Wake Forest vs Appalachian State Simulation

The Xbox is 1-0 in picks this year (take that Watson), correctly predicting that the Deacs would defeat Utah State. That prediction, 44-34, got pretty close to accurately predicting our score while vastly underrating our defense. I’m sure the computer will not make that mistake again.

But now it’s a new week, and that means it’s time for a new simulation. Since App State was not playing in the FBS when the last installment of EA’s NCAA Football franchise was made, I had to download their team from the TeamBuilder. This might bias the results slightly as the team was probably made by a Mountaineer fan, who likely rated all their players favorably (I would do the same thing). It was suggested that instead of simulating 1 game, I simulate 10 in order to get a larger sample of data; I have done just that.

As you can see from the simulations, the computer likes Wake Forest by an average of 3.3 points, which is extremely similar to the opening line of 3.5. The average total yards for both teams are very similar, with App State having the advantage through the air and the Deacs out gaining the Mountaineers on the ground. Overall, this a very even matchup. It’s so close, that 2 of the 10 games went to overtime.

Here’s hoping the computer gets to 2-0 this weekend.