Odds and Ends 9/19/18

Welcome Back!

Here at Odds and Ends, I plan to look at some stats, trends, storylines, etc. as they play out.  I will also give my opinion on some issues, but you can take that for what it's worth.

LIR

Let's start with the Last Interception Race (LIR).  In this space, I will be chronicling who has the most attempts without an interception.  After week 3, here are the top 5:

1. Cole McDonald, Hawaii- 143

2. Alan Bowman, Texas Tech- 133

3. Brett Rypien, Boise State- 112

4. D'Eriq King, Houston- 109

5. Kellen Mond, Texas A&M- 89

I think this will be a fun race to watch!  I wonder how far we will get into the season until everyone has an interception?

All Wins and No Wins

This is where I will list all the teams that are still undefeated, and all the teams that are winless.  These lists will get smaller as the season goes on, of course.

Undefeated

Akron

Alabama

Boston College

Buffalo

California

Cincinnati

Clemson

Colorado

Duke

Georgia

Indiana

Iowa

Kentucky

La Tech

LSU

Marshall

Minnesota

Mississippi State

Missouri

N C State

North Texas

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Oregon

Penn State

Stanford

Syracuse

UCF

USF

Virginia Tech

Washington State

West Virginia

Winless

Central Michigan

Iowa State
Miami, Ohio

Nebraska
New Mexico State

North Carolina

Old Dominion

Purdue

San Jose State

SMU

UCLA

UTEP

UTSA

Western Kentucky

Some interesting tidbits:

There are 14 winless teams.  That means that 5 teams earned their first win in week 3.  There are 34 undefeated teams.  20 teams suffered their first loss in week 3.

There are only 5 games between undefeated teams in week 4, and 3 involve SEC teams, so the ranks are guaranteed to be thinned to no more than 29 teams.  These games are: UGA @ Missouri, La Tech @ LSU, Miss St @ Kentucky, Stanford @ Oregon, and NC State @ Marshall. 

There is only 1 game between winless teams: New Mexico State (0-4) @ UTEP (0-3), so there is only one guaranteed win among that group.

Here are the conference standings in relation to undefeated and winless teams.  The 1st number is the number of undefeated teams, the 2nd is the number of winless teams.  I trust you to know how many teams are in each conference.

SEC 6-0 (2 of those will lose this Saturday- see above)

ACC 6-1

PAC 12 5-1

Big 10 5-2

Big 12 3-1

CUSA 3-4

AAC 3-1

MAC 2-2

Independents 1-1

SBC 0-0

MWC 0-1

Conference Standings

I will also be keeping up with how the conferences are faring in non-conference games.  So far, there have been 155 such games.  Here is where we stand:

1) SEC 28-5 .848 winning percentage, down .027, #1 Last Week

2) ACC 24-7 .771, up .041, #5 LW

3) Big 12 19-7 .731, down .005, #4 LW

4) Pac 12 23-10 .697, down .042, #3 LW

5) Big 10 24-12 .667, .115, #2 LW

6) AAC 18-12 .600, no change, #7 LW

7) SBC 14-11 .560, down .051, #6 LW

8) MWC 20-16 .556, up .036, #8 LW

9) Independents 8-9 .470, up .054, #10 LW

10) CUSA 15-20 .429, up .022, #11 LW

11) MAC 12-17 .414, down .014, #9 LW

12) FCS 5-84 .059 down .010, #12 LW

And now, let's break down some of these numbers.

The SEC is 6-2 (1st) versus Power 5 Conferences and 10-3 (4th) against Group of 5 conferences.  That makes them 16-5 against FBS competition, a 76.2% win percentage that is best in the nation.

The ACC is 12-7 (4th) against the FBS.  That breaks down to 3-5 (7th) vs. P5 competition, and 9-2 (2nd) against G5 teams.

The Big 12 is 13-6 (2nd) against the FBS.  That breaks down to 4-6 (6th) against P5 teams and 9-0 (1st versus G5 teams.

The Big 10 is 6-5 (3rd) versus P5 teams and 16-7 (5th) against G5 teams.  That equates to 22-12 (3rd)vs. FBS competition.

The AAC is 9-10 (6th) vs. the FBS, which is broken down to 6-4 (2nd) against P5 teams and 3-6 (10th) versus fellow G5 teams. Interesting that they are doing better against P5 than G5.

The SBC is 1-8 (10th) versus P5 teams and 5-3 (7th) against G5.  Overall, they are 6-11 (9th) against FBS teams.

The MWC is 12-15 vs the FBS, which breaks out to 4-13 (8th) against P5 teams and 8-2 (3rd) against other G5 teams.

Independents are 7-9 (8th) vs. FBS competition.  They are 4-4 (4th) vs. P5 and 3-5 (9th) vs. G5 teams.

The CUSA is 1-12 (11th) against P5 and 6-7 (8th) vs. G5 teams.  That makes them 7-19 (10th) against FBS overall.

The MAC is 3-17 (11th) against FBS teams.  They are 2-14 (9th) vs. P5 and 1-3 (11th) vs. G5.

The FCS has one win against a P5 team, and 4 against G5 teams.

Update on Paul's Playoff Picks:

Two of my four picks already have losses: Washington lost to Auburn in week 1 and Wisconsin lost to BYU in week 3.  While neither of these teams are eliminated yet, they just made their chances pretty slim.  Georgia and Clemson are still on track, however, as both are still undefeated.  Alabama, Ohio State, and Oklahoma are waiting for someone to stumble.

Games I'm excited about this weekend:

Georgia @ Missouri- This is the game Georgia has to worry about in the first half of the season.  I think Missouri is sneaky good, and will put a scare into the Dawgs.
Notre Dame @ Wake Forest- This game should be competitive as ND never seems to play any other type...
Buffalo @ Rutgers- Can Rutgers defeat an FBS team?  Can the Bulls continue their magical season?
Akron @ Iowa State- The Zips have already taken down Northwestern.  Can they defeat the Cyclones?
Boston College @ Purdue- Will Purdue really start 0-4 after the season began with such promise?  Will the Eagles make it to the Clemson game undefeated?
Texas A&M @ Alabama- Will the Aggies be the first team to get within 36 points of the Tide?
Clemson @ Georgia Tech- Can the Tigers continue their undefeated season on the road in Atlanta?  Or will the Yellow Jackets pull the upset?
Kansas State @ West Virginia- The Mountaineers get their first real challenge, but it's at home.  Can the Wildcats give them a game?
Northern Illinois @ FSU- Will the Seminoles' season sink further into despair?  The Huskies are not an easy team to beat...
Kansas @ Baylor- This game could determine last place in the Big 12.  Unless one or both of these teams are better than expected.
South Carolina @ Vanderbilt- A pecking order game in the SEC East.
TCU @ Texas- Is Texas better, or was the win over USC an illusion?  How will TCU react to last week's loss to Ohio State?
Mississippi State @ Kentucky- A matchup of 2 undefeated SEC teams.  Is Kentucky for real?  Just how good is Miss St?
Texas Tech @ Oklahoma State- Are the Red Raiders ready to actually play with the big boys of the Big 12? Is Oklahoma St for real?
Troy @ ULM- Will Troy have a hangover from last week's victory over Nebraska? This is an important game in the SBC.
Florida @ Tennessee- This used to be a big game.  Now it's just a game...
Arkansas @ Auburn- Will the Razorbacks be improved at all? Can they salvage their season?  How will Auburn respond to losing a big 2nd half lead to LSU?
Michigan State @ Indiana- Are the Hoosiers ready to actually play with the big boys of Big 10?  Are the Spartans ready to put their loss to Arizona State behind them?
Stanford @ Oregon- This is an important game in the PAC 12 North, as both of these teams are undefeated.
Wisconsin @ Iowa- Will the Badgers rebound? Can Iowa get an early lead in the Big 10 West race?

That's all for now.  Tomorrow, I will have my picks for Week 4.  Feel free to leave a comment.  Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!