Last in this series about the most dominant teams from 2000 to 2009 are the top ten. There is a qualitative difference in this group, compared to the others in the posts below. Here, bad years are those during which a team falls out of the top 40 in the Dominance Ranking-- and for the Texas, Boise, Oklahoma, and Virginia Tech, "bad" means below the top 20 (there are only three such years between them!).
Of these ten programs, only Boise State, Virginia Tech, and Georgia lack a first-place finish in the Dominance Ranking any year this decade, and only Georgia lacks also a runner-up finish (its highest finish was sixth, in 2002).
1. Texas- 7.50
2. Boise State- 9.90
3. Oklahoma- 10.20
4. Virginia Tech- 10.70
5. Florida- 14.90
6. USC- 17.80
7. Ohio State- 20.40
8. TCU- 21.90
9. LSU- 22.00
10. Georgia- 24.60
Showing posts with label Dominance Ranking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dominance Ranking. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Decade's Pretty-Dang-Dominants
Here is a list of stout programs, when measured in a wide scale. Some of them are coasting on laurels earned during President Bush's first term (Miami, Florida State, Nebraska, Michigan), while others have felt their oats recently (Clemson, Alabama, West Virginia). The mid-decade strongmen were Texas Tech, Auburn, and Louisville.
Very remarkably, two of the teams on this part of the Dominance Ranking have not played D-1A football for all of the decade. South Florida and Connecticut have eight and nine years of top-level experience to their names, respectively, and only three years ranked lower than 40th between them.
11., Miami (FL), 25.70
12., Utah, 26.60
13., Boston College, 28.60
14., Clemson, 30.10
15., Florida St., 30.40
16., Texas Tech, 31.00
17., Michigan, 32.50
18., West Virginia, 33.20
19., Alabama, 33.60
20., Auburn, 34.40
Very remarkably, two of the teams on this part of the Dominance Ranking have not played D-1A football for all of the decade. South Florida and Connecticut have eight and nine years of top-level experience to their names, respectively, and only three years ranked lower than 40th between them.
11., Miami (FL), 25.70
12., Utah, 26.60
13., Boston College, 28.60
14., Clemson, 30.10
15., Florida St., 30.40
16., Texas Tech, 31.00
17., Michigan, 32.50
18., West Virginia, 33.20
19., Alabama, 33.60
20., Auburn, 34.40
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The Decade's Decently Dominant
Here's the all-decade teams, rated 31-65 in the Dominance Ranking.
(rank, team, average Dominance Rank, 2000-2009)
31. Southern Miss. 40.20
32. Northern Ill. 40.60
33. Georgia Tech 41.10
34. California 41.60
35. Wisconsin 42.40
36. Fresno St. 44.10
37. Kansas St. 44.30
38. Cincinnati 44.80
39. Arkansas 45.40
40. Air Force 45.80
41. Brigham Young 46.20
42. Purdue 47.60
43. Missouri 47.70
44. Bowling Green 50.20
45. Toledo 50.50
46. Arizona St. 51.70
46. Minnesota 51.70
48. Maryland 52.10
49. South Carolina 52.70
50. Hawaii 53.10
51. Oklahoma St. 53.30
52. Notre Dame 53.50
53. North Carolina St. 54.00
54. Troy 54.38
55. Navy 54.40
56. Michigan St. 55.30
57. Mississippi 55.90
58. Texas A&M 57.90
59. UCLA 58.00
60. Virginia 58.30
61. Middle Tenn. 59.70
62. Rutgers 61.00
63. Tulsa 61.60
64. Memphis 61.80
65. UCF 62.50
Among these middle-of-the-packers, one can find teams that have managed to string together several really great seasons in a row, like BYU's last four years, Cincinnati's last threeand Kansas State's early decade seasons. However, in each of those team's cases-- and with all of the teams shown here-- there are some real duds in the mix, too. BYU in 2001-2003 was just awful, ranking as low as 91st (2002). Kansas State and Cincinnati have lower lows than BYUs (94th, 107th, respectively).
So it goes for most of the list: for these teams, the good years were the exception, even if there were a few of them. Bowling Green had four top-20 finishes to start the decade, fell below 100 in '06, and has yet to climb above 65th since. Maryland finished in the top 10 three years running to start the decade, but ranked 109th last year, and is itching to get rid of its coach. Rutgers, Ole Miss, Memphis, Minnesota, Fresno State, and Cal all have similar, if less stark, runs.
(rank, team, average Dominance Rank, 2000-2009)
31. Southern Miss. 40.20
32. Northern Ill. 40.60
33. Georgia Tech 41.10
34. California 41.60
35. Wisconsin 42.40
36. Fresno St. 44.10
37. Kansas St. 44.30
38. Cincinnati 44.80
39. Arkansas 45.40
40. Air Force 45.80
41. Brigham Young 46.20
42. Purdue 47.60
43. Missouri 47.70
44. Bowling Green 50.20
45. Toledo 50.50
46. Arizona St. 51.70
46. Minnesota 51.70
48. Maryland 52.10
49. South Carolina 52.70
50. Hawaii 53.10
51. Oklahoma St. 53.30
52. Notre Dame 53.50
53. North Carolina St. 54.00
54. Troy 54.38
55. Navy 54.40
56. Michigan St. 55.30
57. Mississippi 55.90
58. Texas A&M 57.90
59. UCLA 58.00
60. Virginia 58.30
61. Middle Tenn. 59.70
62. Rutgers 61.00
63. Tulsa 61.60
64. Memphis 61.80
65. UCF 62.50
Among these middle-of-the-packers, one can find teams that have managed to string together several really great seasons in a row, like BYU's last four years, Cincinnati's last threeand Kansas State's early decade seasons. However, in each of those team's cases-- and with all of the teams shown here-- there are some real duds in the mix, too. BYU in 2001-2003 was just awful, ranking as low as 91st (2002). Kansas State and Cincinnati have lower lows than BYUs (94th, 107th, respectively).
So it goes for most of the list: for these teams, the good years were the exception, even if there were a few of them. Bowling Green had four top-20 finishes to start the decade, fell below 100 in '06, and has yet to climb above 65th since. Maryland finished in the top 10 three years running to start the decade, but ranked 109th last year, and is itching to get rid of its coach. Rutgers, Ole Miss, Memphis, Minnesota, Fresno State, and Cal all have similar, if less stark, runs.
Friday, May 14, 2010
The decade's once-in-a-while dominants
Here're the occasionally-dominant teams of the last decade: those averaging 66th through 95th in the Dominance Ranking.
(average ranking, all-decade-rank, team)
62.80, 66, Marshall
62.80, 66, Miami (OH)
63.70, 68, Wake Forest
64.60, 69, New Mexico
65.20, 70, Washington St.
65.30, 71, Western Michigan
65.40, 72, East Carolina
65.60, 73, Kansas
67.10, 74, Nevada
69.30, 75, Colorado St.
69.60, 76, Houston
70.90, 77, Arizona
71.70, 78, Kentucky
73.00, 79, Ohio
73.20, 80, Central Mich.
73.20, 80, Colorado
73.70, 82, North Carolina
74.20, 83, UAB
74.70, 84, Northwestern
74.70, 84, Washington
75.60, 86, Illinois
76.20, 87, UTEP
76.70, 88, Louisiana Tech
77.60, 89, Iowa St.
78.60, 90, Akron
79.00, 91, Stanford
80.40, 92, Ball St.
81.90, 93, Syracuse
82.10, 94, Vanderbilt
84.75, 95, Florida Atlantic
Among these usually-yawning football has-beens' decade, one can find a smattering of genuinely good years: Central Michigan's break-through season last year, and Kansas's two years before it are probably best among them. (The Jayhawks finished the year ranked #1 in dominance, the first team in this decade survey with that on its resume.) But even these teams' occasionally stellar years fall on an otherwise-very-drab backdrop. The good years are the exception, not the rule.
For example, Miami of Ohio went 8-4 in 2004, tallying a #6 dominance ranking that season. The rest of the decade? Miamo (OH) averages just over a 69th rank, with 113th and 114th ranks in '08 and '09 nearly expunging the memory of its heyday earlier in the decade.
The same dreary story holds true for Kansas and Central Michigan, and every other team in this quartile of the all-decade list. Each team listed above has at least one triple-digit rank in the decade; most have more. In fact, the average best rank for these low-achievers is 27th-- not even in the top 25.
(average ranking, all-decade-rank, team)
62.80, 66, Marshall
62.80, 66, Miami (OH)
63.70, 68, Wake Forest
64.60, 69, New Mexico
65.20, 70, Washington St.
65.30, 71, Western Michigan
65.40, 72, East Carolina
65.60, 73, Kansas
67.10, 74, Nevada
69.30, 75, Colorado St.
69.60, 76, Houston
70.90, 77, Arizona
71.70, 78, Kentucky
73.00, 79, Ohio
73.20, 80, Central Mich.
73.20, 80, Colorado
73.70, 82, North Carolina
74.20, 83, UAB
74.70, 84, Northwestern
74.70, 84, Washington
75.60, 86, Illinois
76.20, 87, UTEP
76.70, 88, Louisiana Tech
77.60, 89, Iowa St.
78.60, 90, Akron
79.00, 91, Stanford
80.40, 92, Ball St.
81.90, 93, Syracuse
82.10, 94, Vanderbilt
84.75, 95, Florida Atlantic
Among these usually-yawning football has-beens' decade, one can find a smattering of genuinely good years: Central Michigan's break-through season last year, and Kansas's two years before it are probably best among them. (The Jayhawks finished the year ranked #1 in dominance, the first team in this decade survey with that on its resume.) But even these teams' occasionally stellar years fall on an otherwise-very-drab backdrop. The good years are the exception, not the rule.
For example, Miami of Ohio went 8-4 in 2004, tallying a #6 dominance ranking that season. The rest of the decade? Miamo (OH) averages just over a 69th rank, with 113th and 114th ranks in '08 and '09 nearly expunging the memory of its heyday earlier in the decade.
The same dreary story holds true for Kansas and Central Michigan, and every other team in this quartile of the all-decade list. Each team listed above has at least one triple-digit rank in the decade; most have more. In fact, the average best rank for these low-achievers is 27th-- not even in the top 25.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The Decade's Least Dominant Teams
The Wimple has been chewing on the Dominance Ranking numbers the last few days, and unveils below the least dominant teams, statistically speaking, form 2000 through 2009. The Dominance Ranking, in case you missed it, is the sum of a team's national rank in scoring offense and scoring defense. The Wimple averaged all of the D-1A teams' Dominance Ranking for the last decade; here are the bottom 25:
(rank, ten-year average, team)
96., 85.0, Kent St.
97., 85.3, Rice
98., 85.8, Miss. St.
99., 85.9, San Jose St.
100., 86.8, UNLV
101., 87.0, North Texas
102., 88.2, Tulane
103., 88.3, Wyoming
104., 90.2, Arkansas St.
105., 90.5, Temple
106., 90.7, Indiana
107., 91.8, San Diego St.
108., 92.1, New Mexico St.
109., 93.5, SMU
110., 93.7, La.-Lafayette
111., 93.8, Buffalo
112., 96.0, La.-Monroe
113., 96.9, Utah St.
114., 98.7, Idaho
115., 100.2, Eastern Mich.
116., 100.3, Army
117., 103.3, Duke
118., 103.4, Baylor
119., 105.5, Florida Int'l*
120., 113.0, Western Kentucky.*
Among these bottom-dwellers, there have been a few bright spots, now and then, chief among them Temple's bowl run last year. Buffalo wasn't bad in '08, and Mississippi State and UNLV were likewise OK in 2000, as was Tulane in '02 and Kent State in '04. But otherwise, the aughts were hopeless and hapless for these 25 teams.
Interestingly, there are teams from every conference (even from the "mighty" SEC) in this ignominous list except the Pac-10 or Big East. Sadly for the Sun Belt conference, all but one of its members turn up in this post. There's a reason y'all always get mentioned, if at all, last.
*less than 10-year average, because these teams haven't played D-1A football fully ten years.
(rank, ten-year average, team)
96., 85.0, Kent St.
97., 85.3, Rice
98., 85.8, Miss. St.
99., 85.9, San Jose St.
100., 86.8, UNLV
101., 87.0, North Texas
102., 88.2, Tulane
103., 88.3, Wyoming
104., 90.2, Arkansas St.
105., 90.5, Temple
106., 90.7, Indiana
107., 91.8, San Diego St.
108., 92.1, New Mexico St.
109., 93.5, SMU
110., 93.7, La.-Lafayette
111., 93.8, Buffalo
112., 96.0, La.-Monroe
113., 96.9, Utah St.
114., 98.7, Idaho
115., 100.2, Eastern Mich.
116., 100.3, Army
117., 103.3, Duke
118., 103.4, Baylor
119., 105.5, Florida Int'l*
120., 113.0, Western Kentucky.*
Among these bottom-dwellers, there have been a few bright spots, now and then, chief among them Temple's bowl run last year. Buffalo wasn't bad in '08, and Mississippi State and UNLV were likewise OK in 2000, as was Tulane in '02 and Kent State in '04. But otherwise, the aughts were hopeless and hapless for these 25 teams.
Interestingly, there are teams from every conference (even from the "mighty" SEC) in this ignominous list except the Pac-10 or Big East. Sadly for the Sun Belt conference, all but one of its members turn up in this post. There's a reason y'all always get mentioned, if at all, last.
*less than 10-year average, because these teams haven't played D-1A football fully ten years.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
2008 Final Dominance Ranking
Spreadsheets and Blogger don't get along easily, so if we find a better way to post this, we'll fix this and the '09 ranking post below. Meanwhile, here's the 2008 final Dominance Rankings.
1 Florida
2 Alabama
3 Virginia Tech
4 Boise St.
4 Southern California
6 Boston College
7 Penn St.
8 TCU
9 Texas
10 Cincinnati
11 Ball St.
12 Utah
13 East Carolina
14 Iowa
15 Ohio St.
16 Mississippi
17 Florida St.
17 California
19 Arizona
20 Oklahoma
20 Rutgers
22 Troy
23 Clemson
24 BYU
25 South Fla.
(#26 through 120 in the comment below.)
1 Florida
2 Alabama
3 Virginia Tech
4 Boise St.
4 Southern California
6 Boston College
7 Penn St.
8 TCU
9 Texas
10 Cincinnati
11 Ball St.
12 Utah
13 East Carolina
14 Iowa
15 Ohio St.
16 Mississippi
17 Florida St.
17 California
19 Arizona
20 Oklahoma
20 Rutgers
22 Troy
23 Clemson
24 BYU
25 South Fla.
(#26 through 120 in the comment below.)
Saturday, May 1, 2010
'09 final Dominance Ranking
In a sense, there is only one statistic that matters: wins and losses. But the Wimple proposed, in December, an interesting proxy for that stat-- the sum of a team's national scoring offense and scoring defense ranks-- called the Dominance Ranking. Here is the final 2009 top 25, ranked by dominance:
rank, team (scoring defense, scoring offense, sum)
1. TCU (6, 5, 11)
2. Florida (4, 10, 14)
3. Boise St. (14, 1, 15)
3. Texas (12, 3, 15)
5. Alabama (2, 22, 24)
6. Central Mich. (17, 13, 30)
7. Virginia Tech (9, 24, 33)
8. Oklahoma (7, 29, 36)
9. BYU (29, 11, 40)
9. Pittsburgh (19, 21, 40)
11. Air Force (10, 36, 46)
12. Cincinnati (44, 4, 48)
12. Texas Tech (41, 7, 48)
14. Clemson (25, 28, 53)
15. Mississippi (15, 39, 54)
15. Ohio St. (5, 49, 54)
17. Penn St. (3, 52, 55)
18. Utah (23, 34, 57)
19. Wisconsin (33, 25, 58)
20. Oregon (51, 8, 59)
21. Arkansas (58, 9, 67)
22. Miami (37, 31, 68)
22. Rutgers (16, 52, 68)
24. Georgia Tech (56, 15, 71)
25. Middle Tenn. (49, 23, 72)
26. Connecticut (48, 27, 75)
26. Navy (18, 57, 75)
28. Nebraska (1, 75, 76)
29. Temple (39, 39, 78)
30. Stanford (69, 11, 80)
30. Southern Miss. (62, 18, 80)
32. Tennessee (38, 43, 81)
33. Oregon St. (57, 26, 83)
33. South Fla. (19, 64, 83)
35. Northern Ill. (30, 54, 84)
(36-120 in the comment below)
Three things jump out from this list: (1) the only losses among the top five teams came to each other; (2) Central Michigan may have been greatly underrated; and (3) the Mountain West has four of the top 17-- the best showing of any conference.
Look for periodic rankings by dominance in 2010.
rank, team (scoring defense, scoring offense, sum)
1. TCU (6, 5, 11)
2. Florida (4, 10, 14)
3. Boise St. (14, 1, 15)
3. Texas (12, 3, 15)
5. Alabama (2, 22, 24)
6. Central Mich. (17, 13, 30)
7. Virginia Tech (9, 24, 33)
8. Oklahoma (7, 29, 36)
9. BYU (29, 11, 40)
9. Pittsburgh (19, 21, 40)
11. Air Force (10, 36, 46)
12. Cincinnati (44, 4, 48)
12. Texas Tech (41, 7, 48)
14. Clemson (25, 28, 53)
15. Mississippi (15, 39, 54)
15. Ohio St. (5, 49, 54)
17. Penn St. (3, 52, 55)
18. Utah (23, 34, 57)
19. Wisconsin (33, 25, 58)
20. Oregon (51, 8, 59)
21. Arkansas (58, 9, 67)
22. Miami (37, 31, 68)
22. Rutgers (16, 52, 68)
24. Georgia Tech (56, 15, 71)
25. Middle Tenn. (49, 23, 72)
26. Connecticut (48, 27, 75)
26. Navy (18, 57, 75)
28. Nebraska (1, 75, 76)
29. Temple (39, 39, 78)
30. Stanford (69, 11, 80)
30. Southern Miss. (62, 18, 80)
32. Tennessee (38, 43, 81)
33. Oregon St. (57, 26, 83)
33. South Fla. (19, 64, 83)
35. Northern Ill. (30, 54, 84)
(36-120 in the comment below)
Three things jump out from this list: (1) the only losses among the top five teams came to each other; (2) Central Michigan may have been greatly underrated; and (3) the Mountain West has four of the top 17-- the best showing of any conference.
Look for periodic rankings by dominance in 2010.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Ranking by Dominance- TCU #1
From the Wimple's Missing Statistics Department comes another remarkable view of college football: the Dominance Ranking.
The NCAA provides dozens of nifty rankings, including two that capture the essence of football in its rawest terms: scoring offense and scoring defense. Does it not stand to reason that those teams falling highest in both rankings ought to be considered the most dominant? Why, yes it does. And so, as a public service, the Wimple has added together the ranks of the first 55 teams on both lists, and ranked the results.
Tellingly, the top six schools, ranked by dominance, happen to be the only remaining undefeated teams in the nation: TCU, Florida, Texas, Boise State, Cincinnati, and Alabama. This should surprise nobody-- defeating a football team about scoring more, and really about little else. The best teams at doing that, and preventing other teams from doing so, simply must be considered the most dominant in the land.
Here are the top 25, with each team's scoring offense and scoring defense ranks added together:
1 (10) TCU
2 (11) Florida
3 (12) Texas
4 (19) Boise State
5 (25) Cincinnati
6 (27) Alabama
7 (30) Central Michigan
8 (37) Pittsburgh
8 (37) Oklahoma
10 (38) Virginia Tech
11 (45) Clemson
12 (46) Texas Tech
13 (47) Penn State
14 (48) BYU
15 (51) Oregon
16 (54) Miss.
17 (59) Oregon State
19 (61) Tennessee
19 (61) Air Force
21 (62) Northern Ill.
22 (65) Miami
23 (67) Georgia Tech
23 (67) Rutgers
25 (70) Utah
The NCAA provides dozens of nifty rankings, including two that capture the essence of football in its rawest terms: scoring offense and scoring defense. Does it not stand to reason that those teams falling highest in both rankings ought to be considered the most dominant? Why, yes it does. And so, as a public service, the Wimple has added together the ranks of the first 55 teams on both lists, and ranked the results.
Tellingly, the top six schools, ranked by dominance, happen to be the only remaining undefeated teams in the nation: TCU, Florida, Texas, Boise State, Cincinnati, and Alabama. This should surprise nobody-- defeating a football team about scoring more, and really about little else. The best teams at doing that, and preventing other teams from doing so, simply must be considered the most dominant in the land.
Here are the top 25, with each team's scoring offense and scoring defense ranks added together:
1 (10) TCU
2 (11) Florida
3 (12) Texas
4 (19) Boise State
5 (25) Cincinnati
6 (27) Alabama
7 (30) Central Michigan
8 (37) Pittsburgh
8 (37) Oklahoma
10 (38) Virginia Tech
11 (45) Clemson
12 (46) Texas Tech
13 (47) Penn State
14 (48) BYU
15 (51) Oregon
16 (54) Miss.
17 (59) Oregon State
19 (61) Tennessee
19 (61) Air Force
21 (62) Northern Ill.
22 (65) Miami
23 (67) Georgia Tech
23 (67) Rutgers
25 (70) Utah
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