Odds and Ends 12/8/21

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Welcome Back!

This will be somewhat abbreviated this week. I have kept the conference feature because there is still one nonconference game to play- Army vs Navy! After next week, I will replace that with how each conference is doing in the bowl games. This will be the last time the intra-conference feature will appear, and the same goes for my update on my preseason playoff picks, obviously. 

Which Conference is Best?

With the regular season completed, all of the non-conference games have been played, except one: Army vs. Navy. 

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 24-19 .558
7. Sun Belt 21-19 .525
8. Independents 34-36 .486
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
7. Independents 29-33 .468
6. AAC 16-18 .471
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 13-7 .650
6. Sun Belt 12-7 .631
7. ACC 14-9 .608
8. MAC 7-10 .412
9. Independents 14-22 .389
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 worse 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, 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, 8-1 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, 10-2 vs IND, 9-2 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, 2-10 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 69-64 .519
12. CUSA West 43-42 .506
13. ACC Coastal 42-43 .494
14. Pac 12 North 36-37 .493
15. Independents 40-43 .482
16. Pac 12 South 35-38 .479
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.


Intraconference Results

The SEC West leads the SEC East 11-4.
The Big Ten East leads the Big Ten West 12-10.
The ACC Atlantic leads the ACC Coastal 11-4.
The Pac 12 South leads the Pac 12 North 13-12. 
The MWC West leads the MWC Mountain 11-7.
The Sun Belt East leads the West 13-8.
The CUSA West leads the CUSA East 9-6.
The MAC West leads the East 12-3.

The MAC West was the most dominant, followed closely by the SEC West and ACC Atlantic. The most parity was in the Pac 12, followed by the Big Ten. This feature is finished, as there will be no more intraconference contests.


Undefeated/Winless Teams

Here are the undefeated teams.

Cincinnati 13-0

There is 1 remaining undefeated team, a reduction of 1 (UGA lost), out of 130 total teams in FBS.  There are no winless teams. 

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.

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


While the number of winless teams have been reduced to zero, there are still 2 teams that have a win, but their only win is against an FCS team. Those teams, in alphabetical order, are:

FIU
UConn

If you break these down by conference:

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


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 42 bowl games, 84 slots will need to be filled. There are currently 84 bowl eligible teams. Every bowl eligible team was picked for a bowl.

Air Force
Alabama
Appalachian State
Arizona State
Arkansas
Army
Auburn
Ball State
Baylor
Boise State
Boston College
BYU
Central Michigan
Cincinnati
Clemson
Coastal Carolina
East Carolina
Eastern Michigan
Florida
Fresno State
Georgia
Georgia State
Hawaii
Houston
Iowa
Iowa State
Kansas State
Kent State
Kentucky
Liberty
Louisiana
Louisville
LSU
Marshall
Maryland
Memphis
Miami, Fl
Miami, Oh
Michigan
Michigan State
Middle Tennessee
Minnesota
Mississippi State
Missouri
NC State
Nevada
North Carolina
North Texas
Northern Illinois
Notre Dame
ODU
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Ole Miss
Oregon
Oregon State
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Purdue
San Diego State
SMU
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Toledo
Tulsa
UAB
UCF
UCLA
Utah
Utah State
UTEP
UTSA
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest
Washington State
West Virginia
Western Michigan
Wisconsin
WKU
Wyoming


Update on my Playoff Picks

My preseason playoff picks (in no particular order) were Georgia, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Clemson.  Only one of my 4 picks (Georgia) made it in. Oh well... 


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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