Welcome to a special end of the first month edition we have here at the GCR where we evaluate where the conferences stand. The primary sort is mean GCR rank so top-heavy conferences with little to know middle class will be negatively impacted. This is not about which conference has the strongest top 3, but the strongest top to bottom. We’ve also added a new feature at the bottom that will show the Top 25 for the Core 4, Group of 5, and FCS. As an additional bonus, we show the Bottom Ten in each of those leagues.
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But, first, let’s look at the 24 conferences (which include the 2-team FBS Indies, the 2-team FCS Indies, and the 2-team Pac-12) from top to bottom. The SEC is in the lead at the one-third mark with not only more average wins by a full 10% than any other conference, but the Core 4 conference with the highest winning percentage against other Core 4 conferences. Not to mention, the Strength of Schedule (SOS) data supports the conference rank as well with the most challenging schedule to date of any conference. In the table below “NC Record” are games against non-conference opponents. The “Avg Wins” is the mean of total wins by the conference divided by the number of teams. The same calculation is used, with the appropriate data, for “Avg Rank” and “Avg SOS”. The “Best Team” is the highest GCR ranked team. All data is as of the most current games played.
| Rank | Conference | Record | Avg Wins | NC Record | Avg Rank | Avg SOS | Best Team |
| 1 | SEC (16) | 55-18 (753) | 3.44 | 43-6 (878) | 39.7 | 52.7 | Oklahoma (4-0/7) |
| 2 | Big Ten (18) | 56-22 (718) | 3.11 | 43-9 (827) | 41.8 | 64.7 | Indiana (5-0/1) |
| 3 | Big 12 (16) | 50-22 (694) | 3.13 | 37-9 (804) | 43.8 | 82.0 | Texas Tech (4-0/6) |
| 4 | Indies (2) | 5-4 (556) | 2.50 | 5-4 (556) | 54.5 | 64.0 | Notre Dame (2-2/26) |
| 5 | ACC (17) | 47-29 (618) | 2.76 | 34-16 (680) | 57.9 | 67.6 | Louisville (4-0/4) |
| 6 | American (14) | 38-24 (613) | 2.71 | 30-16 (652) | 78.5 | 74.1 | Memphis (5-0/21) |
| 7 | SUN (14) | 30-32 (484) | 2.14 | 25-27 (481) | 82.7 | 89.4 | Old Dominion (3-1/31) |
| 8 | Pac 12 (2) | 3-7 (300) | 1.50 | 3-7 (300) | 86.5 | 17.5 | Washington St (3-2/63) |
| 9 | Mountain West (12) | 30-22 (577) | 2.50 | 26-18 (591) | 90.8 | 112.8 | San Diego St (3-1/57) |
| 10 | C-USA (12) | 25-31 (446) | 2.08 | 18-24 (429) | 107.0 | 88.5 | LA Tech (4-1/42) |
| 11 | MAC (13) | 21-39 (350) | 1.62 | 16-34 (320) | 116.7 | 67.8 | Toledo (3-2/72) |
| 12 | Missouri Valley (10) | 25-16 (610) | 2.50 | 24-15 (615) | 167.4 | 193.9 | North Dakota St (4-0/113) |
| 13 | United Athletic (9) | 21-23 (477) | 2.33 | 16-18 (471) | 179.0 | 181.8 | Tarleton (5-0/122) |
| 14 | Big Sky (12) | 28-30 (483) | 2.33 | 22-24 (478) | 181.7 | 165.3 | Montana St (3-2/144) |
| 15 | Patriot (8) | 18-21 (462) | 2.25 | 13-16 (448) | 197.4 | 218.7 | Lehigh (5-0/129) |
| 16 | FCS Indies (2) | 6-4 (600) | 3.00 | 6-4 (600) | 199.5 | 216.5 | Sacred Heart (4-1/176) |
| 17 | Colonial (14) | 29-39 (426) | 2.07 | 18-28 (391) | 202.8 | 207.4 | New Hampshire (3-2/156) |
| 18 | Southern (9) | 14-27 (341) | 1.56 | 7-20 (259) | 205.3 | 186.2 | Mercer (3-1/152) |
| 19 | Southland (10) | 19-27 (413) | 1.90 | 16-24 (400) | 210.4 | 166.3 | Southeastern (3-2/151) |
| 20 | MEAC (6) | 15-16 (484) | 2.50 | 15-16 (484) | 210.8 | 210.2 | Delaware St (3-2/173) |
| 21 | Pioneer (11) | 24-24 (500) | 2.18 | 20-20 (500) | 211.5 | 220.5 | Presbyterian (5-0/147) |
| 22 | Big South/ Ohio Valley (9) | 15-26 (366) | 1.67 | 11-22 (333) | 218.4 | 183.0 | Tennessee Tech (4-0/136) |
| 23 | SWAC (12) | 22-31 (415) | 1.83 | 12-21 (364) | 220.1 | 199.8 | Alabama St (3-1/150) |
| 24 | Northeast (9) | 12-32 (273) | 1.33 | 8-28 (222) | 231.6 | 193.1 | Mercyhurst (1-4/202) |
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One of the ways to parse the GCR is to look at the Top x and Bottom x by various categories. I thought it would be fun to look at those at the end of each month by League (Core 4, Group of 5, and FCS). First, the Top 25 in each group from 1 to 25. Each team will be shown with their overall rank for comparative purposes.
| Rank | Core 4 (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, Notre Dame) – 68 teams | Group of 5 (American, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, Sun, UCONN) – 68 teams | FCS (Big Sky, BSOV, CAA, FCS Indies, Ivy, MEAC, MVC, NEC, Patriot, Pioneer, SWAC, SoCon, Southland, UAC) – 129 teams |
| 1 | Indiana (5-0/1) | Memphis (5-0/21) | Harvard (2-0/104) |
| 2 | Ohio St (4-0/2) | North Texas (5-0/27) | North Dakota St (4-0/113) |
| 3 | Oregon (5-0/3) | Old Dominion (3-1/31) | Tarleton (5-0/122) |
| 4 | Louisville (4-0/4) | Navy (4-0/32) | South Dakota St (4-0/128) |
| 5 | Southern Cal (4-1/5) | James Madison (3-1/38) | Lehigh (5-0/129) |
| 6 | Texas Tech (4-0/6) | Tulane (4-1/39) | Brown (1-1/133) |
| 7 | Oklahoma (4-0/7) | LA Tech (4-1/42) | Tennessee Tech (4-0/136) |
| 8 | Vanderbilt (5-0/8) | Southern Miss (3-2/53) | Dartmouth (2-0/138) |
| 9 | Iowa St (5-0/9) | Texas St (3-1/55) | Austin Peay (3-2/140) |
| 10 | Michigan (3-1/10) | South Florida (3-1/56) | Yale (2-0/141) |
| 11 | Mississippi (5-0/11) | San Diego St (3-1/57) | West Georgia (5-0/143) |
| 12 | Texas A&M (4-0/12) | Boise St (3-1/58) | Montana St (3-2/144) |
| 13 | Miami FL (4-0/13) | New Mexico (3-1/59) | Montana (4-0/146) |
| 14 | Arizona St (4-1/14) | Fresno St (4-1/60) | Presbyterian (5-0/147) |
| 15 | BYU (4-0/15) | East Carolina (3-2/62) | Illinois St (3-1/148) |
| 16 | Illinois (4-1/16) | Washington St (3-2/63) | North Dakota (2-2/149) |
| 17 | Virginia (4-1/17) | Delaware (3-1/64) | Alabama St (3-1/150) |
| 18 | Maryland (4-0/18) | UNLV (4-0/67) | Southeastern (3-2/151) |
| 19 | Alabama (3-1/19) | ULM (3-1/69) | Mercer (3-1/152) |
| 20 | Utah (4-1/20) | Toledo (3-2/72) | S Illinois (3-1/153) |
| 21 | Houston (4-0/22) | W Kentucky (4-1/75) | New Hampshire (3-2/156) |
| 22 | Georgia Tech (5-0/23) | Ohio (3-2/76) | Lamar (3-1/157) |
| 23 | Missouri (5-0/24) | Utah St (3-2/77) | Idaho (2-3/158) |
| 24 | TCU (3-1/25) | Rice (3-2/82) | UC Davis (3-1/159) |
| 25 | Notre Dame (2-2/26) | UCONN (3-2/83) | Jackson St (3-1/160) |
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And now the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the worst teams in each league, from 10 to 1 (worst team at the bottom of the list) with the overall ranking included.
| Rank | Core 4 (see above) | Group of 5 (see above) | FCS (see above) |
| 10 | Arkansas (2-3/85) | Nevada (1-3/131) | Norfolk St (1-4/256) |
| 9 | North Carolina (2-2/87) | Ball St (1-3/132) | Florida A&M (1-3/257) |
| 8 | Clemson (1-3/91) | Colorado St (1-3/135) | Davidson (1-3/258) |
| 7 | Virginia Tech (2-3/95) | Liberty (1-4/137) | Mississippi Valley (0-4/259) |
| 6 | Northwestern (2-2/96) | E Michigan (1-4/139) | North Carolina A&T (1-4/260) |
| 5 | West Virginia (2-3/101) | Sam Houston (0-4/142) | Fordham (1-4/261) |
| 4 | Florida (1-3/107) | Akron (1-4/145) | Tennessee Martin (1-4/262) |
| 3 | Boston College (1-3/109) | Charlotte (1-3/154) | St Francis (0-5/263) |
| 2 | Oklahoma St (1-3/125) | Middle Tennessee (1-4/155) | Murray St (0-4/264) |
| 1 | UCLA (0-4/134) | UMASS (0-4/178) | Samford (0-5/265) |
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That’s it for today. September flew by and October is likely to be separation month as conference games are now the norm. Thank you for reading and especially for sharing with others. Until next time, JoJo and G
