Odds and Ends 9/18/19

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.

This is the week I start expanding, as there is a lot more data to work with.  Today I add the list of teams that are undefeated and the teams that are winless.  Six weeks into the season, I'll add the teams that are bowl eligible and those eliminated (or in danger of being eliminated).

Anyway, let's get into this week's statistics!

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 1, here are the top 5:

1. Matthew McCay, NC State- 113

2. Sam Ehlinger, Texas- 112

3. Justin Herbert, Oregon- 105

4. Jarren Williams, Miami, FL- 93

5. Tua Tagavailoa, Alabama- 91

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

Conference Standings

I will also be keeping up with how the conferences are faring in non-conference games.  So far, there have been 78 such games.  Here is where we stand:

1) Big Ten 27-6 .818

2) Big 12 22-5 .815

3) SEC 25-8 .758

4) AAC 21-9 .700

5) PAC 12 22-10 .688

6) ACC 19-10 .655

7) MWC 20-11 .645

8) Sun Belt 13-14 .481

9) CUSA 17-21 .447

10) Independents 7-10 .412

11) MAC 13-20 .394

12) FCS- 3-85 .034

Here are the numbers against FBS teams only:

1) Big Ten 22-6 .786

2) Big 12 13-5 .722

3) SEC 16-8 .667

4) Pac 12 14-10 .583

T5) ACC 12-9 .571

       AAC 12-9 .571

7) MWC 10-11 .476

8) Independents 7-9 .438

9) Sun Belt 5-14 .263

10) CUSA 6-20 .231

11) MAC 3-20 .130

Here are the records against P5 competition:

1) Big 12 6-4 .600

2) Pac 12 4-3 .571

3) SEC 5-4 .556

4) MWC 7-8 .467

5) Big Ten 3-4 .429

6) Independents 3-6 .333

7) AAC 4-9 .308

8) ACC 2-6 .250

9) Sun Belt 2-7 .222

10) MAC 1-14 .067

11) FCS 1-28 .034

12) CUSA 0-13 .000

These 3 lists tell us quite a bit about each conference.  First, many beef up their wins against FCS teams.  Second, the Big Ten looks great overall and against FBS teams (they only have 4 games against the FCS), but are below .500 against P5 teams.  The MAC and CUSA are a combined 1-27 against P5 teams, only slightly better than the FCS record of 1-28.  The MWC has played more games against P5 competition than any other conference, and is only slightly below .500.  The ACC has done only slightly better than the Sun Belt than against P5 teams.

I'm only presenting the info to you; I'll let you make the decision of which conference is best!  Can you do it without any inherent bias?

Which Division is Best?

Here is how each division is doing in overall records:

1) Big 12 22-5 .815

2) SEC West 17-4 .810

3) Big Ten East 15-4 .789

4) Big Ten West 14-5 .737

5) MWC Mountain 11-4 .733

6) AAC West 12-5 .706

T7) ACC Atlantic 14-7 .667

T7) Pac 12 North 12-6 .667

9) AAC East 10-6 .625

10) Sun Belt East 8-5 .615

11) Pac 12 South 11-7 .611

12) SEC East 12-8 .600

13) ACC Coastal 12-9 .571

14) MWC West 9-7 .563

15) MAC West 9-8 .529

16) CUSA West 9-10 .474

17) CUSA East 9-11 .450

18) Independents 7-10 .412

19) Sun Belt West 5-9 .357

20) MAC East 5-13 .278

As far as intra-conference play, here is how each division is doing against the other:

SEC West leads the SEC East 1-0

Big 10 West leads the Big Ten East 1-0

ACC Atlantic leads the Coastal 3-1

Pac 12 South leads the North 1-0

AAC West leads the East 1-0

Mac West leads the East 1-0

The MWC, CUSA, and SBC are all 0-0

In every conference divided in this way, the West leads the East.  Odd...

Undefeated Vs. Winless

After 3 games, there are 35 (out of 130) teams that are still undefeated:

Air Force (2-0)
Alabama
Appalachian State (2-0)
Arizona State
Auburn
Baylor (2-0)
Boise State
California
Clemson
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Kansas State
LSU
Memphis
Michigan
Minnesota
Navy (2-0)
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Penn State
San Diego State
SMU
TCU (2-0)
Temple (2-0)
UAB (2-0)
UCF
Utah
Virginia
Wake Forest
Washington State
Wisconsin (2-0)
Wyoming

There are 8 winless teams, proving that it's much harder to go winless than it is to go undefeated:

Akron
Fresno State (0-2)
New Mexico State
Rice
Texas State
UCLA
UMass
Vanderbilt (0-2)

Let's examine these by conference.  This is another way to compare conferences.

The SEC has 5 of 14 undefeated, and 1 winless.
The Big Ten has 6 of 14 undefeated, and no winless teams.
The ACC has only 3 undefeated teams, the lowest of the P5, and no winless teams.
The Big 12 has 5 of 10 teams undefeated- half!- and no winless teams.
The Pac 12 has 4 f 12 teams undefeated, and 1 winless.
Independents have only1 of 6 undefeated, but 2 winless.
The AAC has 5 of 12 undefeated, and 0 winless.
The MWC has 4 of 12 undefeated, and 1 winless.
CUSA has 1 undefeated team, and 1 winless.
The MAC is the only conference with 0 undefeated teams, and 1 winless.
The SBC has 1 each of undefeated and winless.

Update on Paul's Playoff Picks:

My four picks are still on track!  I'm pretty excited about that, even though it's only been 3 weeks. Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, and Oklahoma all won convincingly.  

Games I'm excited about this weekend:

Utah @ USC- The winner of this game takes the lead in the Pac 12 South.  Can the trojans rebound from their loss to BYU?  Can the Utes sustain their success?

Air Force @ Boise State- The winner of this game takes control of the MWC Mountain division.  Are the Falcons for real?  Can they knock off the Broncos?

Notre Dame @ Georgia- This is the game of the week, as it features the #7 team visiting the #3 team.  Which team will thrive under the national glare?  Which team will fall short?  Will this ultimately prove to be a playoff elimination game?  Lose this one, and your margin for error is thin.

Tennessee @ Florida- Can the Volunteers win their 2nd in a row? Can the Gators sustain their luck?

Michigan @ Wisconsin- This is a major game in the Big Ten, featuring 2 teams in the top 13.  Can the Wolverines come up with an offense?  Can the Badger defense continue their shutout streak?

California @ Ole Miss- Are the Golden Bears for real?  Can they travel across the country and defeat the Rebels?

Auburn @ Texas A&M- Are the Aggies ready to surge to the top half of the SEC West?  Can the Tigers win in a hostile environment?

UCF @ Pittsburgh- Can the Knights defeat 2 P5 teams in a row (like Hawai'i did in their 1st 2 games)? Can the Panthers bounce back from their loss to Penn State?

Washington @ BYU- Are the Cougars for real?  Can they take the Huskies to OT?

SMU @ TCU- Which of these teams will remain undefeated? Are the Mustangs contenders in the AAC, or are they pretenders?

Kentucky @ Mississippi State- Can the Wildcats bounce back from bitter disappointment? Can the Bulldogs?

West Virginia @ Kansas- Are the Jayhawks at least mediocre, or does their victory over Boston College say more about the Eagles (and the ACC in general)? Can they stay close to the Mountaineers?

Oklahoma State @ Texas- Which team will establish itself as a frontrunner in the Big 12?  The Longhorns can't really afford another loss if they hope to make the playoff; will they play like it?  Will the Cowboys show enough defense to keep the game close and give themselves a chance to win at the end?

Colorado @ Arizona State- Are the Sun Devils for real?  Which team will keep pace with the USC-Utah winner?  Can the Buffaloes recover from their loss to Air Force?

That's all for now.  Tomorrow, I will have my picks for Week 3.  Feel free to leave a comment and to follow me on Twitter: @pbanderson.

Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!