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Now that the National Championship Game is over, and my beloved Georgia Bulldogs have broken their 41 years drought (thank goodness we won't have to hear about that anymore!), it's time for a little relaxation. However, there's never really any down time in college football, as Spring Practice- and Spring Games- will be taking place soon, and there is always recruiting going on, and some players are declaring for the NFL Draft, and others are entering the transfer portal, and... well, you get the idea.
While I'm not quite ready to start my preparations for my preseason predictions (this isn't my full-time job- in fact, I don't get paid a penny for any of my blogs!), I do like to spend a little bit of time looking back before I look forward. As I was going through the past 10 years of records, I started wondering which team has dominated its conference more than any other, and then I got to wondering which team has been the worst in its conference, and then the rabbit hole just sort of opened up, as rabbit holes tend to do, and before long I was behind the looking glass, if you don't mind my mixing of Lewis Carroll novels. Anyway, here is some of what I found.
Which teams have the best conference winning percentage for the last 10 years?
1) Ohio State 77-5 .951
2) Alabama 74-8 .902
3) Clemson 72-9 .889
4) Appalachian State 54-10 .844 (8 years)
5) Oklahoma 71-15 .826
6) Boise State 63-14 .818
None of these are a big surprise. I listed 6 teams because App State has only been in the SBC for 8 years, and not for 10.
Which teams have the best conference winning percentage for the last 6 years?
T1) Alabama 46-4 .920
T1) Ohio State 46-4 .920
3) Clemson 44-5 .898
4) Oklahoma 46-7 .868
5) Appalachian State 41-7 .854
Again, there are no surprises, and Boise State is 6th at .844.
Which teams have the best conference winning percentage for the last 3 years?
1) Ohio State 22-1 .957
2) Cincinnati 21-1 .955
3) Louisiana 22-2 .917
4) Alabama 23-3 .885
T5) Georgia 22-3 .880
T5) Clemson 22-3 .880
Here, we finally have a few different teams, as Oklahoma and App State drop out, and Cincinnati, Louisiana, and Georgia move in. It should be noted that UGA had one game canceled in 2020, and it was a probable win, seeing as it was Vanderbilt that backed out (twice), so they would have been tied with Alabama had they played.
Which teams have dominated their conference for the last 10 years?
Now, the winning percentages shown above tell us a lot, but not the whole story. I think a better indication of domination is how much better the top team is than the 2nd place team. So here are the top 5 differences in winning percentages in conference play in divisions, and then the top 3 by conference.
Division
1) Ohio State .300 over Michigan
2) Alabama .268 over LSU
3) Appalachian State .266 over Georgia Southern
4) Clemson .264 over FSU
5) Boise State .204 over Utah State
Closest: WKU .005 over Marshall
Conference
1) Clemson .264 over FSU
2) Ohio State .228 over Wisconsin
3) Oklahoma .182 over Oklahoma State
Closest: WKU .005 over Marshall
Which teams have dominated their conference for the last 6 years?
Division
1) Clemson .338 over NC State
2) Alabama .280 over LSU
3) Appalachian State .237 over Troy
4) Boise State .231 over Air Force
5) Oklahoma .220 over Oklahoma State
Closest: Western Michigan and Toledo tied
Conference
1) Clemson .245 over Miami
2) Oklahoma .220 over Oklahoma State
3) Ohio State .195 over Wisconsin
Closest: USC .020 over Utah
Which teams have dominated their conference for the last 3 years?
Division
1) Louisiana .584 over Arkansas State
2) Oregon .328 over Washington/Washington State
3) Ohio State .290 over Michigan
4) Clemson .271 over Wake Forest
5) Georgia .265 over Florida
Closest: Kent State .016 over Miami
Conference
1) Clemson .240 over Miami
2) Cincinnati .238 over UCF
3) Ohio State .226 over Iowa
Closest: Alabama .005 over Georgia
As you can see, Clemson has dominated the ACC more than any other team has dominated their conference, as they lead in all 3 time frames. What is interesting is that as dominant as Alabama is perceived to be, they are not in the top 3 in any of the lists. In fact, they would be 5th in the 10-year list, tied for 6th in the 6-year list, and last (11th) in the 3-year list. Maybe there is something to the parity in the SEC argument...
And now, one final list...
Which teams have been the worst in conference play for the last 10 years?
1) Kansas 6-83 .067
2) Rutgers 12-58 .171 (8 years)
3) Vanderbilt 19-62 .2345
4) Illinois 20-65 .2352
5) UTEP 18-58 .237
Which teams have been the worst in conference play for the last 6 years?
1) Kansas 4-49 .075
2) Rutgers 8-46 .148
3) UTEP 7-37 .159
4) Vanderbilt 8-41 .163
5) Texas State 9-39 .188
Which teams have been the worst in conference play for the last 3 years?
1) Vanderbilt 1-24 .040
2) Kansas 2-24 .077
T3) UMass 2-22 .083 (2 years)
T3) UConn 1-11 .083 (1 year)
T5) Arizona 3-20 .130
T5) New Mexico 3-20 .130
T5) USF 3-20 .130
And there you have it. Kansas is the undisputed "king" of poor conference play, but Vandy and Rutgers (who is only 5-22 for a .185 winning percentage for the last 3 years) isn't far behind.
I'll post on Twitter and Facebook when my next blog posts, but I will begin my previews for the 2022 season sometime in July. In the meantime, I may post before then as news happens (or the Spirit moves me). Follow me on Twitter: @pbanderson
Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!
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