Scheduling Problem

[Mr Ingrate]

I need help with a scheduling problem for a bar league.

Constraints are:

1. Two teams play out of each bar.

2. Each bar has only one table for league play.

3. The schedule should be as balanced (home/away) as possible.

Anyone have an algorithm or any suggestions?

One group plays on Mondays the other plays on Tuesdays. Is this one of those trick questions? /ccboard/images/graemlins/smile.gif

If for some reason this is unsuitable turn it into a Scotch Doubles league.


Jimbo

[Tom_In_Cincy]

1. Is there other teams involved?
2. Is there an even number of matches for all teams?
3. Is this a weekly schedule?
4. Will all teams be playing each other? Teams from the same bar, will they play each other at home?

If its just two teams.. per bar. and I assume its 4 teams total..

Team number 1 and 2 for the first bar
Team number 3 and 4 for the second bar

For all four teams to play each other
1st week
1 home plays 4
3 home plays 2

2nd week
2 home plays 3
4 home plays 1

3rd week
1 home plays 3
4 home plays 2


4th week
2 home plays 4
3 home plays 1

the 5th week.. the two home teams can play each other if they want..

Repeat this for x amount of times

[Scott Lee]

Dave...How many bars are there in your league?...and how many weeks do you want to play? I have all the APA stuff for different size divisions, where all play is equal based on number of teams and number of weeks played, for as few as 4 teams, or as many as 20. Let me know, and I can send it to you.

Scott

[Barbara]

Dave,

I had the same problem when I was scheduler for the bar league I used to play in.

I ran the league through a scheduling program, but had to do the "Home" and "Aways" by hand. Thankfully, there were only 12 teams in the league at the time.

HTH,

Barbara

[Eric.]

Dave,

Unless I'm missing something, if there are only 4 teams total, 1 team stays on the home table and the other "home" team goes to the other bar...I think the limit is 2 "home" teams playing outta the same bar, on the same night. That way, you can always have 1 team playing at home and the other visiting another location, then switch it around for the next week.

Eric

[Mr Ingrate]

I was asking because of a project that I am working on. I needed something to work for a varying number of teams. As an example:

1. League night is Tuesday.
2. There are 8 bars in the league with single tables for league play.
3. There are 16 teams in the league. When one of the two teams assigned to a bar is "at home" the other must be "away"
4. The home and away must be as evenly balanced as possible. Given that it would take 15 weeks to complete a schedule, I know you won't get a perfect balance. If you flip the schedule and increase it to 30 weeks you will.

After exhaustive searching, I finally found a program called "Home and Away" that generates the type of schedule I required. I really would like to know the algorithm/process that it uses, but I guess you can't have everything. I tested it on 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24 teams and it worked as advertised.

The other scheduling programs I investigated were for football, basketball, etc. which didn't address the problem of two teams playing out of the same facility.

Thank you, Jimbo, Tom_In_Cincy, Scott Lee, Barbara, and Eric for your responses. I really appreciate it.

Scott, I'd still like to get a copy of your schedules.

My project should be complete by the end of February. Although I can't discuss it yet, it should be available for comment in March.