Topic: Ranking the Teams -- A basis for comparing all teams (TAR 1 - 33)

[theschnauzers]

33 Races, 366 teams, 677 Racers

Here is a list of all the teams from the 33 seasons to date in order of average leg placement. (Future seasons will be added to the main list after that season(s) ends; during that season the leg-by-leg leaderboard will be updated after each night’s episode(s).)

Except for season 33, the numbers before the team name on each row shows that team's season and that team's overall order of finish in that season. Season 33 teams are shown as “33-**” due to the unique circumstances of that season. The fraction is a numerator equal to the total ordinal placements from the legs that team raced in added together, divided by the number of legs that team raced. The final number is the average placement taken out to a value of one-ten thousandth. Where more than one team has the same average, a team that completed more legs is ranked ahead of a team that completed fewer legs, and then, for teams that competed for the same number of legs, a team from an earlier season is ranked ahead of a team from a later season. Finally, where there are teams from the same season, with the same average, and lasted for the same number of legs, the team that placed closer to first place is ranked ahead of the other team.

Keep in mind that in seasons 6, 7, 9, and 10, there was an überleg (which is treated as two legs for the purposes of this list), that seasons 18 and 19 had legs with pit stops that had no intervening rest period before the next leg started; that 12 teams competed in seasons 3, 4, 10, and 15, and that ten teams competed in season 8. (In season 22, David-Connor decided to withdraw after starting the fifth leg due to David’s injury in leg 2 that required immediate surgery. While they reached the pit stop before any of the teams completed the leg, they are shown as checking in last for computation purposes. In seasons 25 and 26, there were four teams that started the final leg, with an elimination mid-leg. The eliminated team is shown being in fourth place.) Seasons 11, 18, 24, and 31 featured teams with returning Racers only, although in two instances, a team was composed of team members who did not compete together in their earlier season. Teams with more than one appearance are listed separately for each of their seasons. In season 30, Leg 7 in Zimbabwe featured the first ever "partner swap" where a pair of teams switched partners for the leg and were checked in once both teammates had reached the check in point. Leg 7 was also a KOR leg. Because the only information given on air was the arrival order of the swapped pairs before teams were reunited and checked in, the team placement for leg 7 is the average of each team member’s arrival order as a swapped pair. No actual placement order for each team was announced. Season 31 had 11 returning racers and 11 new racers who were cast from alumni of other CBS reality shows. Each season 31 team is ranked sepaeately for any returning race team. Season 32 featured a “Megaleg” which is treated as having two leg segments with a midpoint, as typical for “double length legs, and which had two roadblocks, two detours, and two Yields, which returned in modified form for the first time since season 7. Leg 1 was a KOR leg with an elimination, the first such leg ever. And it also included a “city rush” leg with with no detours nor roadblocks, u-turns, nor yields. Season 33 had a situation due to the suspension of production for over 19 months that resulted in the withdrawal of four teams due to extenuating circumstances during the Covid-19 pandemic before production could resume safely, and the return of two eliminated teams. The average leg placement methodology is not changed, but no team will be shown as eliminated in the first leg, and no placement order is shown for that season., which had only 11 legs.

The lines in navy blue with italics are the final three teams of each season.
Teams in purple are the winning teams of each season.
The teams that were eliminated during the first leg are in maroon.
The teams in green are from season 33.
No team from seasons 18, 19, 28 or 33 is in maroon, as no team was eliminated on the first leg (or returned to race in subsequent legs. There is a paragraph break in the list after every tenth team.

The lower the average, the better the team placed on average. The best possible average for a team that reaches the final three (for an 12-leg race with 11 teams) and therefore, completes the Race would be:
(1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1)  12/12= 1.0000.
The worse possible average for a team that reaches the final three (for an 12-leg race with 11 teams) would be:
(11+11+10+10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+3) 87/12=7.2500.

(I used 12 legs, 11 teams as the most common variation in describing the highest and lowest values. This will vary slightly, depending on the designations of some legs as either NELs or an überleg in the Race design, and for the number of teams (10 to 12) and number of legs (11 to 13) for any given season, except for season 33.)

I plan to update this list after every season using this first post.

The Amazing Race team comparisons

09-02 Eric-Jeremy      22/13   1.6923 20-01 Rachel-Dave      22/12   1.8333 15-01 Meghan-Cheyne   24/12   2.0000 27-02 Justin-Diana       25/12   2.0833 33-** Kim-Penn         23/11   2.0909 24-01 Dave-Connor      26/12   2.1666 32-03 Riley-Maddison       26/12   2.1666 [/i] 14-01 Tammy-Victor      27/12   2.2500 20-02 Art-J.J.            27/12   2.2500 07-02 Rob-Amber       30/13   2.3076 10 33-** Ryan-Dusty        26/11   2.3636 01-02 Frank-Margarita   31/13   2.3846 06-02 Kris-Jon           31/13   2.3846 10-01Tyler-James       31/13   2.3846 22-01 Bates-Anthony   29/12   2.4166 28-03 Tyler-Korey       29/12   2.4166 31-01 Colin-Christie      29/12   2.4166 13-01 Nick-Starr         27/11   2.4545 30-03   Kristi-Jen       29.5/12   2.4583 01-01 Rob-Brennan      32/13   2.4615 20 05-02 Colin-Christie      32/13   2.4615 09-01 BJ-Tyler         32/13   2.4615 02-02 Tara-Wil         33/13   2.5384 29-04 Matt-Redmond       28/11   2.5454 16-02 Jet-Cord         31/12   2.5833 23-03 Nicole-Travis       31/12   2.5833 25-02 Misti-Jim          31/12   2.5833 [color= purple]32-01 Will-James            31/12   2.5833 [/color] 28-05 Kurt-Brodie          26/10   2.6000 13-02 Ken-Tina         29/11   2.6363 30 19-04 Andy-Tommy       29/11   2.6363 11-04 Oswald-Danny      32/12   2.6666 03-01 Flo-Zach         35/13   2.6923 0 3-03 Ken-Gerard      35/13   2.6923 33-** Raquel-Cayla     30/11 2.7272 31-02 Tyler-Korey      33/12   2.7500 14-03 Margie-Luke      33/12   2.7500 11-08 Rob-Amber           11/4   2.7500 01-03 Joe-Bill            36/13   2.7692 21-05 Abbie-Ryan         25/9   2.7777 40 24-05 Jet-Cord            28/10   2.8000 08-01 Linz            31/11   2.8181 19-01 Ernie-Cindy       34/12   2.8333 25-03 Adam-Bethany       34/12   2.8333 32-02 Hung & Chee           34/12   2.8333 23-01 Jason-Amy       35/12    2.9166 06-04 Hayden-Aaron      35/12   2.9166 11-02 Dustin-Kandice     38/13   2.9230 07-03 Ron-Kelly          39/13   3.0000 10-02 Rob-Kimberly      39/13   3.0000 50 12-06 Azaria-Hendekea   18/6   3.0000 17-03 Jill-Thomas         6/12     3.0000 22-08 David-Connor      15/5   3.0000 30-04 Alex-Conor       3.5/11   3.0454 04-01 Reichen-Chip      40/13   3.0769 17-01 Nat-Kat         37/12   3.0833 26-01 Laura-Tyler       37/12   3.0833 29-02 Tara-Joey          37/12   3.0833 03-04 Derek-Drew         34/11   3.0909 15-04 Flight Time-Big Easy   34/11   3.0909 60 13-04 Toni-Dallas         31/10   3.1000 25-05 Kym-Alli          28/9   3.1111 30-01 Cody-Jessica    37.5/12   3.1250 07-01 Uchenna-Joyce   41/13   3.1538 15-02 Sam-Dan         38/12   3.1666 10-04 Dustin-Kandice      38/12    3.1666 10-07 Peter-Sarah         19/6   3.1666 26-02 Jelani-Jenny       38/12   3.1666 17-02 Brook-Claire      38/12   3.1666 21-03 Trey-Lexi         38/12    3.1666 70 28-01 Dana-Matt       38/12   3.1666 12-01 Rachel-TK       35/11   3.1818 08-02 Bransen         35/11   3.1818 27-06 Tanner-Josh       29/9   3.2222 13-05 Terence-Sarah      26/8   3.2500 18-03 Gary-Malloy      9/12   3.2500 08-03 Weaver         36/11   3.2727 21-04 Nadiya-Natalie      36/11   3.2727 28-04 Burnie-Ashley       36/11   3.2727 05-03 Brandon-Nicole      43/13   3.3076 80 18-01 Kisha-Jen         40/12   3.3333 26-03 Hayley-Blair       40/12   3.3333 27-01 Kelsey-Joey       40/12   3.3333 29-05 Becca-Floyd       34/10   3.4000 20-03 Brendon-Rachel   41/12   3.4166 01-04 Kevin-Drew         37/11   3.3636 16-06 Steve-Allison      27/8    3.3750 02-01 Chris-Alex      44/13   3.3846 05-01 Chip-Kim         44/13   3.3846 23-02 Tim-Marie          41/12   3.4166 90 12-02 Ronald-Christina    38/11   3.4545 18-04 Zev-Justin          38/11   3.4545 06-01 Freddy-Kendra   45/13   3.4615 06-06 Jonathan-Victoria    32/9   3.5555 14-06 Mel-Mike          25/7   3.5714 19-02 Jeremy-Sandy       43/12   3.5833 21-02 Jaymes-James      43/12   3.5833 11-01 Eric-Danielle       47/13   3.6153 12-05 Kynt-Vyxsin         29/8   3.6250 30-02   Henry & Evan    43.5/12   3.6250 100 04-05 Millie-Chuck         33/9   3.6666 33-** Anthony-Spencer   11/3   3.6666 02-03 Blake-Paige      48/13   3.6923 08-04 Godlewski         37/10   3.7000 12-04 Jennifer-Nathan      37/10   3.7000 05-06 Charla-Mirna      26/7   3.7142 24-04 Leo-Jamal         41/11   3.7272 04-04 Jon-Al            41/11   3.7272 18-02 Flight Time-Big Easy   45/12   3.7500 22-09 Jessica-John      15/4   3.7500 110 24-03 Brendon-Rachel   45/12   3.7500 26-06 Aly-Steve          30/8   3.7500 09-04 Joseph-Monica      42/11   3.8181 23-04 Leo-Jamal          42/11   3.8181 31-04 Nicole & Victor      42/11    3.8181 04-02 Kelly-Jon         50/13   3.8461 02-05 Gary-Dave         35/9   3.8888 14-02 Cara-Jaime         47/12   3.9166 31-05 Becca & Floyd      40/10    4.0000 04-03 David-Jeff         52/13   4.0000 120 16-05 Carol-Brandy      36/9    4.0000 02-04 Oswald-Danny      44/11   4.0000 25-04 Brooke-Robbie       49/12   4.0833 29-01 Brooke-Scott       49/12   4.0833 07-05 Lynn-Alex          37/9   4.1111 08-05 Paolo         33/8   4.1250 21-06 James-Abba         33/8    4.1250 02-06 Mary-Peach         29/7   4.1428 22-07 Pam-Winnie         29/7   4.1428 11-03 Charla-Mirna        54/13   4.1538 130 05-04 Linda-Karen         50/12   4.1666 12-03 Nicolas-Donald      46/11   4.1818 15-05 Gary-Matt         38/9   4.2222 09-03 Ray-Yolanda      55/13   4.2307 02-08 Shola-Doyin         17/4   4.2500 15-03 Brian-Ericka      51/12   4.2500 22-02 Max-Katie         51/12   4.2500 24-02 Caroline-Jennifer   51/12   4.2500 31-03 Leo-Jamal      51/12   4.2500 14-04 Kisha-Jen         47/11   4.2727 140 32-04 DeAngelo-Gary           47/11   4.2727 19-07 Justin-Jennifer       30/7   4.2850 27-05 Denise-James Earl   43/10   4.3000 11-05 Uchenna-Joyce       39/9   4.3333 16-01 Jordan-Daniel      52/12   4.3333 16-03 Brent-Caite       52/12   4.3333 22-03 Mona-Beth         52/12   4.3333 27-03 Logan-Chris       52/12   4.3333 33-** Connie-Sam      13/3   4.3333 16-04 Louie-Michael      48/11   4.3636 150 19-06 Laurence-Zac       35/8   4.3750 16-08 Joseph-Heidi       22/5    4.4000 19-03 Amani-Marcus       53/12   4.4166 25-01 Amy-Maya       54/12   4.5000 14-08 Amanda-Kris      18/4   4.5000 03-02 Teri-Ian         59/13   4.5384 18-06 Jet-Cord            41/9   4.5555 21-01 Josh-Brent      55/12    4.5833 06-05 Lori-Bolo         46/10   4.6000 10-05 Erwin-Godwin      46/10    4.6000 160 20-05 Mark-Bopper      46/10   4.6000 17-06 Gary-Malloy         37/8   4.6250 10-09 Duke-Lauren      14/3   4.6666 23-09 Chester-Ephraim    14/3   4.6666 28-06 Zach-Rachel       42/9   4.6666 29-09 Seth-Olive          14/3   4.6666    06-03 Adam-Rebecca      61/13   4.6923 22-05 Joey-Meghan      47/10   4.7000 07-06 Brian-Greg          33/7   4.7142 09-06 Lake-Michelle      33/7   4.7142 170 08-07 Schroeder         19/4   4.7500 17-09 Connor-Jonathan   19/4   4.7500 26-04 Mike-Rochelle       57/12   4.7500 29-06 Liz-Michael          38/8   4.7500 03-05 John Vito-Jill         48/10   4.8000 32-08 Michelle-Victoria         24/5   4.8000 11-07 Teri-Ian           29/6   4.8333 29-03 London-Logan       58/12   4.8333 29-07 Vanck-Ashton       29/6   4.8333 30-05 Lucas & Brittany    43.5/9   4.8333 180 25-06 Tim-Te Jay          39/8   4.8750 09-05 Fran-Barry         44/9   4.8888 26-05 Matt-Ashley          49/10   4.9000 20-04 Vanessa-Ralph      54/11   4.9090 22-04 Caroline-Jennifer   54/11   4.9090 10-03 Lyn-Karlyn         65/13   5.0000 07-07 Ray-Deanna       30/6   5.0000 04-09 Steve-Josh         20/4   5.0000 01-09 Pat-Brenda         15/3   5.0000 13-09 Mark-Bill            15/3   5.0000 190 24-08 Margie-Luke         25/5   5.0000 17-05 Chad-Stephanie      46/9   5.1111 30-07 Trevor-Chris      31/6   5.1666 13-06 Kelly-Christy         36/7    5.1428 03-07 Aaron-Arianne      31/6   5.1666 26-07 Jeff-Jackie          31/6   5.1666 13-03 Andrew-Dan      57/11   5.1818 14-05 Mark-Michael      47/9   5.2222 31-06 Chris-Bret         47/9   5.2222    11-06 Joe-Bill              42/8   5.2500 200 05-08 Bob-Joyce         21/4   5.2500 12-08 Lorena-Jason      21/4   5.2500 17-04 Nick-Vicki             58/11   5.2727 27-04 Tiffany-Krista       58/11   5.2727 06-07 Gus-Hera         37/7   5.2857 17-07 Michael-Kevin      37/7   5.2857 04-07 Monica-Sheree      32/6   5.3333 05-07 Marshall-Lance      32/6   5.3333 07-09 Debbie-Bianca      16/3   5.3333 16-09 Monique-Shawne    16/3    5.3333 210 18-08 Margie-Luke         32/6   5.3333 07-04 Meredith-Gretchen   59/11   5.3636 33-** Caro-Ray      16/3   5.3333 23-06 Nicky-Kim          43/8    5.3750 23-08 Brandon-Adam       27/5    5.4000 17-08 Katie-Rachel      27/5   5.4000 25-08 Keith-Whitney       27/5   5.4000 26-08 Bergen-Kurt          27/5   5.4000 32-05 Eswar-Aparna         54/10      5.4000 33-** Arun-Natalia       54/10   5.4000 220 04-06 Tian-Jaree         38/7   5.4285 19-05 Bill-Cathi          50/10   5.5000 08-06 Gaghan            33/6   5.5000 05-10 Alison-Donny      11/2   5.5000 20-06 Nary-Jamie         44/8   5.5000 20-07 Joey-Danny         33/6   5.5000 28-02 Sheri-Cole          67/12   5.5833 03-06 Andre-Damon      39/7   5.5714 27-07 Cindy-Rick          39/7   5.5714 16-07 Jeff-Jordan         34/6    5.6666 230 03-09 Heather-Eve         23/4   5.7500 32-07 Leo-Alana          40/7   5.7142 01-05 Nancy-Emily         52/9   5.7777 05-05 Kami-Karli         58/10   5.8000 02-07 Cyndy-Russell      29/5   5.8000 03-08 Michael-Kathy      29/5   5.8000 12-07 Shana-Jennifer      29/5   5.8000 27-08 Jazmine-Danielle    29/5   5.8000 30-06 Eric & Daniel       46.5/8   5.8125 09-07 David-Lori         35/6   5.8333 240 24-06 Flight Time-Big Easy      47/8   5.8750 33-** Lulu-Lala      47/8   5.8750 04-11 Amanda-Chris      12/2   6.0000    15-08 Lance-Keri         30/5   6.0000 15-09 Zev-Justin         24/4   6.0000 18-05 Kent-Vyxsin         60/10   6.0000 18-07 Ronald-Christina      42/7   6.0000 21-07 Rob-Kelley         36/6    6.0000 21-10 Amy-Daniel         12/2    6.0000 23-05 Ally-Ashley          55/9    6.1111 250 10-06 David-Mary         49/8   6.1250 31-07 Rachel-Elissa      49/8   6.1250    22-06 Chuck-Wynona      49/8   6.1250    24-07 John-Jessica      43/7   6.1428 23-07 Tim-Danny           37/6    6.1666 33-** Akbar-Sheri      37/6   6.1666 04-08 Steve-Dave         31/5   6.2000 13-07 Ajay-Ty            31/5    6.2000 30-08 Joey-Tim          31/5   6.2000 09-09 Wanda-Desiree      25/4   6.2500 260 21-09 Caitlin-Brittany      19/3    6.3333 25-07 Shelley-Nici          38/6   6.3333 01-06 Lenny-Karen         45/7   6.4285 32-06 Kaylynn-Haley       58/9   6.4444 01-08 David-Margaretta     26/4   6.5000 07-08 Susan-Patrick      26/4   6.5000 08-09 Rogers            13/2   6.5000 23-10 Rowan-Shane       13/2    6.5000 18-11 Amanda-Kris      13/2   6.5000 15-06 Maria-Tiffany      46/7   6.5714 270 01-07 Paul-Amie         33/5   6.6000 14-07 Christie-Jodi         40/6   6.6666 14-09 Brad-Victoria      20/3   6.6666 31-08 Janelle-Britney      40/6    6.6666 26-09 Harley-Jonathan      27/4   6.7500 20-08 Kerri-Stacy         34/5   6.8000 10-08 Tom-Terry         28/4   7.0000 06-09 Lena-Kristy         21/3   7.0000 08-08 Aiello            21/3   7.0000 19-09 Kaylani-Lisa          21/3   7.0000 280 02-10 Hope-Norm         14/2   7.0000 19-10 Ethan-Jenna       14/2   7.0000 28-09 Jessica-Brittany       28/4   7.0000 28-08 Erin-Joslyn          36/5   7.2000 29-08 Shamir-Sara       29/4   7.2500 30-09 Cedric-Shawn       29/4   7.2500 31-09 Corinne-Eliza      29/4   7.2500    05-09 Jim-Marsha         22/3   7.3333 28-07 Scott-Blair          52/7   7.4285 15-07 Mika-Canaan      46/6   7.6666 290 15-10 Marcy-Ron         23/3   7.6666 32-09 Jerry & Frank       23/3   7.6666 13-08 Marisa-Brooke      31/4   7.7500 09-08 Danielle-Dani      39/5   7.8000 18-09 Cara-Jaime         39/5   7.8000 19-08 Liz-Marie          39/5   7.8000 06-08 Don-Mary Jean      40/5   8.0000 01-10 Kim-Leslie         16/2   8.0000 10-10 Kellie-Jamie         16/2    8.0000 20-09 Elliot-Andrew      24/3   8.0000 300 24-10 Mark-Mallory      16/2   8.0000 27-10 Alex-Adam          15/2   8.0000 28-10 Cameron-Darius    24/3   8.0000 21-08 Gary-Will         33/4    8.2500 04-10 Russell-Cindy      25/3   8.3333 12-09 Marianna-Julia      25/3   8.3333 18-10 Mel-Mike         25/3   8.3333 25-09 Michael-Scott       25/3   8.3333 27-09 Ernest-Jin          25/3   8.3333 33-** Taylor-Isaiah  25/3   8.3333  310 25-10 Dennis-Isabelle       17/2   8.5000 02-09 Peggy-Claire      27/3   9.0000 03-10 Dennis-Andrew      27/3   9.0000 06-10 Meredith-Maria      18/2   9.0000 11-09 David-Mary           27/3   9.0000 12-10 Kate-Pat            18/2   9.0000 20-10 Dave-Cherie         18/2   9.0000 22-10 Idries-Jamil         18/2   9.0000 33-** Michael-Moe      18/2   9.0000 24-09 Joey-Meghan      28/3   9.3333 320 07-10 Megan-Heidi         19/2   9.5000 13-10 Anthony-Stephanie   19/2   9.5000 14-10 Linda-Steve         19/2   9.5000 15-11 Garrett-Jessica      19/2   9.5000 17-10 Andie-Jenna         19/2   9.5000 19-11 Ron-Bill             19/2   9.5000 28-11 Marty-Hagan       19/2   9.5000 29-10 Jessie-Francesca    19/2   9.5000 32-10 Kellie-LaVonne      19/2   9.5000 09-10 Lisa-Joni         20/2   10.0000 330 11-10 Kevin-Drew           20/2   10.0000 16-10 Jody-Shannon       20/2   10.0000 08-10 Black            10/1   10.0000 26-10 Libby-CJ          10/2   10.0000 30-10April-Sarah       20/2   10.0000 31-10 Rupert-Laura      20/2   10.0000 03-11 Tramel-Talicia      21/2   10.5000 01-11 Matt-Ana         11/1   11.0000 02-11 Deidre-Hillary      11/1   11.0000 05-11 Dennis-Erika      11/1   11.0000 340 06-11 Joe-Avi         11/1    11.0000 07-11 Ryan-Chuck       11/1    11.0000 09-11 John-Scott      11/1   11.0000 10-11 Vipul-Arti         11/1   11.0000 11-11 John Vito-Jill      11/1   11.0000 12-11 Ari-Staella         11/1   11.0000 13-11 Anita-Arthur      11/1   11.0000 14-11 Jennifer-Preston   11/1   11.0000 16-11 Adrian-Dana       11/1    11.0000 17-11 Ron-Tony         11/1   11.0000 350 20-11 Misa-Maiya      11/1   11.0000 21-11 Rob-Sheila      11/1    11.0000 22-11 Matthew-Daniel    11/1   11.0000 23-11 Hoskote-Naina    11/1    11.0000 24-11 Natalie-Nadiya    11/1   11.0000 25-11 Lisa-Michelle       11/1   11.0000 26-11 Jeff-Lyda          11/1   11.0000 27-11 Kelly-Shevonne   11/1   11.0000 29-11 Kevin-Jenn       11/1   11.0000 30-11 Dessie & Kayla    11/1    11.0000 360 31-11 Art & JJ         11/1   11.0000 32-11 Nathan & Cody      11/1    11.0000 03-12 Gina-Sylvia      12/1   12.0000 04-12 Debra-Steve      12/1   12.0000 10-12 Bilal-Sa'eed        12/1   12.0000 15-12 Eric-Lisa         12/1   12.0000

[Mister RC]

Awesome list, as always. I think I saw you do this elsewhere in the past.  I totally agree with counting TBC's as two legs (as there are typically 2 RB/Detours within the "one leg").  Sadly, it gets difficult to have a perfect comparison when you factor in races from TAR12 to the most recent TAR.  That's due to the 11-leg format used from TAR's 12-14.

Something I did on my now "deceased" geocities site for the first 9 seasons was that I also factored in each team's placement vs. the field within each segment.  In other words, it's each team's placement out of the # of teams the beat (or that beat them) within each leg.  For instance, Flo & Zach finished 2nd in their first leg.  I multiplied that by 12 (then 5*11 and 3*10 and so on to get to a total of 249 for Flo & Zach). 

After the overall number was reached, I divided it by the total number of teams that raced in each leg throughout the race.  For TAR3, that total would be 88 (12+11+10+9+8+7+6+5+5+5+4+3+3=88).  Therefore, factoring the field in addition to a team's placement and the number of legs that team completed would have given Flo & Zach an average of 2.83.

It's a little bit higher than the 2.69 that you had, but IMO, I feel that it was more of an accomplishment seeing someone win a couple of legs with 9 or more teams racing in that leg, compared to someone winning 2 (or more) legs with 4 or 5 teams remaining.

I think I saved the other teams placement somewhere else, but I don't know for sure (or it's buried somewhere & I'd be better off recreating it to include season 10 and beyond).  I like your list though in general; really gives a nice look toward how a lot of the teams performed overall during their stay on the race.

[apskip]

The raw statistics are a good start, but I think the difficulty of prime opponents is another factor. Here are teams that won despite relatively equal performance by another team:

Uchenna/Joyce  AR7 (opp. Rob/Amber)
BJ/Tyler AR9 (opp. Eric/Jeremy)
Chris/Alex AR2 (opp. Wil/Tara)
Freddie/Kendra AR6 (opp. Kris/Jon)
Nick/Starr AR13 (opp. Ken/Tina)
 
I think a way needs to be developed to factor in dominance of a season despite not winning it. The prime example of this is Colin/Christie, who lost of Chip/Kim only by multiple instances of bad luck (fog in Calgary, bad advice from American Airlines, tire blowout in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area).

I believe that the necessary judgments to determine "who is the best team of all time" are inherently subjective. Statistics can only take you so far. You have to develop essentially qualitative measures that get somehow translated into numbers in order to accomplish a decent ranking.

[Coutzy]

Rob and Brennan also managed to beat a team that performed roughly equal to them (Avg. place difference between them and Frank and Margarita was roughly .08)

[theschnauzers]

There is an earlier version of this over at TWoP, but I haven't updated it in recent seasons, and there were inconsistencies in computation that needed to be fixed. I also decided that rather than round off decimals, I'd take the fractions out 4 digits. And the attitude of TPTB there isn't receptive to this sort of thing anymore, so it was time to move it elsewhere, such as here.

I've reached the conclusion that the variations in the number of legs and teams wouldn't likely make a real difference in this type of measurement. Dominating teams in a season are reflected in this placement approach; you need look no further than at the teams currently listed at the top of the listing. I'd also look at the final three teams that have the highest values, such as the ones averaging 5.0000 or higher, and I think there's little argument that some final three teams were very, very, lucky to make final three.

One problem in using mid-leg points to fine-tune placements is that the show is inconsistent in providing such points from leg-to-leg and season-to-season. Then there's the issue of bunching, and the issue of filmed but unaired tasks and route markers, both of which make having complete ordinal information impossible.

Finally, keep in mind that this is intended to be an objective tool, and not reflect subjective opinions. Of course, this listing is a starting point for those types of discussion, but that's fine with me. I doubt there would be any consensus on subjectively developed performance rankings anyhow.

[chill_sd]

It's interesting when you look at All-Stars.  Except for the bottom three teams,  a pretty close ranking.

11-04 Oswald/Danny      32/12   2.6666
11-08 Rob/Amber        11/4      2.7500
11-02 Dustin/Kandice     38/13   2.9230
11-01 Eric/Danielle    47/13   3.6153
11-03 Charla/Mirna     54/13   4.1538
11-05 Uchenna/Joyce    39/9      4.3333
11-07 Teri/Ian           29/6      4.8333
11-06 Joe/Bill           42/8      5.2500
11-09 David/Mary        27/3      9.0000
11-10 Kevin/Drew        20/2      10.0000
11-11 John Vito/Jill         11/1      11.0000

[Hooky]

I love your list! I've been hoping for someone to post something like this for a while. Thanks!

I found an error, though. In Season 7 you have it listed as being out of 12 legs, but if you count double-legs that would result in a total of 13 legs, not 12. That also means that Lynn & Alex raced through 9/13 legs, and Meredith and Gretchen raced through 11/13 legs.

[theschnauzers]

I found an error, though. In Season 7 you have it listed as being out of 12 legs, but if you count double-legs that would result in a total of 13 legs, not 12. That also means that Lynn & Alex raced through 9/13 legs, and Meredith and Gretchen raced through 11/13 legs.

I kept each season's leg-by-leg placements, so I'll double-check when I get a chance. As you can gather, it's a very painstaking process, and all it takes is one interruption to mess up. And making sure all the uberlegs got treated consistently meant that I had to move teams up and down since originally I counted them as separate legs in some seasons and not in others. But the show has never failed to show the order of the mid-point arrivals for a double-leg, so it makes it easier to equitably treat it as two legs.

As to All-Stars , I think the numbers can be said to show that it was a fairly wide open season once Romber were out of the way.  It's also surprising how many of the All-Star Teams had similar placement averages to their original season(s), which is what helped convince me that the approach I'm using to compute this list was the fairest way to go.

[theschnauzers]

OK, I have found the problem, and fixed the list. It turns out that at some point the placements for leg 5 of season 7 got lost in the merged notes I worked from this week, although they were in my original notes I made back in season seven. I've recomputed the values for the seven teams affected, and re-ordered the list with the correct values for those teams.

[Glamazon Racer]

Wow, amazing work! This is sensational, and I thank you for producing this!

[Benedicto]

I love this

but there's another way to know dominance ^_^

From wuming01:

For each leg, the placement is weighted (by multiplying the percentile total, in decimals, the team placed in comparison to all teams taking part in the leg).

[theschnauzers]

Coming in first (or second) on most of the legs appears to be what most people mean by dominance; and in several of the seasons, there were more than one dominant team, and sometimes neither of those teams won the final leg.

In other words, there are different ways to define that term, and as a result, there's probably a mathematical formula to meet every different definition. This is where I apply the K-I-S-S principle, and that explains the reason why my approach is what it is.  

I should point out that comparing any two teams using this list is relative and not intended to be exact; I think one could reasonably asset that where several teams are within say, .01 of a given placement value, and they raced in approximately the same number of legs, that those performances are essentially equal. But that is a subjective interpretation, and not necessarily a conclusion cast in concrete definitiveness. (Think about it, it's a play on words. )

[nathandg0924]

Wow, this is very interesting, hopefully you post more

[mswood]

Years ago I used to do this for the site (but it got to long doing every team) The only question I have is for the DBL leg, I assume you count how they performed during each half of the leg.  And if so in season 9, who got to the matt first Dani & Danielle or Wanda & Desiree (I could never tell with the footage we got).

And for the Family Edition, The finale leg as two full legs in it, but where do you split it.  At getting to the stadium or after they got their departure times?

As to factors, pure numbers aren't enough to go on. 

For example seasons 1-5 had fast forwards available in all but one leg, these means in the legs a fast forward was used it alters the possible outcome in relation to other season.

Then you have the fact that seasons 1-5 let any racer perform all roadblocks.

Season one (and a few other times over the years, but season one was of course the worst) had much harder clues then most all other seasons.  They also unlike any other season had no idea what to expect.

Seasons 13 and on, they had dramatically cut back on how much teams drive (this used to be a huge factor in how well you did).

Hell look at All Stars, and see how one airport mess really screwed with teams.  Impacting several legs.

[theschnauzers]

I don't look at episodes, I look at legs. (Only in the case of uberlegs, do I break it at all, and that's because we've always been shown the order of teams reaching the "continue racing" midpoint (even if that's been over two episodes, which is usually the case.)

Wiki doesn't keep track of that detail, but I have in my notes. One secondary source would normally be the CBS website, but those are impossible to retrieve these days, but Miss Alli's recaps also noted that information. (In other words, I trust my notes, as I've kept track of leg order of finish in real time ever since season three-- and reconstructing the first two seasons was easier then since CBS had "leg-by-leg leader boards." And that's true notwithstanding that CBS messed up a placement in season three that they never fixed.)

My theory is that notwithstanding the changes in how the over-all racecourse is designed (such as increased bunching) the overall average is what has value and not every single placement in each leg, or at points in the leg. It's like for other things, it is a measure of overall performance and not the moment to moment performance. Luck plays a role in winning the last leg; and no matter how you slice it, that can't really be measured....e.g., the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. (Just try telling me that the on-side kick play call in the third quarter wasn't a bit of luck.)

[mswood]

The reason I mentioned the first part of season 9's leg (is that we don't see it happen, not even from clips, so I always hated that).  All we see is both on the matt at the same time (and order on the matt left or right isn't always the order).

As for the Family Edition, that final leg I hate (actually its their best leg), but I hate to figure out where the break would be.

[mswood]

After looking at your list.  I think you don't consider season 8 final to be a DBL leg (though it does have all elements of one 2 roadblocks, 2 detours all in different citites).

[theschnauzers]

Take a look at how that final Family Edition leg was constructed, and you'll find that it was next to impossible to determine a specific point as the mid-point of the leg. (I pulled out my DVD, looked at my surviving notes, looked at Wiki, and Miss Alli's recap of that episode.)

Even Wikipedia calls the Olympic Stadium in Montreal as an "ostensible leg midpoint" because of the ambiguity of the situation. Was it the order of arrival at the stadium, the order teams found the clues in the searching task in the stadium before resting overnight,  or the time of departure the following morning? (All of which resulted in a different team order.)

In the other seasons with uberlegs, the double-length legs had a specific midpoint where teams were instructed to keep racing; and in season six (which was unplanned), the midpoint was generally considered to be the overnight wait at the cafe in Budapest. In many ways the FE final leg was similar to most of the early seasons where teams had an overnight wait that was not a pit stop in mid-leg of the final leg. With that in mind, I'm comfortable that the final leg in the Family Edition couldn't be treated as a true uberleg.

[mswood]

Sorry If I sounded like I was complaining about what you used, trust me I was complaining because I could never decide on which point to use as it effect all three teams.  Personally as much as I hate the weavers I want to say arriving at the Stadium (since no other leg in race history has you looking for you departure times for your next episode, its always on that next episode).  Of course, then the other arguement is that every TBC leg also allows a rest period between legs (that would mean its after you find your departure times, thus my grey hair).

Oh but I was wrong about Dani & Danielle & Wanda & Desiree it is stated on air (what was I smoking, now off to see if I wrote it down current or wrong).

[jtarhead11]

   Great research and work...  However, I'm interested in a different sort of list.  I'm hoping someone can help me out.  I'm curious to know, from the beginning of the race, the total # of m/m, f/f and m/f teams; the total # of openly gay male racers, (either on the same team or individually) vs openly lesbian racers; the # of "differently-able" racers; the # of racers in their 20s, 30s, 40s, etc; the racial breakdown of the racers: Asian, African American, Caucasian, Middle Eastern, etc...  Consider it a sort of TAR census.  I'd like to see the equality in The Amazing Race, (or lack thereof).  Perhaps these #s could help broaden the horizons of the casting process, make for more original and interesting Amazing Race Seasons, and expand the fan base...  Just wondering, thanks for the help!! 

[Coutzy]

There are some problems with your proposal. Largely, how do you define "Differently-able"? A case could be made either way for Luke and Charla. Both these racers had a handicap while competing, but such a handicap wouldn't get them any parking privileges.

My point is, where do you draw the line? In these days, where obesity is considered a disability by some, who decides what makes differently-able on the race?

[georgiapeach]

Let's leave THIS thread for theschnauzers updates and discussion of that technique please.

All that info you are asking for is widely available, if you want to start another thread and ask for help, feel free jtarhead11. I personally find adding labels to teams rather distasteful though, but I see where you are going.

Back to topic please.

[jtarhead11]

Let's leave THIS thread for theschnauzers updates and discussion of that technique please.

All that info you are asking for is widely available, if you want to start another thread and ask for help, feel free jtarhead11. I personally find adding labels to teams rather distasteful though, but I see where you are going.

Back to topic please.

   Georgiapeach, didn't mean to offend, and I'm certainly not trying to "label" anymore than the race already does. I was merely trying to explore some of the inequities in casting.  For example, did you know that, including season 16, only 7 openly gay women have been chosen for the race, while the number of openly gay men is at my count at least 21.  Seems a bit unfair don't you think??  And how many young, Caucasian Barbie and Ken type teams have been on??  Seriously, too many to count, but then America never gets tired of Barbie and Ken.   

But you're right, I should have started another thread to discuss this so as not to distract from theschnauzers AWESOME statistics skills!   

[DeafRacer]

There are some problems with your proposal. Largely, how do you define "Differently-able"? A case could be made either way for Luke and Charla. Both these racers had a handicap while competing, but such a handicap wouldn't get them any parking privileges.

My point is, where do you draw the line? In these days, where obesity is considered a disability by some, who decides what makes differently-able on the race?

Hey now! I am no "disability"      My deafness wasn't a big problem for me on the Race. Hence, my mom and I finished in Top Four in every leg for entire race! Isn't that pretty impressive?

But under the law, I am labeled as disability. Oh well.

[DavidJunior]

There are some problems with your proposal. Largely, how do you define "Differently-able"? A case could be made either way for Luke and Charla. Both these racers had a handicap while competing, but such a handicap wouldn't get them any parking privileges.

My point is, where do you draw the line? In these days, where obesity is considered a disability by some, who decides what makes differently-able on the race?

Hey now! I am no "disability"      My deafness wasn't a big problem for me on the Race. Hence, my mom and I finished in Top Four in every leg for entire race! Isn't that pretty impressive?

But under the law, I am labeled as disability. Oh well.

Luke's only disability has something to do with a certain Chinese bird...