Expert: Skip Ward - 5/2/2005

Question
Hi ... I have already spent a number of hours trying to do this on my own, but I am stumped.  Hope you can help, or at least direct me to the right person.  Our league has 10 teams.  What is the formula for a nine-week season so that all teams play all other teams once?  In other words, a schedule where Team 1 plays 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, etc., etc., without any repeats?

Answer
Dear Mary...thanks for the question. Here is a formula to follow for 10 teams over 9 weeks.  And don't bother trying to figure it out...It's seemingly simple, yet confuses us all.  Good luck and remember...

Love the game,
skipper

Week 1   1-10 2-9 3-8 4-7 5-6
Week 2   2-10 5-8 1-9 3-7 4-6
Week 3   3-10 6-9 2-7 2-7 4-5
Week 4   4-10 3-5 2-6 8-9 1-7
Week 5   5-10 1-6 3-4 7-9 2-8
Week 6   6-10 2-4 3-9 7-8 1-5
Week 7   7-10 6-8 5-9 2-3 1-4
Week 8   8-10 6-7 1-3 2-5 4-9
Week 9   9-10 1-2 4-8 5-7 3-7