Odds and Ends 12/22/21

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Welcome Back!

Some new features this week- see below for some cool info!

Which Conference is Best?

With the regular season completed, this is how the conferences are doing in the bowls so far.

MWC 4-0 1.000
AAC 1-0 1.000
SBC 2-1 .667
Ind 1-1 .500
CUSA 3-4 .429
Pac 12 0-1 .000
MAC 0-4 .000
SEC 0-0
Big Ten 0-0
Big 12 0-0
ACC 0-0


Conference Bowl History

I went through each team's bowl record and combined it with the teams from their respective conference to see which conference (and division) has historically done best in bowl games. Now, this is an imperfect analysis, because teams have switched conferences over the years, but I'm not taking the time to align every team with every conference they were with in every year. Instead, I used the conference that each team is currently in. If you are interested in doing the other research, be my guest. I would love for you to share the results with me!

One other point I would like to make is that for years, the Big Ten and Pac 12 (and earlier iterations) did not allow any of their teams to attend any bowls except the Rose Bowl (for their champion), so those teams have participated in less bowls overall than teams from other P5 conferences. Also, though some bowls have already been played, none of this year's games have been included.

Anyway, here is how the conferences compare:

1) Sun Belt 26-18-0 .591
2) SEC 294-250-13 .539
3) Pac 12 183-168-6 .521
4) Big 12 161-151-5 .516
5) Independents 50-48-2 .510
6) ACC 220-218-5 .502
7) Big Ten 204-214-5 .488
8) MWC 91-97-2 .484 (.4842)
9) CUSA 59-63-1 .484 (.4837)
10) AAC 80-100-3 .445
11) MAC 41-73-0 .360

If we break these down further into divisions, we get a different picture. Those without divisions are counted as 1.

1) SBC East 16-7-0 .696
2) CUSA East 25-18-0 .581
3) ACC Atlantic 120-93-5 .562
4) SEC West 169-138-9 .560
5) Pac 12 South 104-90-3 .536
6) SEC East 125-112-4 .527
7) Big 12 161-151-5 .516
8) Independents 50-48-2 .510
9) Pac 12 North 79-78-3 .503
10) MWC West 43-44-0 .494
11) Big Ten East 111-115-4 .491
12) Big Ten West 93-99-1 .484
13) SBC West 10-11-0 .476 (.4761)
14) MWC Mountain 48-53-2 .476 (.4757)
15) AAC 80-100-3 .445
16) ACC Coastal 100-125-0 .444
17) CUSA West 34-45-1 .431
18) MAC East 21-28-0 .429
19) MAC West 20-45-0 .308

Just a few observations. First, the MAC has been really bad in bowl games, as both divisions are at the bottom of the list. 2nd, the Sun Belt leads, but they've only been in 44 games; the SEC is second, and they've played in 517- quite the discrepancy! Finally, I was surprised to learn that the Big Ten was sub-.500 in bowls, and while that is dragged down by Indiana's 4-9 record, and Northwestern's 6-10 mark, it also must be noted that Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Nebraska are all below .500. 

As far as individual teams, here are the teams with the best winning percentage (all records through 2020 season):

1. Appalachian State 6-0 1.000
2. ODU 1-0 1.000
3. FAU 4-1 .800
4. Marshall 12-4 .750
5. Louisiana 6-2 .750
T6. UNLV 3-1 .750
T6. Georgia Southern 3-1 .750
8. Utah 17-6 .739
9. TCU 17-6-1 .729
10. La Tech 6-4-1 .654

For teams with a minimum of 20 bowl appearances, the best winning percentages are:

1) Utah 17-6 .739
2) TCU 17-6-1 .729
3) Oklahoma State 20-11 .645
4) USC 35-20 .636
5) Syracuse 16-9-1 .635
6) Ole Miss 24-14 .632
7) Alabama 44-26-3 .623
8) Penn State 30-18-2 .620
9) FSU 28-17-2 .617
10) Georgia 33-21-3 .605

For teams with a minimum of 40 bowl appearances:

1) USC 35-20 .636
2) Alabama 44-26-3 .623
3) Penn State 30-18-2 .620
4) FSU 28-17-2 .617
5) Georgia 33-21-3 .605
6) Auburn 24-19-2 .581
7) Oklahoma 30-23-1 .565
8) Texas 31-24-2 .561
9) Georgia Tech 25-20 .556
10) LSU 28-23-1 .548

I would like to point out that 4 of the 10 in this list is from the SEC, with Tennessee #11, and if you add in soon-to-be members Oklahoma and Texas, that means 7 of the top 11 bowl "powers" will be in the SEC!

Here are the teams with the worst bowl winning percentages:

T1) UTSA 0-2 .000
T1) South Alabama 0-2 .000
T3) Charlotte 0-1 .000
T3) Coastal Carolina 0-1 .000
T3) ULM 0-1 .000
6) Western Michigan 1-9 .100
7) Ball State 1-7 .125
8) North Texas 2-9 .182
9) Central Michigan 3-9 .250
10) Middle Tennessee 2-6 .250

Here are the worst winning percentages for teams with a minimum of 10 appearances:

1) Western Michigan 1-9 .100
2) North Texas 2-9 .182
3) Central Michigan 3-9 .250
T4) Indiana 4-9 .308
T4) Northern Illinois 4-9 .308
6) Iowa State 5-11 .313
7) New Mexico 4-8-1 .321
8) Colorado State 6-11 .353
9) UTEP 5-9 .357
10) Northwestern 6-10 .375

Here are the worst winning percentages for teams with a minimum of 20 appearances:

1) Virginia 8-13 .381
2) Texas Tech 14-23-1 .382
3) South Carolina 9-14 .391
4) Arkansas 15-24-3 .393
5) Virginia Tech 13-20 .394
6) Pittsburgh 14-21 .400
7) Colorado 12-18 .400
8) Kansas State 9-13 .409
9) Houston 11-16-1 .411
10) West Virginia 16-22 .421

And finally, here are the worst winning percentages for teams with a minimum of 40 bowl appearances:

1) Arkansas 15-24-3 .393
2) Michigan 21-27 .438
3) Miami, Fl 19-23 .452
4) Texas A&M 20-22 .476
T5) Ohio State 26-27 .491
T5) Nebraska 26-27 .491

All other teams with 40+ bowl appearances have a .500 record or better.


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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