Welcome Back!
We finally have 4 weeks of games in the books, and now trends are starting to emerge. And there are an awful lot of great games this coming weekend (see the feature at the bottom, which only mentions a few). I hope you enjoy reading through all the info below!
Which Conference is Best?
A great majority of the non-conference games have been played, though there are still some left.
1. SEC 32-7 .821
2. Big 12 23-7 .767
3. Big Ten 29-9 .763
4. ACC 28-12 .700
5. MWC 25-16 .610
6. Sun Belt 19-15 .559
7. Independents 15-13 .536
8. AAC 20-18 .526
9. Pac 12 16-15 .516
10. CUSA 22-25 .468
11. MAC 19-26 .422
12. FCS 10-95 .095
The only change from last week is the ACC and MWC swapping places.
Now the above includes the record against all competition. What if we narrow it down to just FBS competition? Does that change the standings? Let's see...
1. SEC 24-6 .800
2. Big Ten 22-9 .710
3. Big 12 14-7 .667
4. ACC 16-11 .593
5. MWC 16-14 .533
6. Independents 13-12 .520
7. Sun Belt 11-14 .440
8. AAC 12-17 .414
9. Pac 12 9-13 .409
T10. CUSA 8-25 .242
T10. MAC 8-25 .242
12. FCS 10-95 .095
As you can see, a lot of conferences fattened up against FCS teams.
To break it down further, here is how each conference has done so far against G5 teams. For this purpose, all independents, even Notre Dame, are considered G5 teams.
1. SEC 18-1 .941
2. Big 12 10-2 .833
3. MWC 11-3 .786
4. Big Ten 14-5 .737
5. ACC 11-4 .733
6. Sun Belt 10-6 .625
7. AAC 9-6 .600
8. Independents 7-8 .467
9. Pac 12 6-8 .429
10. MAC 5-10 .333
11. CUSA 6-15 .286
12. FCS 6-52 .103
And against P5 teams:
1. Big Ten 8-4 .667
2. Independents 6-4 .600
3. SEC 6-5 .545
4. Big 12 4-5 .444
5. ACC 5-7 .417
6. Pac 12 3-5 .375
7. MWC 5-11 .313
8. AAC 3-11 .214
9. MAC 3-15 .167
10. CUSA 2-10 .167
11. Sun Belt 1-8 .111
12. FCS 4-43 .085
Which Division is Best?
Here is how each conference division is faring so far in this season. Conferences without divisions get counted as one.
1. Big Ten East 24-4 .857
2. SEC West 22-5 .815
3. Big 12 28-11 .718
4. ACC Atlantic 19-9 .679
5. SEC East 18-10 .643
6. MWC Mountain 15-9 .625
7. ACC Coastal 17-11 .607
8. MWC West 14-11 .560
9. SBC West 10-8 .556
10. SBC East 11-9 .550
T11. Pac 12 North 13-11 .542
T11. MAC West 13-11 .444
13. AAC 22-19 .537
14. CUSA West 15-13 .536
15. Independents 16-14 .533
16. Big Ten West 15-14 .517
17. Pac 12 South 11-13 .458
18. CUSA East 11-16 .407
19. MAC East 7-17 .292
The Big Ten East went 6-1 this week, and the MAC West went 5-1. The CUSA East went 1-6.
Intraconference Results
The SEC West leads the SEC East 1-0.
The Big Ten East leads the Big Ten West 5-1.
The ACC Atlantic leads the ACC Coastal 2-0.
The Pac 12 North is tied with the Pac 12 South 3-3.
The Sun Belt West leads the East 2-0.
The CUSA West leads the CUSA East 1-0.
Last Interception Race (LIR)
All season long, I will keep up with who has the most pass attempts without throwing an interception. Here are the leaders so far:
1) Jack Plummer, Purdue- 118
2) Tanner McKee, Stanford- 102
3) Matt Corral, Ole Miss- 96
4) Gary Bohanon, Baylor- 89
5) Malik Willis, Liberty- 88
The top 3 from last week all dropped off, as each had an INT, so we have a new #1.
This is always fascinating to watch, and I hope you find it so, too.
Undefeated/Winless Teams
Here are the undefeated teams.
Alabama 4-0
Arkansas 4-0
Army 4-0
Baylor 4-0
Boston College 4-0
BYU 4-0
Cincinnati 3-0
Coastal Carolina 4-0
Georgia 4-0
Iowa 4-0
Kentucky 4-0
Maryland 4-0
Michigan 4-0
Michigan State 4-0
Notre Dame 4-0
Oklahoma 4-0
Oklahoma State 4-0
Ole Miss 3-0
Oregon 4-0
Penn State 4-0
San Diego State 4-0
SMU 4-0
South Alabama 3-0
UTSA 4-0
Wake Forest 4-0
Wyoming 4-0
Here are the winless teams.
Arizona 0-4
FSU 0-4
Navy 0-3
Ohio 0-4
UConn 0-5
UMass 0-4
UNLV 0-4
There are 26 undefeated teams out of 130 total teams in FBS, a loss of 8 from last week. There are only 7 winless teams, as 2 teams earned their 1st win last week. This goes to show that it is much harder to go winless than it is to go undefeated!
Look below to see how these break down by conference. The number listed 1st is the number of undefeated teams in each conference, and the 2nd number is the amount of winless teams.
SEC 5-0
Big Ten 5-0
Big 12 3-0
Ind 3-2
SBC 2-0
MWC 2-1
AAC 2-1
ACC 2-1
CUSA 1-0
Pac 12 1-1
MAC 0-1
While the number of winless teams have been reduced to only 7, there are still 20 teams that have a win, but their only win is against an FCS team. This is a reduction of 10 from last week, but also an addition of 1 team (Rice) who moved over from the winless ranks by beating an FCS team. Those teams, in alphabetical order, are:
Akron
Arkansas State
Ball State
California
Colorado
FIU
Georgia Southern
Kansas
Kent State
Miami, Oh
Middle Tennessee
New Mexico State
North Texas
ODU
Rice
Southern Miss
Tulane
USF
Washington State
WKU
If you break these down by conference:
SEC- 0
ACC- 0
MWC-0
Big Ten- 0
Big 12- 1
Ind- 1
AAC- 2
SBC-2
Pac 12- 3
MAC-4
CUSA-7
This list will be reduced by quite a lot as several conferences begin conference play this week.
Bowl Eligible/Eliminated
Starting midseason, I will keep a running list of teams as they reach bowl eligibility (6+ wins) or are eliminated from bowl eligibility (7+ losses).
Update on my Playoff Picks
My playoff picks (in no particular order) are Georgia, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Clemson. Georgia defeated Vandy convincingly, so the Dawgs are looking good. Oklahoma defeated West Virginia on a last second FG, so they're still in the race, but it was much closer than it should have been. Oregon handled business against Arizona, and if they can go undefeated, they'll make me look like a genius. Clemson now has 2 losses, so that pick is looking extremely unlikely at this point.
Games I'm Excited About
Iowa @ Maryland- Which team will stay unbeaten? Can the Hawkeyes generate enough offense, and can the Terps score against the Iowa defense?
Arkansas @ Georgia- Are the Hogs for real? Are the Dawgs as good as they seem, or are their record and stats a result of subpar competition?
Michigan @ Wisconsin- Can the Wolverines win a big game on the road in this, their 1st road game of the season? Can the Badgers salvage their season?
Louisville @ Wake Forest- Can the Demon Deacons stay undefeated? Can the Cardinals take control of the ACC Atlantic Division?
Cincinnati @ Notre Dame- Can the Fighting Irish win their 20th straight regular season game? Will the Bearcats benefit from a week off and perhaps cement their place in the top 10, and maybe an inside track to the CFP?
Ole Miss @ Alabama- Will the Tide have yet another close escape, or will they knock the Rebels back into reality? Will the week off help Ole Miss pull the upset?
Oklahoma @ Kansas State- Can the Sooners maintain their unblemished record? Will the Wildcats pull the upset for the 3rd year in a row?
Florida @ Kentucky- Can the Wildcats beat the Gators for the 2nd time in the last 4 years? Will UF continue their recent dominance in the run game?
Baylor @ Oklahoma State- Which of these teams will be a true challenger for a conference title, and which is a pretender? Will the Cowboys or the Bears come out of this still undefeated?
Liberty @ UAB- Will the Blazers continue their recent excellent play? Will the Flames lose consecutive games for the 1st time since the tail end of the 2019 season?
Indiana @ Penn State- Will the Nittany Lions continue their unbeaten season and avenge their defeat from last year? Can the Hoosiers salvage their season with a 2nd straight victory over the Lions?
Boston College @ Clemson- Will the Eagles lay claim to the team to beat in the ACC Atlantic? Will the Tigers really have a losing record for the 1st time since they were 1-2 in 2014, and drop out of the AP Top 25 for the 1st time in forever?
Louisiana @ South Alabama- Will the Ragin' Cajuns continue their dominance of the SBC West? Can the Jaguars pull the upset and remain unbeaten?
Auburn @ LSU- Will the winner of this game ultimately decide 4th place in the SEC West, or will they be relegated to 5th? How loud will it be in Baton Rouge at game time (8:00 local)?
Washington @ Oregon State- Have the Huskies turned their season around, and are they ready to challenge Oregon for the Pac 12 North title? Are the Beavers for real, and are they the real challengers to the Ducks?
Come back tomorrow for Paul's Picks! Follow me on Twitter: @pbanderson
Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!
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