Schedules with odd numbers of teams (including pod play)

[bwburke94]

Since there are several OOTP players who like the idea of odd numbers of teams in a subleague, it would be a nice idea to make schedules for them. I do not personally plan on using these for a league, but they would be handy for many players. I prefer "pod play" formats due to their relative simplicity compared to most odd-number schedules.

Here are my proposals:

5 team league, 162 games

No divisions
40-41 games vs. each opponent (19-21H/19-21A, with slightly more 2-game series than 3-game series)

7 team league, 162 games

No divisions
27 games vs. each opponent (13-14H/13-14A, any series layout)

9 team league, 162 games Plan A

No divisions
Teams are separated into three pods of 3 teams each, similar to the 1940s AL setup where they play out-of-pod teams at designated times in the schedule, to simplify scheduling
21 games vs. each opponent in pod (10-11H/10-11A, mostly 2-game series)
20 games vs. each opponent outside of pod (9-11H/9-11A, mostly 3-game series but a few 4-game series and maybe one or two 2-game series)
See pod notes below

9 team league, 162 games Plan B

3 divisions of 3 teams each
33 games vs. each divisional opponent (16-17H/16-17A, any series length)
16 games vs. each non-divisional opponent (6-10H/6-10A, mostly 3-game series but a few 2-game series)

11, 13, 17, and 19 team leagues following the same basic format as the 5 and 7 team leagues above with 162 games (it should be easy to adapt the previous 17-team schedule to 162 games)

15 team league, 162 games Plan A (also useful for realigned MLB leagues with no interleague)

No divisions
Teams are separated into 5 pods of 3 teams each, similar to the 9-team format above
12 games vs. each team in pod and vs. each team in 2 other pods (5-7H/5-7A, any series layout)
11 games vs. each team in the remaining 2 pods (4-7H/4-7A, mostly 4-game series)
See pod notes below

15 team league, 162 games Plan B

3 divisions of 5 teams each

18 games vs. each divisional opponent (7-11H/7-11A, any series length)
9 games vs. each non-divisional opponent (3-6H/3-6A, any series length)

Notes
All schedules start the first Monday on or after April 1. No ASG with one subleague. The end should be as close to early October as possible given the odd number of teams, which should be trickier with the smaller leagues.

Due to the need to shorten schedules, 3 series of 2, 2, and 2 or 2, 2, and 3 games may need to be compressed into one week at some points.

In pod schedules, there need to be 2 inter-pod games (15 teams) or 1 inter-pod game (9 teams) at all times due to the odd number of teams in each pod.
For the normal intra-pod play, have 2 weeks of games per "round" in each pod where one team from the league acts as a "swing" team and plays 4 teams from other pods, while the other teams from that pod alternate having half-weeks off except for one series against each-other. So if team 3 in pod 1 is the "swing" team, team 1 in pod 1 will have the first half-week off, team 2 would have the next weekend off, they would play each other after that with a different team off, and team 1 would be off again that weekend.
The last "round" of games is always inter-pod, where no pod opponents play each other, to prevent 1988 Brewers-type scenarios from occuring. One team from each pod is off the final day of the season, which should be a 1-game series on Sunday to prevent rest issues from cropping up if a playoff format is included in the league.

Hope this isn't too complicated. There were issues with complex schedules back in September the last time gmo made a schedule for me.

[Cryomaniac]

I would probably use a 9 team schedule if one was made available.

[bwburke94]

I know bumping is a bad idea, but these need to get done for all the OOTP players who want these kinds of leagues.