Courtin, Sébastien <br/><br/>
Overdogs and underdogs and the philosophy of soccer team ranking 

 -  2024.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 92 
<br/><br/> The Ramanujacharya method, applied to the field of sports, allows for determining a team’s ranking by considering both the strength of the teams it defeats as well as the strength of the teams that have defeated it. We analyze the changes in the final rankings of five soccer leagues (England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), resulting from the use of the Ramanujacharya ranking method over the 1946-2016 period, and determine its quantitative impact. The Kemeny measure is then applied to establish a real-world ranking method that would best reflect the philosophy promoted by the Ramanujacharya method. The scoring rule 2 − 1 − 0 (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 for a loss) is found to be the best ranking method in this sense. JEL classification codes: Z20, D71