How Are KDS Preferences Working For The Main Event?

[Greg Ambrosius]

One of the things that we take pride in at the NFBC is that we allow every player a chance to have input in their draft spot. It doesn't always work the way folks want it, but at least we give you some input thanks to our Kentucky Derby System (KDS).

In the Kentucky Derby, they allow the owners/trainers to pick where they want their horse to run out of the gate after selections are randomly made. Some horses don't like to run on the rail, while others love the rail. By randomly picking the field and then allowing the trainers to pick their spot that is available at the time of their selection, most people leave happy with their gate slots.

And it works the same in the NFBC. We allow you to list your KDS preferences on your team page for each contest (go to League Home, scroll down and put the NFBC shields in the order you want from most preferred to least preferred). We then have the computer randomly pick each league and then look at each teams' KDS preferences and slot each team in with their highest available pick at that time. Someone always has to get picked last, so that team gets the last available spot, but hopefully it works a little better than just having a random draft selection.

In a random draft selection for a 15-team league, the average draft preference would be 8.0. Since it would be 1 to 15, the average owner would likely get their 8th preferred spot.

So let's look at a few Main Event leagues to see how KDS worked for those owners. We have three March 24th Main Event leagues that have already received draft spots, so how did they work out?

Here's one from March 24th. Below are the 15 KDS settings for those owners:

1,2,3,4,5,13,9,15,6,7,8,10,11,12,14
2,1,3,9,8,7,10,11,12,13,6,5,4,14,15
1,2,3,7,6,5,4,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,15,14,13,12,9,11,7,10,8
2,1,3,8,9,10,11,12,13,7,6,4,5,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,12,13,14,15,11,10,6,7,8,9
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,7,6,5,4,8,10,12,11,9,3,15,14,13,2
10,9,11,4,1,2,3,12,8,7,6,13,14,15,5
9,10,11,4,5,6,1,2,3,7,8,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
3,4,5,7,8,6,9,10,11,12,1,2,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15

In this league the average preferred draft spot was 5.13. Ten different owners wanted pick 1 and 10 owners listed pick 15 as their last preference. Two owners got their first preference and eight owners got a Top 5 pick. Only two owners got a pick lower than their eighth preference (10th and 14th). Not bad.

[Greg Ambrosius]

A lot of "straight butter" KDS lists in this March 24th Main Event league:

1,4,3,2,5,6,12,13,14,15,11,10,9,8,7
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
5,4,3,2,1,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,5,4,3,2,8,7,6,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,15,14,13,12,11,10,9,8
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,7,8,9,5,10,6,11,12,13,14,15
3,2,1,4,8,7,6,5,15,14,13,12,11,10,9
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
9,10,11,14,13,12,15,8,7,6,5,4,2,3,1
1,2,3,4,5,6,14,15,7,13,12,10,8,9,11
6,5,7,4,8,1,3,2,13,12,14,11,9,10,15

As a result, the average KDS received was 6.53. Two owners got their first preference and five owners got a Top 3 choice. But three owners got picks outside their Top 10 (12th, 13th, 14th).

[Greg Ambrosius]

Here's one more to look at (and remember to set your KDS preferences NOW):

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
3,1,2,15,14,13,12,11,10,9,8,7,6,5,4
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
3,4,6,5,8,7,2,1,10,9,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,5,4,3,6,15,14,7,13,8,9,10,12,11
1,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,6,5,4,3,2
2,1,9,10,8,11,3,4,5,12,13,7,6,14,15
3,7,8,9,10,6,5,4,2,11,1,12,13,14,15
4,3,2,1,14,15,13,12,11,10,9,8,7,5,6
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,15,13,12,14
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,4,2,3,5,13,12,10,11,14,15,9,8,6,7
1,5,2,3,4,6,7,8,11,9,10,12,15,13,14

The average preference received in this one was 5.67. Two owners got their first preference, two owners got their second preference and seven owners got a Top 5 preference. The worst preference received was 10th, which is pretty damn good for a 15-team league.