Odds and Ends 10/27/21

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Welcome Back!

This is the week we've all been waiting for: we have big games, and the 1st CFP rankings come out next Tuesday! Check out how the conferences are doing, how each division is doing, and who is already bowl eligible or eliminated from bowl consideration.

Pretty soon, I'll begin breaking down the conference races, perhaps next week. There are lots of fantastic games this week, so check out the "Games I'm Looking Forward To" at the bottom. 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, especially against the Independents and some FCS teams.

1. SEC 36-7 .837
2. Big Ten 32-9 .781
3. Big 12 23-7 .767
4. ACC 30-13 .698
5. MWC 29-18 .617
6. Sun Belt 20-16 .556
7. AAC 22-18 .550
8. Pac 12 16-17 .485
9. Independents 23-26 .469
10. MAC 21-26 .449
11. CUSA 24-32 .429
12. FCS 10-97 .093

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 18-12 .600
5. MWC 20-16 .556
6. AAC 14-17 .452
T7. Independents 20-25 .444
T7. Sun Belt 12-15 .444
9. Pac 12 9-15 .375
10. MAC 10-25 .286
11. CUSA 10-32 .238
12. FCS 10-97 .093

As you can see, a lot of conferences fattened up against FCS teams.  The AAC moves back into 6th. The Pac 12 won only 37.5% of non-conference FBS games- that's great if that's your batting average, not so good if it's your winning percentage.

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 and BYU, are considered G5 teams.

1. SEC 21-1 .954
2. Big 12 10-2 .833
3. Big Ten 17-5 .773
4. MWC 15-5 .750
5. ACC 13-5 .722
T6. Sun Belt 11-6 .647
T6. AAC 11-6 .647
8. MAC 7-10 .412
9. Independents 11-18 .379
10. Pac 12 6-10 .375
11. CUSA 8-18 .308
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 almost all conferences. 

And against P5 teams:

1. Big Ten 8-4 .667
2. Independents 9-7 .563
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 2-14 .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 moved back above the SEC, thanks to Notre Dame and BYU.


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. SEC West 37-16 .698
2. Big Ten East 34-15 .694
3. Big 12 45-27 .625
4. ACC Atlantic 31-19 .620
5. MAC West 28-20 .583
6. MWC West 26-19 .578
7. SEC East 30-22 .577
8. SBC East 20-15 .571
9. ACC Coastal 28-22 .560
10. Big Ten West 28-23 .549
11. MWC Mountain 24-20 .545
12. Pac 12 North 23-20 .535
13. AAC 41-37 .526
14. CUSA West 26-25 .510
15. SBC West 17-18 .486
16. Independents 25-29 .463
17. Pac 12 South 19-24 .442
18. CUSA East 20-29 .408
19. MAC East 17-31 .354

The SEC West went 5-1, as the MWC West went 4-2. The SEC East was 0-3, and the Pac 12 South was 0-5.


Intraconference Results

The SEC West leads the SEC East 7-3.
The Big Ten East leads the Big Ten West 8-6.
The ACC Atlantic leads the ACC Coastal 4-3.
The Pac 12 North leads the Pac 12 South 7-5.
The MWC West leads the MWC Mountain 4-2.
The Sun Belt West is tied with the East 5-5.
The CUSA West leads the CUSA East 4-1.
The MAC West leads the East 6-2.


Undefeated/Winless Teams

Here are the undefeated teams.

Cincinnati 7-0
Georgia 7-0
Michigan76-0
Michigan State 7-0
Oklahoma 8-0
San Diego State 7-0
SMU 7-0
UTSA 8-0
Wake Forest 7-0

Here are the winless teams.

Arizona 0-6
UNLV 0-7

There are 9 remaining undefeated teams out of 130 total teams in FBS, a loss of 2 (Oklahoma State and Coastal Carolina) from last week.  There are only 2 winless teams. 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
AAC 2-0
Big 12 1-0
SEC 1-0
ACC 1-0
CUSA 1-0
MWC 1-1
SBC 0-0
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 9 teams that have a win, but their only win is against an FCS team. This is a reduction of 2 (California and USF)  from last week. Those teams, in alphabetical order, are:

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

If you break these down by conference:

SEC- 0
ACC- 0
MWC-0
Big Ten- 0
MAC-0
Pac 12- 0
Big 12- 1
SBC-1
AAC- 1
Ind- 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 30 bowl eligible teams, 13 more than last week.

Air Force
Alabama
Baylor
BYU
Cincinnati
Coastal Carolina
Fresno State
Georgia
Houston
Iowa
Kentucky
Liberty
Louisiana
Michigan
Michigan State
Northern Illinois
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Ole Miss
Oregon
Pittsburgh
San Diego State
SMU
Texas A&M
UTEP
UTSA
Virginia
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 are 5, 4 more than last week.

Arizona
New Mexico State
Ohio
UConn
UNLV

Update on my Playoff Picks

My preseason playoff picks (in no particular order) were Georgia, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Clemson.  Georgia was off, but they're still unbeaten, so the Dawgs are looking good.  Oklahoma defeated Kansas, so they're still in the race. Oregon squeezed by UCLA; they must win out to have any hope of making the playoff. Clemson now has 3 losses, so that pick is looking extremely unlikely at this point. 

Games I'm Excited About

Michigan @ Michigan State- Which of these teams will emerge as the main threat to the Buckeyes? Can the Wolverines finally win a big game on the road under HC Jim Harbaugh? Can the Spartans lock down their home field and control the line of scrimmage?

Iowa @ Wisconsin- Can the Hawkeyes find an offense? Can the Badgers sustain the offense they showed against Purdue last week?

Texas @ Baylor- Can the Longhorns knock the Bears out of 2nd place in the Big 12? Will the Bears continue the downward spiral the Horns are on?

Miami, Fl @ Pittsburgh- Can the Hurricanes pull an upset 2 weeks in a row, this time on the road? Can the Panthers continue to roll?

Georgia vs Florida- Can the Gators end Georgia's dreams of an undefeated season? Can the Bulldogs bury the Gators early, or will they allow them to hang around and possibly pull the upset?

Texas Tech @ Oklahoma- How much longer can the Sooners continue living on the edge? How will the Red Raiders respond to the coaching change?

FSU @ Clemson- Have the Seminoles finally turned the corner, and will they be able to extend their 3-game winning streak? Can the Tigers generate enough offense to match FSU?

UTEP @ FAU- Can the Miners continue their magical run? Are the Owls ready for the UTEP defense?

Ole Miss @ Auburn- Which team could emerge as the possible SEC West champion should Alabama stumble again? Can the Tigers keep up with the Rebels? Can the Rebels stop the War Eagles?

Penn State @ Ohio State- Will the Nittany Lions be all in, or will they be deflated, just going though the motions? Will the Buckeyes be able to run roughshod over the Lions like they have their previous 4 opponents?

North Carolina @ Notre Dame- Can the Tar Heels pull the upset and knock the Irish out of any consideration for the CFP? Will the Irish be able to contain the UNC offense?

Virginia @ BYU- How will UVA HC Bronco Mendenhall do in his return to Provo? Will the Cavaliers score enough, and can they stop the Cougars?

Fresno State @ San Diego State- Can the Bulldogs end SDSU's undefeated season and take over 1st place in the MWC Mountain division? Will the Aztecs put a chokehold on 1st place with a win, virtually clinching the division?

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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