Although there are still 4 games to play in the month of October thanks to Conference USA Tuesday and Wednesday night games, the final full week is done. That means it’s time for the second conference ranking. I added a couple of extra looks this time.
…..
Let’s start with the FCS. To do this, I kept the Top 263 ranking for average rank, but the Teams in the Top 50 column are based on just the FCS. There are 129 teams, so one would expect that each conference should have 38.8% of their teams in the Top 50. For that column, the first number is the actual count and the parenthetical is the expected value. To be in the top 25 for the FCS, the team would need to be ranked 159 or higher overall and the top 50 is 184 or higher. The difference is an indicator of overall strength of conference. The NW-NL column is the combined non-conference for the teams. Instead of average strength of schedule rank, I put the combined opponents’ winning percentages for each conference. An Opp’s WPct lower than the W-L Pct leans towards an easier non-conference schedule. And now from worst to first by average rank, here is the FCS through the end of October.
| Conf (Teams) | Avg Rank | W-L (Pct) | NW-NL (Pct) | Opp’s WPct | Best Team | Top 50 Teams |
| Northeast (8) | 226.00 | 24-40 (.375) | 11-27 (.289) | .424 | Duquesne (5-2/160) | 2 (3.1) |
| MEAC (6) | 211.67 | 21-27 (.438) | 17-23 (.425) | .464 | NC Central (6-2/154) | 2 (2.3) |
| Patriot (7) | 211.57 | 22-34 (.393) | 13-25 (.342) | .445 | Georgetown (5-3/175) | 2 (2.7) |
| SWAC (12) | 202.75 | 39-53 (.423) | 14-28 (.333) | .464 | Jackson St (6-2/146) | 3 (4.7) |
| FCS Indies (2) | 202.50 | 8-9 (.471) | 8-9 (.471) | .412 | Merrimack (4-4/189) | 0 (0.8) |
| Pioneer (11) | 197.82 | 43-41 (.512) | 20-18 (.526) | .486 | Butler (6-2/150) | 6 (4.3) |
| Big South/Ohio Valley (9) | 196.67 | 33-41 (.440) | 13-21 (.382) | .472 | SEMO (8-1/112) | 3 (3.5) |
| SoCon (9) | 195.11 | 33-38 (.465) | 13-18 (.419) | .468 | Mercer (7-1/115) | 3 (3.5) |
| Big Sky (12) | 194.50 | 47-49 (.490) | 22-24 (.478) | .489 | Montana St (8-0/87) | 4 (4.7) |
| IVY (8) | 193.50 | 27-21 (.563) | 15-9 (.625) | .508 | Dartmouth (6-0/113) | 3 (3.1) |
| UAC (9) | 193.33 | 34-40 (.459) | 13-19 (.406) | .483 | Tarleton (7-1/130) | 4 (3.5) |
| Southland (9) | 193.22 | 32-43 (.427) | 16-27 (.372) | .463 | Incarnate Word (6-2/150) | 4 (3.5) |
| Colonial (16) | 186.69 | 69-59 (.539) | 35-25 (.583) | .493 | Delaware (7-1/117) | 8 (6.2) |
| Missouri Valley (11) | 180.55 | 47-43 (.522) | 23-19 (.548) | .538 | North Dakota St (8-1/116) | 6 (4.3) |
…..
And now for the FBS. Same rules but using the actual top 50 out of 134 so the expected value is slightly less per team. From worst to best by average rank:
| Conf (Teams) | Avg Rank | W-L (Pct) | NW-NL (Pct) | Opp’s WPct | Best Team | Top 50 |
| Moutain West (12) | 103.67 | 43-51 (.457) | 22-30 (.423) | .486 | Boise St (6-1/20) | 2 (4.5) |
| Conf-USA (10) | 103.50 | 31-42 (.424) | 12-23 (.343) | .477 | Liberty (5-1/41) | 2 (3.7) |
| MAC (12) | 102.17 | 44-52 (.458) | 20-28 (.417) | .499 | Toledo (5-3/77) | 0 (4.5) |
| Sun Belt (14) | 89.43 | 54-51 (.514) | 28-25 (.528) | .535 | Louisiana (6-1/31) | 2 (5.2) |
| American (14) | 87.86 | 54-53 (.505) | 36-35 (.507) | .508 | Army (7-0/11) | 4 (5.2) |
| FBS Indies (3) | 77.00 | 14-10 (.583) | 14-10 (.583) | .507 | Notre Dame (7-1/9) | 1 (1.1) |
| Pac 12 (2) | 63.50 | 11-5 (.688) | 11-5 (.688) | .528 | Washington St (7-1/23) | 1 (0.7) |
| Big 12 (16) | 47.31 | 74-52 (.587) | 33-21 (.611) | .574 | BYU (8-0/4) | 8 (6.0) |
| ACC (17) | 45.76 | 81-53 (.604) | 43-15 (.741) | .564 | Miami FL (8-0/6) | 8 (6.3) |
| Big Ten (18) | 41.44 | 86-54 (.614) | 42-10 (.808) | .573 | Indiana (8-0/1) | 11 (6.7) |
| SEC (16) | 40.69 | 79-45 (.637) | 42-8 (.840) | .562 | Texas (7-1/8) | 11 (6.0) |
…..
At the end of September, the SEC had most of the top 5, but the Big Ten had the better conference. Now the tide has turned as the B10 has the top 3 spots, but the SEC has the depth with 69% of their teams ranked in the top 50 and all but 2 in the top 67. November will bring more chaos…and fun, more upsets…and excitement, and more drama…and clarity. Thanks for reading and sharing with others. Tune in tomorrow for the next G’s Expectation. G
