Odds and Ends 9/30/2020

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 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.  In the past, I have usually listed all the teams that reach bowl eligibility, and those that have been eliminated, but since the NCAA has done away with any requirements, that feature will not appear this year.  

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.  This is a lot harder to keep up with with teams playing so sporadically!  After week 2, here are the top 5:

1. D'Eriq King, Miami- 94
2. Jarrett Doege, WVU- 62
3. Sam Hartman, WF- 57
4. Skylar Thompson, Kan St- 54
5. Bryson Lucero, UAB- 49

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?  This will also be an odd race to watch, as not everyone is starting the season at the same time, and not everyone is playing the same number of games.

Undefeated Teams 

Here is a list of all the undefeated teams:

Alabama 1-0
Auburn 1-0
Baylor 1-0
Boston College 2-0
BYU 2-0
Cincinnati 1-0
Clemson 2-0
Coastal Carolina 2-0
Florida 1-0
Georgia 1-0
La Tech 2-0
Liberty 2-0
Louisiana 3-0
Marshall 2-0
Memphis 1-0
Miami, Fla 3-0
Mississippi State 1-0
North Carolina 1-0
Notre Dame 2-0
Oklahoma State 2-0
Pittsburgh 3-0
SMU 3-0
Tennessee 1-0
Texas 2-0
Texas A&M 1-0
UCF 2-0
UTSA 3-0
Virginia 1-0
Virginia Tech 1-0


Winless Teams

Here is a list of all the winless teams.  Hopefully, by the end of the season, there won't be any teams on this list!

Arkansas 0-1
Charlotte 0-1
Duke 0-3
East Carolina 0-1
FIU 0-1
FSU 0-2
Georgia State 0-1
Kansas 0-2
Kentucky 0-1
LSU 0-1
Middle Tennessee 0-3
Missouri 0-1
Ole Miss 0-1
South Carolina 0-1
Southern Miss 0-3
TCU 0-1
Tulsa 0-1
ULM 0-3
Vanderbilt 0-1
Wake Forest 0-2
WKU 0-2

There are 29 undefeated teams and 21 winless teams, showing, once again, that's it's much harder to go winless than to go undefeated!

Conference Standings

I will also be keeping up with how the conferences are faring in non-conference games. Here is where we stand after 3 weeks:

2) Independents 6-1 .857
1) ACC 7-1 .875
3) AAC 9-3 .750
4) Big 12 5-3 .625
6) Sun Belt 9-10 ..473
5) CUSA 11-11 .500
7) FCS 0-18 .000

Against FBS competition, here is how the conferences stack up:

1) Independents 6-1 .857
2) ACC 4-1 .800
3) AAC 7-3 .700
4) Big 12 2-3 .400
5) Sun Belt 6-10 ..375
6) CUSA 4-11 ..267
7) FCS 0-18 .000

Against P5 teams (ACC and Big 12) here is how the conferences are doing:

1) Sun Belt 3-1 .750
2) AAC 1-2 .333
3) CUSA 0-3 .000

None of the other conferences have played non-conference games against P5 teams.

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

The Independents finally lost a game, and drop to 2nd behind the ACC.

CUSA passed up the Sun Belt into 5th place.

The AAC is 3-0 against the Sun Belt.

The SBC is 3-0 against the Big 12, but are 0-3 vs the AAC and 3-4 against CUSA.

Which Division is Best?

So far, this is how the divisions in the conferences that are using them have fared against each other:

SEC West leads the East 3-2
CUSA West leads the East 1-0
SBC West leads the East 2-0

So far, western teams are 6-2 egainst eastern division teams.  In the SBC, Louisiana accounts for both of the victories.

Update on Paul's Playoff Picks:

My four picks took a beating this week  Clemson was off, Oklahoma lost to Kansas State, and Georgia looked terrible in the 1st half against Arkansas.  At least Alabama won easily! I believed before all the cancellations/postponements that Ohio State had the best team, so now that the Big Ten will be playing, I plan to include them in my picks for the CFB Playoff.  The question then becomes, which of the 44 do I drop?  My initial thought was Georgia, but that was before the Sooners laid a massive egg.  And then we must also consider the PAC 12 and USC or Oregon.  I still believe an undefeated Big 12 champion will get in, but will there be one? Can Georgia find an offense in time to make it through October? 

Conference Trends

As promised, I am going to go over how each team in the conference has done over the last 3, 5, and 10 year periods.  I will cover one conference each week, starting with the G5 conferences. These will cover only conference games, not overall records, and do not include conference championship game results.  So far, I have done the Sun Belt, the MAC, and CUSA.

Mountain West

Last 10 Years
1. Boise State 59-12 .831 (9 years)
2. San Diego State 56-33 .709
3. Utah State 36-20 .643 (7 years)
4. Fresno State 37-27 .578 (8 years)
5. Air Force 43-36 .544 
6. Nevada 30-34 .469 (8 years)
7. Colorado State 37-42 .468
8. Wyoming 35-44 .443
9. San Jose State 18-38 .321 (7 years)
10. UNLV 24-55 .304
11. Hawai'i 19-45 .297 (8 years)
12. New Mexico 19-60 .241

Last 5 Years
1. Boise State 33-7 .825
2. San Diego State 29-11 .725
3. Air Force 25-15 .625
4. Utah State 23-17 .575
5. Wyoming 21-19 .525
6. Colorado State 20-20 .500
7. Nevada 19-21 .475
8. Fresno State 18-22 .450
9. Hawai'i 15-25 .375
T10. UNLV 13-27 .325
T10. New Mexico 13-27 .325
12. San Jose State 11-29 .275

Last 3 Years
1. Boise State 22-2 .917
2. Utah State 17-7 .708
3. Fresno State 16-8 .667
4. San Diego State 15-9 .625
5. Air Force 14-10 .583
6. Wyoming 13-11 .542
7. Nevada 12-12 .500
8. Hawai'i 11-13 .458
9. Colorado State 10-14 .417
10. UNLV 8-16 .333
11. San Jose State 4-20 .167
12. New Mexico 2-22 .083

There hasn't been a lot of movement upward or downward, especially at the very top or bottom; the most movement seems to be between 4-9.

Games I'm excited about this weekend:

South Carolina @ Florida- Can the Gators fix their defensive problems?  Will it matter against the Gamecocks?

TCU @ Texas- Can the Horned Frogs really put the Big 12 in disarray by pulling off the upset? Are the Longhorns as bad defensively as they looked against Texas Tech?

NC State @ Pittsburgh- Can the Panthers stay undefeated?  Will the Wolfpack bounce back from their loss to Va Tech?

Arkansas State @ Coastal Carolina- Just how good are the Chanticleers?  Can they stay undefeated?  Will the Red Wolves be rusty from 2 weeks off?

UTSA @ UAB- Do the Roadrunners have a chance to stay undefeated? Will the Blazers end UTSA's hopes of glory?

Texas A&M @ Alabama- Are the Aggies really good enough to be ranked #13, or is it all a mirage?  Will they challenge the Crimson Tide at all?

North Carolina @ Boston College- Which of these 2 teams will still be undefeated when this is over?  Are the Tar Heels as good as advertised?  Are the Eagles better than expected?

Texas Tech @ Kansas State- Will the Wildcats have a letdown after their big upset of the Sooners?  Can they stop the prolific offense of the Red Raiders?

Ole Miss @ Kentucky- Which of these teams will earn their 1st victory?  Which will be eliminated in the conference race before they even get started?

Navy @ Air Force- Will the long layoff affect the Falcons? Will this help them to prepare for the MWC season?  Will Navy be prepared for the long trip out west?

Auburn @ Georgia- Will the Dawgs solve their offensive problems in time?  Can the Plainsmen win for the 1st time in their last 7 trips to Athens?

Oklahoma @ Iowa State- How will the Sooners react after their 1st loss?  Could they possibly fall to 0-2 in the Big 12?  Can the Cyclones pull off the 2nd upset of OU in the last 4 years?

LSU @ Vanderbilt- Can the Resistible Force (Vandy's offense) score on the Moveable Object (LSU's defense)? Will the Commodores win a game this year?

Virginia @ Clemson- Do the Cavaliers even have a chance? Will anyone beat the Tigers this year?

That's all for now.  Tomorrow, I will have my picks for Week 2.  Feel free to leave a comment and to follow me on Twitter: @pbanderson. 

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

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