Team selection - Math Central

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Question from Peter, a parent:

I manage a football team with a list of 28 players.
Only 24 can play each game.
The season is 16 games.
How do I fairly select 24 players each week.

You cannot do it completely fairly; you have 16*24 slots, and 28 does not divide this number. The best you can do is to have some players play 13 games and some 14.

Team roles may well constrain you even more than this, of course.

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