An Empirical Study of Least Squares Ratings for USA Ultimate Frisbee

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the least squares rating system for USA Ultimate Frisbee, showing it outperforms the current rating method in qualitative and quantitative assessments.

Contribution

The study applies the least squares rating system to USA Ultimate Frisbee and demonstrates its improvements over the existing rating system.

Findings

Least squares ratings outperform current system qualitatively

Quantitative metrics show significant improvement

Provides a more accurate reflection of team strengths

Abstract

Ultimate frisbee is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. In the United States, the governing body USA Ultimate uses a custom power rating system to determine bid allocations for various competitive tournaments. However, this rating system has significant flaws and leaves room for improvement. In this paper, we apply the least squares rating system and demonstrate its improvement over the current system both qualitatively and relative to a number of quantitative metrics.