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Which football team improved the most in 2023?

The top 5 most improved teams in every division

December 21, 2023

Hi Everyone -

As we end the year and shift to basketball, I thought I’d ‘cap off’ the football season with some stats we’ve never really looked at: the teams who improved the most in 2023.

We’re going to tackle this by comparing each team’s final 2023 computer rating to their final 2022 computer rating.

Before you dive in, remember that your team’s computer rating is a point total (example: 39.5).

When compared to another team’s point total, the differential between the two point totals is the theoretical point spread between you and that team.

So, comparing your team's final 2023 rating to its final 2022 rating, you can see how many points better your team this year is compared to last year.

For example, 2023’s most improved 8 Man team is Bellevue. Because their final 2023 rating (20.5) is 58.1 points better than their final 2022 rating (-37.7), we think their team this year would beat their team last year by 8+ touchdowns.

Make sense?

Let’s jump in!

Every Team, Ranked

As you’re scrolling below, you might be wondering where your team’s computer rating finished this season.

You can find this out by logging back on to Goosepoop Pro.

Just last week, we updated the site to include all State Championship games…

… as you might expect, this also had an impact on some teams’ final computer ratings.

Check them out for yourself right here.

High School Basketball is Here!

One more thing on the Goosepoop Pro front:

When subscribers log on, they’ll also find projections for every single HS basketball game in the State.

That’s right…

Goosepoop Pro has also been updated with data for every single Michigan HS Basketball Team.

When subscribers log on, you’ll see the following:

  • All 700+ teams, ranked from top to bottom

  • Win probabilities for all 7500+ remaining games

  • Each team's week-over-week rating trend

Check it out right here to see for yourself.

PS: check back next week for the same data on Girls Teams :)

8 Man, Division 2

Below are the five most improved teams in 8 Man, Division 2:

  1. Burr Oak

    1. 2023: -26.5

    2. 2022: -68.2

    3. Improvement: 41.7 Points

  2. Pittsford

    1. 2023: 24.5

    2. 2022: -12.6

    3. Improvement: 37.1 Points

  3. Deckerville

    1. 2023: 28.7

    2. 2022: 0.2

    3. Improvement: 28.6 Points

  4. Litchfield

    1. 2023: -11.2

    2. 2022: -38.0

    3. Improvement: 26.8 Points

  5. Bay City All Saints

    1. 2023: 5.1

    2. 2022: -20.9

    3. Improvement: 26.1 Points

8 Man, Division 1

Below are the five most improved teams in 8 Man, Division 1:

  1. Bellevue

    1. 2023: 20.5

    2. 2022: -37.7

    3. Improvement: 58.1 Points

  2. North Adams-Jerome

    1. 2023: -35.4

    2. 2022: -61.3

    3. Improvement: 25.9 Points

  3. Pickford

    1. 2023: 39.9

    2. 2022: 20.3

    3. Improvement: 19.6 Points

  4. Kingston

    1. 2023: 35.2

    2. 2022: 15.9

    3. Improvement: 19.3 Points

  5. Gobles

    1. 2023: 53.0

    2. 2022: 34.7

    3. Improvement: 18.3 Points

Division 8

Below are the five most improved teams in Division 8:

  1. Saugatuck

    1. 2023: 4.1

    2. 2022: -35.5

    3. Improvement: 39.7 Points

  2. Cassopolis

    1. 2023: -42.7

    2. 2022: -70.0

    3. Improvement: 27.2 Points

  3. Mount Clemens

    1. 2023: -31.9

    2. 2022: -59.1

    3. Improvement: 27.2 Points

  4. Pontiac Arts & Technology

    1. 2023: -44.3

    2. 2022: -70.8

    3. Improvement: 26.5 Points

  5. Marlette

    1. 2023: 0.7

    2. 2022: -24.8

    3. Improvement: 25.5 Points

Division 7

Below are the five most improved teams in Division 7:

  1. Houghton Lake

    1. 2023: -17.7

    2. 2022: -55.2

    3. Improvement: 37.6 Points

  2. Menominee

    1. 2023: 28.0

    2. 2022: 0.5

    3. Improvement: 27.4 Points

  3. Manistique

    1. 2023: -13.1

    2. 2022: -36.6

    3. Improvement: 23.6 Points

  4. LeRoy Pine River

    1. 2023: -30.9

    2. 2022: -54.3

    3. Improvement: 23.4 Points

  5. Lakeview

    1. 2023: -20.9

    2. 2022: -42.7

    3. Improvement: 21.8 Points

Division 6

Below are the five most improved teams in Division 6:

  1. Hart

    1. 2023: 1.8

    2. 2022: -22.9

    3. Improvement: 24.7 Points

  2. Central Montcalm

    1. 2023: 3.9

    2. 2022: -20.2

    3. Improvement: 24.1 Points

  3. Pinconning

    1. 2023: -27.4

    2. 2022: -49.0

    3. Improvement: 21.6 Points

  4. Chesaning

    1. 2023: 7.8

    2. 2022: -10.5

    3. Improvement: 18.3 Points

  5. Manistee

    1. 2023: 17.9

    2. 2022: 0.2

    3. Improvement: 17.7 Points

Division 5

Below are the five most improved teams in Division 5:

  1. Saginaw Valley Lutheran

    1. 2023: -22.6

    2. 2022: -57.3

    3. Improvement: 34.7 Points

  2. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep

    1. 2023: 51.1

    2. 2022: 18.8

    3. Improvement: 32.3 Points

  3. Corunna

    1. 2023: 46.9

    2. 2022: 21.0

    3. Improvement: 25.9 Points

  4. Ogemaw Heights

    1. 2023: 35.6

    2. 2022: 16.4

    3. Improvement: 19.3 Points

  5. Richmond

    1. 2023: -1.5

    2. 2022: -20.6

    3. Improvement: 19.2 Points

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Division 4

Below are the five most improved teams in Division 4:

  1. Niles

    1. 2023: 42.8

    2. 2022: 17.1

    3. Improvement: 25.8 Points

  2. Paw Paw

    1. 2023: 24.9

    2. 2022: 4.6

    3. Improvement: 20.3 Points

  3. Harper Woods

    1. 2023: 45.5

    2. 2022: 27.0

    3. Improvement: 18.5 Points

  4. Eastpointe

    1. 2023: -23.9

    2. 2022: -40.9

    3. Improvement: 17.0 Points

  5. Allendale

    1. 2023: 31.0

    2. 2022: 14.7

    3. Improvement: 16.3 Points

Division 3

Below are the five most improved teams in Division 3:

  1. Warren Fitzgerald

    1. 2023: -6.1

    2. 2022: -34.6

    3. Improvement: 28.5 Points

  2. Holland

    1. 2023: -11.5

    2. 2022: -39.2

    3. Improvement: 27.7 Points

  3. Zeeland East

    1. 2023: 31.4

    2. 2022: 10.8

    3. Improvement: 20.6 Points

  4. Petoskey

    1. 2023: 23.6

    2. 2022: 3.2

    3. Improvement: 20.4 Points

  5. Battle Creek Harper Creek

    1. 2023: 13.7

    2. 2022: -5.1

    3. Improvement: 18.9 Points

Division 2

Below are the five most improved teams in Division 2:

  1. Midland Dow

    1. 2023: 19.0

    2. 2022: -1.6

    3. Improvement: 20.7 Points

  2. Portage Central

    1. 2023: 35.6

    2. 2022: 15.3

    3. Improvement: 20.3 Points

  3. Lansing Everett

    1. 2023: 7.7

    2. 2022: -10.0

    3. Improvement: 17.7 Points

  4. Warren Mott

    1. 2023: 4.7

    2. 2022: -11.4

    3. Improvement: 16.2 Points

  5. Forest Hills Northern

    1. 2023: 28.3

    2. 2022: 13.0

    3. Improvement: 15.3 Points

Division 1

Below are the five most improved teams in Division 1:

  1. Lake Orion

    1. 2023: 53.0

    2. 2022: 31.6

    3. Improvement: 21.4 Points

  2. Fraser

    1. 2023: -16.7

    2. 2022: -35.0

    3. Improvement: 18.2 Points

  3. Westland John Glenn

    1. 2023: 23.5

    2. 2022: 6.7

    3. Improvement: 16.8 Points

  4. Kalamazoo Central

    1. 2023: 4.0

    2. 2022: -11.9

    3. Improvement: 15.9 Points

  5. Northville

    1. 2023: 36.6

    2. 2022: 25.3

    3. Improvement: 11.4 Points

Top 15 Overall (11-Man Only)

Below are the fifteen most improved teams across ALL divisions:

  1. Saugatuck - 39.7 point improvement

  2. Houghton Lake - 37.6 point improvement

  3. Saginaw Valley Lutheran - 34.7 point improvement

  4. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep - 32.3 point improvement

  5. Warren Fitzgerald - 28.5 point improvement

  6. Holland - 27.7 point improvement

  7. Menominee - 27.4 point improvement

  8. Cassopolis - 27.2 point improvement

  9. Mount Clemens - 27.2 point improvement

  10. Pontiac Arts & Technology - 26.5 point improvement

  11. Corunna - 25.9 point improvement

  12. Niles - 25.8 point improvement

  13. Marlette - 25.5 point mimprovmeent

  14. Fowler - 25.3 point improvement

  15. Hart - 24.7 point improvement

Fowler is the only team to appear in the top 15 that did not appear in their division’s top 5

How large was the average improvement?

To round out today’s note, here’s a few high level stats.

  • Of the 228 11-man teams who improved this year, the average improvement was 11 points

  • Improvement was harder to come by in the upper divisions: Division 1 & 2 teams who improved only did so by 9 points on average, as compared to 12 points in Divisions 7 & 8

  • Zero of the State’s top 15 most improved teams were from Divisions 1 or 2

  • The most improved team from Division 1 or 2 (Lake Orion) was only the 22nd most improved team overall!

That’s all for today’s note guys!

Once again, thanks for reading. If you like my content, make sure to subscribe below if you haven’t already.