What kind of pitch ratings are realistic for a cupcake?

[dalecooper]

I'm putting together a cupcake dynasty in TeamBuilder and I was curious what kind of pitch ratings are decent and realistic. I'm torn between being merciless, and giving myself some kind of shot to recruit a few decent players. Right now I have:

academic prestige: A+
campus lifestyle: C+
coach exp: B+
coach prestige: A (hey, he's me... and I'm awesome)
championship contender: D+
athletic facilities: B
fan base: C
pro factory: C
program stability: A (because they just don't care)
program tradition: B+
TV: D+

...but I feel like tradition, athletic facilities, and pro factory perhaps should all be lower. What do these ratings look like for FCS and similarly awful teams?

(I'm gonna love pitching academics to guys week after week. Whoo!)

[Ricky Rowe Zay]

If you want top guys. It seems like most players care about Athletic Facilities, its kinda hard to get guys who care about Academic Prestige.

[dalecooper]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ricky Rowe Zay

If you want top guys. It seems like most players care about Athletic Facilities, its kinda hard to get guys who care about Academic Prestige.

Agreed, I have noticed the same thing, but I don't feel like my crappy little school would realistically have great facilities. It seems more like they'd have a dank basement room with a few medicine balls in it and stains on the walls.

[andicesharks]

It depends on how you want to play it. It is all about you. If I were doing it, those ratings are way too high.

Coach prestige should be mid to low.

Fan base can be larger to start since people will be very interested but if you are playing the a cupcake and you are using a good slider set, you will be losing. In the case of real life, the interest in football would go down. There is no way to put in the element of the change so it would be better to just start it low.

Pro chance is far too high. Since no one has ever been a pro football player from the school, by default it should be the lowest level.

From a standpoint of tradition, I look at that as a tradition in football, not in general. Id put it low but there is a case for it to be higher if you have a different perspective.

The rest is up to you but I would be realistic about it. I don't see the point of making a cupcake if you are just going to make the process of getting better very easy.

[andicesharks]

Quote: Originally Posted by dalecooper

Agreed, I have noticed the same thing, but I don't feel like my crappy little school would realistically have great facilities. It seems more like they'd have a dank basement room with a few medicine balls in it and stains on the walls.

It is all about your perspective of the school. Having better facilities could be realistic though even if your school loses every game. It is not based off of anything being done on the field, it is all about money. If someone donates millions just to get their name on the building then you could have great facilities.

[dalecooper]

Quote: Originally Posted by andicesharks

It depends on how you want to play it. It is all about you. If I were doing it, those ratings are way too high.

This is why I'm asking the question. I'm at work so I don't have the game handy to check. What are some ratings for FCS teams?

Quote:

Coach prestige should be mid to low.

Why? Is this like a "fame" level or a quality of coaching level? I know I will outcoach every CPU team even in losing efforts, so if it's about quality I think A is reasonable. If it's about fame, obviously I'm no Spurrier.

Quote:

Pro chance is far too high. Since no one has ever been a pro football player from the school, by default it should be the lowest level.

That's what I was thinking too. I will reduce that.

Quote:

The rest is up to you but I would be realistic about it. I don't see the point of making a cupcake if you are just going to make the process of getting better very easy.

I agree, I don't want it to be easy, I want realism. But I can't find ratings online to compare myself against.

[Ricky Rowe Zay]

Quote: Originally Posted by dalecooper

Agreed, I have noticed the same thing, but I don't feel like my crappy little school would realistically have great facilities. It seems more like they'd have a dank basement room with a few medicine balls in it and stains on the walls.

http://i38.tinypic.com/28rkvbc.jpg

Thats what UVA has.

With good Academic Prestige it means your school has great donors, they like to help out the athletics.

[andicesharks]

Experience is the closest to quality, however, it could be that you have a lot of experience but still not be very good.

Prestige is their popularity or "name brand" recognition. If you were an A, you would not be coaching for a cupcake school. Even if they pay you millions of dollars, it makes more sense to go to a school that has a chance of winning than it does to go to one that will probably struggle. You will be out of the job if you are not a miracle worker.

Also, even if you were well known, by going to the lesser school, your name will diminish from just that alone and will also further diminish by losing games there.

The only "bigger" names I can recall doing this have pretty much passed their prime or have taken jobs because they want to stay in the area.

There are a number of things in the realm of possibility for giving every pitch a high rating but I would prefer to play it realistic.

When making a cupcake, the only high ratings I would consider are the Academics and Coach Experience. I'd give C-C+ to lifestyle, facilities and coach prestige.



If you're wanting to know how former FCS teams are rated, just check out some recent additions. Western Kentucky is a good one and the most recent addition. There are flops and there are some who have done OK for themselves.