Odds and Ends 12/15/21

By

Welcome Back!

This will be somewhat abbreviated this week. Next week, I will replace the Conference and Division features with how each conference is doing in the bowl games so far.  See the bottom for how my preseason conference predictions panned out compared to the major magazines.

Which Conference is Best?

With the regular season completed, all of the non-conference games have been played.

1. SEC 48-8 .857
2. Big Ten 32-9 .781
3. Big 12 23-7 .767
4. ACC 33-20 .622
5. MWC 30-19 .612
6. AAC 25-19 .568
7. Sun Belt 21-19 .525
8. Independents 34-37 .479
9. Pac 12 16-19 .457
10. MAC 21-26 .449
11. CUSA 24-32 .429
12. FCS 12-104 .103


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 35-7 .833
2. Big Ten 25-9 .735
3. Big 12 14-7 .667
4. MWC 21-17 .553
5. ACC 20-19 .512
6. AAC 17-18 .486
7. Independents 29-34 .460
8. Sun Belt 13-18 .419
9. Pac 12 9-17 .346
10. MAC 10-25 .286
11. CUSA 10-32 .238
12. FCS 12-104 .103

As you can see, a lot of conferences fattened up against FCS teams. The Pac 12 won only 34.6% 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 26-1 .963
2. Big 12 10-2 .833
3. Big Ten 17-5 .773
4. MWC 16-6 .727
5. AAC 14-7 .667
6. Sun Belt 12-7 .631
7. ACC 14-9 .608
8. MAC 7-10 .412
9. Independents 14-23 .378
10. Pac 12 6-12 .333
11. CUSA 8-18 .308
12. FCS 8-55 .127

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 G5 peers. The Pac 12 has done the worst among the P5, and is better than only CUSA in the G5 conferences. 

And against P5 teams:

1. Big Ten 8-4 .667
2. SEC 9-6 .600
3. Independents 15-11 .577
4. Big 12 4-5 .444
T5. ACC 6-10 .375
T5. 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 1-11 .083
12. FCS 4-49 .075

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

For those interested, here is how each conference did against each of the others:

SEC: 7-3 vs ACC, 0-1 vs Big 10, 1-0 vs Big 12, 1-2 vs Pac 12, 3-1 vs AAC, 2-0 vs MWC, 5-0 vs MAC, 6-0 vs CUSA, 6-0 vs SBC, 4-0 vs IND, 13-1 vs FCS

ACC: 3-7 vs SEC, 2-2 vs Big 10, 1-1 vs Big 12, 0-0 vs Pac 12, 3-0 vs AAC, 0-0 vs MWC, 1-2 vs MAC, 3-1 vs CUSA, 2-0 vs SBC, 5-6 vs IND, 13-1 vs FCS

Big Ten: 1-0 vs SEC, 2-2 vs ACC, 3-1 vs Big 12, 2-1 vs Pac 12, 2-1 vs AAC, 1-0 vs MWC, 9-1 vs MAC, 3-1 vs CUSA, 0-0 vs SBC, 2-2 vs IND, 7-0 vs FCS

Big 12: 0-1 vs SEC, 1-1 vs ACC, 1-3 vs Big 10, 2-1 vs Pac 12, 0-1 vs AAC, 3-0 vs MWC, 0-0 vs MAC, 2-0 vs CUSA, 2-1 vs SBC, 0-0 vs IND, 9-0 vs FCS

Pac 12: 2-1 vs SEC, 0-0 vs ACC, 1-2 vs Big 10, 1-2 vs Big 12, 0-0 vs AAC, 5-5 vs MWC, 0-0 vs MAC, 0-0 vs CUSA, 1-0 vs SBC, 0-7 vs IND, 7-2 vs FCS

AAC: 1-3 vs SEC, 0-3 vs ACC, 1-2 vs Big 10, 1-0 vs Big 12, 0-0 vs Pac 12, 1-1 vs MWC, 2-0 vs MAC, 4-3 vs CUSA, 2-1 vs SBC, 4-2 vs IND, 9-1 vs FCS

MWC: 0-2 vs SEC, 0-0 vs ACC, 0-1 vs Big 10, 0-3 vs Big 12, 5-5 vs Pac 12, 1-1 vs AAC, 3-1 vs MAC, 2-2 vs CUSA, 0-0 vs SBC, 11-2 vs IND, 9-1 vs FCS

MAC: 0-5 vs SEC, 2-1 vs ACC, 1-9 vs Big 10, 0-0 vs Big 12, 0-0 vs Pac 12, 0-2 vs AAC, 1-3 vs MWC, 2-0 vs CUSA, 1-3 vs SBC, 3-2 vs IND, 11-1 vs FCS

CUSA: 0-6 vs SEC, 1-3 vs ACC, 1-3 vs Big 10, 0-2 vs Big 12, 0-0 vs Pac 12, 3-4 vs AAC, 2-2 vs MWC, 0-2 vs CUSA, 1-5 vs SBC, 2-5 vs IND, 14-0 vs FCS

SBC: 0-6 vs SEC, 0-2 vs ACC, 0-0 vs Big 10, 1-2 vs Big 12, 0-1 vs Pac 12, 1-2 vs AAC, 0-0 vs MWC, 3-1 vs MAC, 5-1 vs CUSA, 3-3 vs IND, 8-1 vs FCS

IND: 0-4 vs SEC, 6-5 vs ACC, 2-2 vs Big 10, 0-0 vs Big 12, 7-0 vs Pac 12, 2-4 vs AAC, 2-11 vs MWC, 2-3 vs MAC, 5-2 vs CUSA, 3-3 vs SBC, 5-3 vs FCS


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 57-28 .671
2. Big Ten East 53-32 .624
3. MAC West 44-29 .603
4. ACC Atlantic 50-35 .588
T5. SBC East 35-26 .574
T5. Big 12 70-52 .574
7. SEC East 48-37 .565
8. MWC West 41-33 .554
9. MWC Mountain 39-34 .534
10. Big Ten West 45-40 .529
11. AAC 70-64 .522
12. CUSA West 43-42 .506
13. ACC Coastal 42-43 .494
14. Pac 12 North 36-37 .493
15. Pac 12 South 35-38 .479
16. Independents 40-44 .476
17. CUSA East 38-47 .447
18. SBC West 27-34 .443
19. MAC East 26-47 .356

The SEC West and MAC West had all of their teams finish at 6-6 or above. It will be interesting to see if they will all finish above .500 after the bowls are over. The MAC East and SBC West have only 1 team over .500.

How Did My Preseason Conference Picks Do?

Assuming I used Stassen's metrics correctly, I finished tied for 2nd behind Phil Steele again. According to my calculations, Phil Steele finished with 176 conference points, Athlon and I finished with 183, and Lindy's finished with 193. I did poorly predicting the AAC, the ACC Atlantic, the CUSA West, and the MAC East. I did well with both divisions of the Big Ten (I was the only one to pick Iowa 1st, and had Michigan higher than anyone else), both divisions of the Mountain West (I had Air Force higher than anyone and Wyoming lower than anyone), and the Pac 12 South. 

Come back tomorrow for Paul's Picks! Follow me on Twitter: @pbanderson

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

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

It's Almost Time!

By
Welcome back!  It's been about 6 months since my last post, and I'm sure my loyal readers (all 3 of them!) have been wondering when I would be back. Football season will be here before you know it! Do you know how I can tell? The preseason magazines have begun to hit the shelves (and my mailbox)! The various conferences will be holding their media days next month, and then the teams will be holding their preseason camps, with the first games being played on August 27, the stupidly named Week Zero.  But I haven't just been sitting around doing nothing for the last few months. Oh, no! I've just completed my preseason Power Rankings, and so will now begin writing my previews of all 131 teams and the 10 conferences, which will take me up until the first games. I will publish my previews according to the following schedule: 7/18     Part I           Teams 131-121 7/19     Part II         Teams 120-111 7/20 ...
Read more

Are You Ready?

By
  Welcome Back! College Football is only 9 weeks away- just 64 days until the 1st games on Aug 24! That means the college football preview magazines are all out, and I've been hard at work assembling data and researching the upcoming season for my previews. Here is what you can expect from me, and when you can expect it. Beginning on Monday, July 15, I will do my individual team previews. I will basically do 10 teams a day (after doing 12 a day for the 1st 2 days- 134 doesn't divide by 10 evenly...) for 2+ weeks, and then 5 a day for the last 4 days (my Top 20). These will take you through August 2. These will be presented in reverse order (from #134 to #1) according to my own preseason Power Rankings.  On August 5, I'll start my conference previews, which will take 2 weeks. 9 1/2 conferences plus Independents equals 10 days.  That takes us all the way to Game Week! Well, sort of. There are only a handful of games on Aug 24, which has the incredibly dumb name of Week Zero...
Read more

More Struggles

By
Growing up, my family attended the Presbyterian Church.  My mom had been a Baptist, and my dad grew up Methodist, so I guess this was a compromise.  I did all the normal kid-at-church things: nursery, VBS, Sunday School, Wednesday Night Suppers,  acolyte, confirmation class, youth group.  I really enjoyed my time, and grew to really appreciate the time spent there. When I went to college, I intended to continue going to church, and even went a few times, but just stopped going.  A big part may have been that Sundays was the only time I could sleep past 7 am, especially in the fall (football games on Saturdays).  And once you stop going, it's easy for things to stay that way. My senior year, I met Jackie in my Educational Psychology class.  After 6 weeks of dating, I proposed, and she accepted.  We were married at her home church in Snellville, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church.  It was my first exposure to the Episcopal Church. We lived in...
Read more