Odds and Ends 10/20/21

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Welcome Back!

We are now at least halfway through every team's season, and most non-conference games have been played. We have our 1st bowl eligible teams, and our 1st team eliminated. Pretty soon, I'll begin breaking down the conference races, perhaps in another week or two. There are no games between ranked teams this week, but that doesn't mean the week will be devoid of drama. Check out the "Games I'm Looking Forward To" at the bottom. I hope you enjoy reading through all the info below!

We have an early game again this week. Here is my pick.

Wednesday, October 20

Coastal Carolina @ Appalachian State- The Chanticleers are coming out of their off week, and they are on a roll. CCU is 6-0, and has won 18 straight regular season games, their only loss coming in last year's Cure Bowl to Liberty, in overtime. The Mountaineers suffered their 2nd loss of the season last Tuesday to Louisiana, losing by 28 in Lafayette. The winner of this game will be in the driver's seat for the SBC East Title, as both will most likely win out, barring a huge upset. ASU leads the series 6-1, but CCU's lone win was last year, 34-23. CCU wins.

Which Conference is Best?

A great majority of the non-conference games have been played, though there are still some left, especially against the Independents and some FCS teams.

1. SEC 35-7 .833
2. Big Ten 32-9 .781
3. Big 12 23-7 .767
4. ACC 29-13 .690
5. MWC 28-18 .609
6. Sun Belt 20-16 .556
7. AAC 21-18 .538
8. Pac 12 16-15 .516
9. Independents 20-22 .476
10. MAC 21-26 .449
11. CUSA 23-31 .426
12. FCS 10-96 .094

There were no changes in the order from last week.

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 27-6 .818
2. Big Ten 25-9 .735
3. Big 12 14-7 .667
4. ACC 17-12 .586
5. MWC 19-16 .543
6. Independents 17-21 .447
7. Sun Belt 12-15 .444
8. AAC 13-17 .433
9. Pac 12 9-13 .409
10. MAC 10-25 .286
11. CUSA 9-31 .225
12. FCS 10-96 .094

As you can see, a lot of conferences fattened up against FCS teams.  The Sun Belt moved above the AAC.

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 21-1 .954
2. Big 12 10-2 .833
3. Big Ten 17-5 .773
4. MWC 14-5 .737
5. ACC 12-5 .706
6. Sun Belt 11-6 .647
7. AAC 10-6 .625
8. Pac 12 6-8 .429
9. MAC 7-10 .412
10. Independents 10-15 .400
11. CUSA 7-17 .292
12. FCS 6-53 .102

As you can see, the SEC does the best job of "beating the teams it's supposed to", while the MWC is best against its peers. The Pac 12 has done worse than several G5 conferences. The MAC moved ahead of Independents.

And against P5 teams:

1. Big Ten 8-4 .667
2. SEC 6-5 .545
3. Independents 7-6 .538
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 2-14 .125
11. Sun Belt 1-9 .100
12. FCS 4-43 .085

The Big Ten leads all conferences here by a wide margin. The MWC has done the best of the G5 conferences against P5 competition, all 5 of their wins against the Pac 12. The Independents dropped below the SEC.


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 32-12 .727
2. SEC West 32-15 .681
3. Big 12 41-23 .641
4. ACC Atlantic 27-16 .628
5. SEC East 30-19 .612
6. MAC West 25-17 .595
T7. MWC Mountain 22-17 .564
T7. MWC West 22-17 .564
9. SBC East 18-14 .563
10. ACC Coastal 25-20 .556
11. Big Ten West 25-21 .543
12. AAC 36-32 .529
13. CUSA West 24-22 .522
T14. Pac 12 North 19-19 .500
T14. Pac 12 South 19-19 .500
T14. SBC West 15-15 .500
17. Independents 22-25 .468
18. CUSA East 17-27 .386
19. MAC East 14-28 .333

The SEC West went 5-2, as the Big Ten West and MAC West went 4-2 and the SBC West went 3-1. The SEC East was 2-5, and MAC East went 2-4 (again).


Intraconference Results

The SEC West leads the SEC East 4-3.
The Big Ten East leads the Big Ten West 7-4.
The ACC Atlantic leads the ACC Coastal 3-1.
The Pac 12 South leads the Pac 12 North 5-3.
The MWC West leads the MWC Mountain 3-2.
The Sun Belt West leads the East 5-4.
The CUSA West leads the CUSA East 4-1.
The MAC West leads the East 5-1.

Last Interception Race (LIR)

Jack Plummer from Purdue wins the LIR, as he is the last remaining QB without an INT (120 attempts). 

Undefeated/Winless Teams

Here are the undefeated teams.

Cincinnati 6-0
Coastal Carolina 7-0
Georgia 7-0
Michigan 6-0
Michigan State 7-0
Oklahoma 7-0
Oklahoma State 6-0
San Diego State 6-0
SMU 6-0
UTSA 7-0
Wake Forest 6-0

Here are the winless teams.

Arizona 0-5
UNLV 0-5

There are 11 remaining undefeated teams out of 130 total teams in FBS, a loss of 2 (Iowa and Kentucky) from last week.  There are only 2 winless teams, as 1 team (UConn) 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.

Big Ten 2-0
Big 12 2-0
AAC 2-0
SEC 1-0
SBC 1-0
ACC 1-0
CUSA 1-0
MWC 1-1
MAC 0-0
Ind 0-0
Pac 12 0-1


While the number of winless teams have been reduced to only 2, there are still 11 teams that have a win, but their only win is against an FCS team. This is a reduction of 2 (Colorado and WKU)  from last week, and an addition of 1 (UConn). Those teams, in alphabetical order, are:

Arkansas State
California
FIU
Kansas
New Mexico State
North Texas
ODU
Southern Miss
Tulane
UConn
USF

If you break these down by conference:

SEC- 0
ACC- 0
MWC-0
Big Ten- 0
MAC-0
Big 12- 1
SBC-1
Pac 12- 1
Ind- 2
AAC- 2
CUSA-4

This list may be reduced further as conferences continue conference play this week.


Bowl Eligible/Eliminated

To be bowl eligible, you must achieve 6 wins, with no more than 1 of those against an FCS team. Here are the teams that are already bowl eligible, listed alphabetically. Since there are 43 bowl games, 86 slots will need to be filled. There are currently 17 bowl eligible teams, 7 more than last week.

Air Force
Alabama
Baylor
Cincinnati
Coastal Carolina
Georgia
Iowa
Kentucky
Michigan
Michigan State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
San Diego State
SMU
UTEP
UTSA
Wake Forest

Once you have reached 7 losses, you are eliminated from participating in a bowl. However, if there are not enough bowl eligible teams to fill all the slots, 5-7 teams may be chosen. Here are the teams that already have 7 losses, listed alphabetically. So far, there is 1.

UConn


Update on my Playoff Picks

My preseason playoff picks (in no particular order) were Georgia, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Clemson.  Georgia defeated Kentucky convincingly, so the Dawgs are looking good.  Oklahoma defeated TCU handily, so they're still in the race. Oregon squeezed by Cal; they must win out to have any hope of making the playoff. Clemson now has 2 losses, so that pick is looking extremely unlikely at this point. 

Games I'm Excited About

FAU @ Charlotte- Are the Owls ready to start winning like the CUSA East favorites? Can the 49ers take down the CUSA East favorites and cement their standing at the top of the division?

Colorado State @ Utah State- The Aggies have already taken down Air Force; can they knock the Rams out of 1st place in the MWC Mountain? Can the Rams extend their MWC winning streak to 3 games and knock out one of the contenders for the division title?

Cincinnati @ Navy- Can the Bearcats stay unbeaten and extend their regular season winning streak to 16 games? Can the Midshipmen pull the huge upset and ruin Cincy's chances at making the CFP?

Wake Forest @ Army- Can the Demon Deacons stay undefeated? Can the Black Knights end their 2-game losing streak?

Wisconsin @ Purdue- Will the Boilermakers have a letdown after their huge upset of Iowa last week, or can they sustain their success? Can the Badgers score enough points to win?

Oregon @ UCLA- Which team can win, and thus stay in their division race? Will the Ducks be able to stop UCLA's rushing attack, and can they score enough to defeat the Bruins?

Oklahoma State @ Iowa State- Can the Cyclones crack the OSU defense and stave off elimination in the Big 12 title chase? Can the Cowboys defeat ISU in their last real test before their season ending game against Oklahoma?

LSU @ Ole Miss- Will the Tigers be fired up following the announcement of HC Ed Orgeron's departure at the end of this season, or will they be just going through the motions? Are the Rebels ready for a 4th straight difficult game (in a string of 7), or are they worn out and tired?

BYU @ Washington State- Can the BYU Cougars turn their season around after 2 straight losses, and win yet a 4th game over a Pac 12 opponent? How will the WSU Cougars react to the firing of HC Nick Rolovich, and how will they play for interim HC Jake Dickert?

Clemson @ Pittsburgh- Are the Panthers ready to take down the Tigers and hand Clemson their 2nd ACC loss of the season for the 1st time since 2014? Can the Tigers score more than 21, and if not, can they keep Pitt from scoring enough to win the game?

Tennessee @ Alabama- this used to be one of the South's greatest rivalries; can the Volunteers make it relevant again? Will the Crimson Tide even allow UT to stay within 21 points?

San Diego State @ Air Force- Can the Aztecs stay unbeaten and keep pace with Nevada in the MWC West? Will the Falcons be able to score enough against the tough SDSU defense?

Nevada @ Fresno State- Will the Wolf Pack eliminate the Bulldogs in the MWC West or will FS force themselves into a tie for either 1st or 2nd? Which is better, the Nevada offense or the Fresno St defense?

Ohio State @ Indiana- Can the Hoosiers salvage their season with a huge upset at home? Will the Buckeyes continue their recent run of blowout wins, or will they revert back to their early season pattern of letting lesser teams hang around?

Utah @ Oregon State- Could this be a preview of the Pac 12 CG? Can the Beavers get back on the winning track, or will the Utes extend their winning streak to 4 games?

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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