Win % question...can you figure this out?

Question

A friend of mine and I were having a discussion on win percentage in football. He said if a team is 0-0-1, that they have a .000 win percentage. I said that team's win percentage should be .500.

I told him that ties in football count as half a win in terms of percentage points. For example, in 2002, the Atlanta Falcons were 9-6-1. Their win percentage was .594, the same as 9.5/16.

His argument was that if a team didn't have a win, their percentage would be 0. I said that it was .500 because they didn't lose the game, either. Who is correct?

Answer 1

You're right! he's wrong. Now what do you win?

Answer 2

I'm voting for you. Ties are counted as 1/2 win and 1/2 loss. Therefore 0-0-1 is the same as 1/2 - 1/2 - 0. Since Wins=Losses, that gives you 50%.

Here's a thought: your friend says that 0-0-1 is equal to 0%. But 0-1-0 is also 0%. Is he suggesting that a loss and a tie should have the same value?

Answer 3

When finding the percentage you will use the value of 0.5 for a tie when totaling the number of wins then divide that number by the number of games played.

Record
3-0-0 = 1.000
2-0-1 = 0.833
2-1-0 = 0.667
1-0-2 = 0.667
0-0-3 = 0.500
1-1-1 = 0.500
0-1-2 = 0.333
1-2-0 = 0.333
0-2-1 = 0.167

Answer 4

I believe that a tie does not count towards the percentage as a half-win until you actually have a win.

Answer 5

percentages are based on wins and losses which give no credit to ties

Answer 6

Your friend is right because a tie means nothing. A tie just means that no one won.

Answer 7

I totally agree with you.
Who said you'd never use math outside of highschool. LOL

Answer 8

you are right. you win. And guess what? Everyone here knows it! ;-)

Answer 9

You're right.

Answer 10

your right