Happy Wednesday everyone. We’ve almost made it to the last Thursday-Saturday weekend before Conference USA begins it’s Tuesday/Wednesday game schedules. In November we’ll switch to the MAC playing those mid-week games. But it’s still September although we are already though a quarter of the season. There are still 27 undefeated teams left (and, no, the Pac-12 does not lead that category) along with 5 teams still looking for win number 1. Of the 27 perfects, 6 of them will play in a different conference next year (ok, technically 7 with Washington St (4-0) orphaned with 3-1 Oregon St right now). 6 conferences have at least 3 undefeated teams. Here’s a breakdown – check out the notes column.
…..
| Conference (Teams) | Perfect Teams | Winless Teams | Transient Teams | Notes |
| ACC (14) | 6 (Duke, Florida St, Louisville, Miami FL, North Carolina, Syracuse) | 1 (Virginia) | none | Syracuse is the only perfect team not to play a conference game |
| P12 (12) | 5 (Oregon, Southern Cal, Utah, Washington, Washington St) | none | ORE, SCAL, UTAH, WASH are transferring to the Big Ten or Big 12- WAST in limbo | All remaining games are in conference except for SCAL/ND |
| Big Ten (14) | 4 (Maryland, Michigan, Ohio St, Penn St) | none | none | All 4 teams are in the same division |
| Big 12 (14) | 3 (Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas) | none | OKLA and TEX are transferring to the SEC | Kansas and Texas play this week |
| SEC (14) | 3 (Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri) | none | none | All 3 teams are in the same division |
| Sun Belt (14) | 3 (Georgia St, James Madison, Marshall) | none | none | All 3 teams are in the same division |
| Moutain West (12) | 2 (Air Force, Fresno St) | 1 (Nevada) | none | Air Force and Fresno St do not play in the regular season |
| Conference USA (9) | 1 (Liberty) | 1 (Sam Houston) | none | Liberty (Independent) and Sam Houston (FCS promotion) are both newcomers to the conference |
| American (14) | none | none | none | With the loss of Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF to the Big 12, the conference is still looking for someone to take control |
| Independents (4) | none | 1 (UCONN) | none | Notre Dame’s lost to Ohio St may have kept them out of the playoffs |
| MAC (12) | none | 1 (Buffalo) | none | With conference play beginning, the cream (Ohio?) will rise |
…..
So, does that mean the ACC is the strongest conference? There are better ways to judge such things than perfect/imperfect teams. Certainly, it helps to have lots of teams that are in the top 50 GCR ranking and such. I ran the comparison below that is organized by Avg GCR Rank, but also shows the AVG SOS Rank and the overall winning percentage for each conference. I’ve also added the highest and lowest ranked teams to go along with the most challenged (highest SOS) to least challenged for the conferences. Here’s the FBS.
…..
| Conference (Teams) | AVG GCR Rank | Best/Worst | AVG SOS Rank | Best/Worst | Record/PCT (Rank) |
| Pac-12 (14) | 34.83 (1) | Oregon (4-0/6) Arizona St (1-3/87) | 62.92 (5) | Colorado (10) 3-1/26 Southern Cal (130) 4-0/16 | 36-12/.750 (1) |
| Big Ten (14) | 40.29 (2) | Penn St (4-0/1) Nebraska (2-2/89) | 42.07 (1) | Illinois (3) 2-2/41 Maryland (121) 4-0/14 | 38-18/.679 (3) |
| SEC (14) | 40.43 (3) | Georgia (4-0/12) Mississippi St (2-2/88) | 56.21 (3) | South Carolina (2) 2-2/35) Kentucky (123) 4-0/19 | 41-16/.719 (2) |
| ACC (14) | 42.07 (4) | Miami FL (4-0/7) Pittsburgh (1-3/103) | 65.29 (6) | Virginia (1) 0-4/40 Syracuse (126) 4-0/13 | 37-19/.661 (4T) |
| Big 12 (14) | 53.21 (5) | Oklahoma (4-0/3) Oklahoma St (2-2/119) | 61.36 (4) | Texas Tech (6) 1-3/58 Houston (101) 2-2/116 | 37-19/.661 (4T) |
| Indies (4) | 81.25 (6) | Notre Dame (3-1/22) UMASS (1-4/125) | 51.50 (2) | UCONN (12) 0-4/68 Army (87) 2-2/110 | 7-11/.389 (11) |
| Mountain West (12) | 81.75 (7) | Air Force (4-0/29) New Mexico (2-2/127) | 68.91 (7) | Nevada (5) 0-4/63 Air Force (132) 4-0/29 | 25-25/.500 (7) |
| Sun Belt (14) | 91.36 (8) | Georgia St (4-0/37) Old Dominion (2-2/130) | 101.36 (11) | Coastal Carolina (45) 2-2/82 Marshall (142) 3-0/48 | 35-19/.648 (6) |
| MAC (12) | 95.50 (9) | Bowling Green (1-3/58) N Illinois (1-3/138) | 71.08 (9) | Bowling Green (4) 1-3/58 Toledo (136) 3-1/94 | 20-29/.408 (10) |
| Conference USA (9) | 98.67 (10) | Liberty (4-0/24) LA Tech (2-3/133) | 83.67 (10) | Sam Houston (28) 0-3/92 Jacksonville St (120) 3-1/79 | 18-21/.462 (8) |
| American (14) | 101.14 (11) | Memphis (3-1/67) FAU (1-3/129) | 69.50 (8) | Charlotte (20) 1-3/79 Tulane (112) 3-1/76 | 23-31/.426 (9) |
…..
The last few years the American conference has seemed so dominant among the Group of 5 schools that I’ve seen articles calling them the 6th Power 5 conference. The 3 teams they lost to the Big 12 (Cincinnati, Houston, UCF) are a combined 7-5 (although 0-3 in the conference). The teams they added (Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA) are a combined 7-13 (0-1 in the conference). That kind of flip flop may correct itself over time, but I think it’s nearly safe to say the golden age of the AAC is over. If expansion continues, it’s logical that Memphis, SMU, Tulane, and Temple would be attractive (especially if you expand beyond just football). Those 4 teams are 10-6. Even so, not a single team is ranked in the GCR top 65. No one is undefeated.
…..
So who is the replacement? Over the past few years, the Sun Belt looked like a contender for the Group of 5 leader with great teams from App St, Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Louisiana, and Troy. But the out of conference portion of the schedule this year hasn’t really pushed them. Not a single team has played a top 40 schedule. The Mountain West, however, is looking very consistent. In the table above, they rank 7th in all 3 categories. They have 2 undefeated teams that don’t face each other which could lead to an amazing championship game. The sportswriters will push the AAC, especially Tulane, but the GCR bold prediction of the week, look for the MWC winner to play in a New Year’s Six Bowl.
…..
That’s it for today. If you have any questions or areas for improvement, please send me a comment. If you like what you see, please forward to others. Thank you for taking the time to peruse the post and I’ll see you tomorrow for the next G’s Expectations, G
