NCAA Division 1 programs are back on campus.
That means its time for our Total Football Analysis Preseason Team to Watch.
Just like last years data analysis, this article uses football statistics from the previous season to identify some of the top young talents in the USAs top collegiate division.
The USL Championship, League One, and MLS NEXT PRO, to a lesser extent, are built on the college game.
Scouting departments at MLS and USL clubs are on the lookout for top performers in the college game as they look to build out rosters during the winter months.
Theyll have as much interest in the top performers from a data analytics viewpoint as the coaches and players within the college game.
Our process in putting together this list has changed slightly.
Wyscout segments non-conference and in-conference data, so last years preseason team was selected from non-conference data alone.
This year, we have aggregated the data through Power Query, set a 500-minute cut-off for 2023 playing time, and then converted the stats into percentile ranks.
The rationale for the 500-minute minimum is that we are looking for 2023s top performers, as well as potential breakthrough players who made the most of their rotational minutes.
Once the percentile rankings were in place, we identified players who scored highest within position-specific metrics.
Our selected formation is a 4-3-3.
Lets get to the players to earn our nominations as the Total Football Analysis D1 Preseason Teams to Watch.
Goalkeeper & Defenders
Right away, we see the contrast in team selections.
With the outside backs, we get players with significant playing time in more rotational roles.
For the centre-backs, we have the more traditional anchors along the back line.
But thats our objective.
We want to find these regulars with standout performances from the previous season, as well as players poised for a breakthrough.
Goalkeeper: Antreas Hadjigavriel, Senior, Bryant
Hadjigavriel had a dream season for the Bryant Bulldogs.
The goalkeeper took all the minutes in goal, starting 20 games and only conceding six times.
Thats .297 goals against per game.
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