSecsGap
CBB 202230146597.2%1.731.01102.2- 356%
CBB 202330548897.0%1.700.98252.2- 345%
CBB 202430549997.0%1.650.9567.3- 324%
CFB 20211307296.2%1.010.070.7- 226%
CFB 20221318496.3%1.000.052.2- 220%
CFB 20231337496.3%1.000.052.0- 238%
MBB 202235834797.7%1.280.512,166- 421%
MBB 202336341797.6%1.270.5031,4535.76% 346%
MBB 202436245197.6%1.250.47230,8157.78% 330%
MLB 2021309174.3%3.002.481.0-0.1-
MLB 2022309571.0%2.842.340.8-0.1-
MLB 20233014957.6%2.171.601.1-0.1-
NBA 2022306370.1%2.200.910.6-0.1-
NBA 2023307871.7%2.200.920.8-0.1-
NBA 2024306171.7%2.250.990.6-0.1-
NFL 2021323782.1%1.170.380.7-0.1-
NFL 2022322882.9%1.130.360.5-0.1-
NFL 2023323882.6%1.140.340.6-0.1-
NHL 20223210565.9%1.970.821.0-0.1-
NHL 2023329967.5%1.930.831.1-0.1-
NHL 20243211469.0%1.970.841.2-0.2-

Solution results for MinV and CLP for seven major American sports, using collective victory margins; Opt = optimal objective function value; Secs = seconds of solution time; Gap = gap between solution and optimal solution_

Non-ZerosMinVCLP
SportTeamsOptZerosMeanSDSecsGapSecsGap
CBB 2022301197796.9%9.919.0036.8- 568%
CBB 2023305215396.8%9.858.26140.2- 549%
CBB 2024305216596.8%9.688.2929.2- 510%
CFB 202113048396.2%16.7513.120.6-14.7-
CFB 202213158496.2%15.6512.990.8-13.6-
CFB 202313352696.3%16.2312.710.9-15.2-
MBB 2022358316197.3%15.2411.95141.9- 661%
MBB 2023363358497.2%14.9411.88770.70.22% 608%
MBB 2024362366697.2%15.1612.06203.0- 619%
MLB 20213036671.7%12.9512.881.0-0.1-
MLB 20223030470.9%12.2211.210.7-0.1-
MLB 20233056155.7%9.618.541.3-0.1-
NBA 202230107054.4%24.5319.971.0-0.1-
NBA 202330121254.6%21.1517.881.4-0.1-
NBA 20243090454.1%25.2820.631.2-0.1-
NFL 20213234980.7%14.3812.820.8-0.1-
NFL 20223222980.5%10.819.680.6-0.1-
NFL 20233227980.0%12.4911.460.6-0.1-
NHL 20223226057.9%4.262.881.2-0.1-
NHL 20233225958.2%4.242.751.8-0.2-
NHL 20243229059.5%4.162.811.6-0.1-
Language: English
Page range: 1 - 11
Published on: Mar 5, 2026
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

© 2026 B.J. Coleman, published by International Association of Computer Science in Sport
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.