Atlantic Coast Convos 2013 College Football Top 25 Rankings: Week 10

Alabama, Like Oregon & Florida State, Looked Great in This Weekend’s Win

Sure, the upsets seemed to cool down this weekend, but changes all around in the top 25 just the same. As much as we all seem settled in these teams playing in the season’s top postseason games, we also can’t forget the fact that November also usually sees some seismic shifts. Missouri (and others) will tell you that one loss alters the course of a season, so given that, we’ll obviously keep watching to see what happens next.

Completely disagree with the way in which these teams are ordered? Believe that you’re better at ranking teams that have yet to play a game? Share your thoughts/gripes/manifestos in the comments.

Atlantic Coast Convos 2013 Top 25 (Week 10)

1. Florida State Seminoles (7-0) (Last: 1)

2. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0) (Last: 2)

3. Oregon Ducks (8-0) (Last: 3)

4. Ohio State Buckeyes (8-0) (Last: 4)

5. Stanford Cardinal (7-1) (Last: 6)

6. Baylor Bears (7-0) (Last: 8)

7. Miami Hurricanes (7-0) (Last: 7)

8. Clemson Tigers (7-1) (Last: 10)

9. Auburn Tigers (7-1) (Last: 14)

10. Missouri Tigers (7-1) (Last: 5)

Hypothetical College Football Playoffs 2013: Week 9

If the College Football Playoff Happened This Season, Here’s Who We’d Be Watching…

The dream of a playoff has turned into a reality (immediately following the 2014 season), so this realistic-but-still-hypothetical-for-another-year feature actually has some outside guidelines to follow: four teams, two semifinal spots and then a championship game. We currently have no clue how teams will be determined, how polls will be released, or a large majority of the individuals who will ultimately decide who’s in and who’s out.

So with that in mind, we’re going with the BCS rankings (projected by BCSGuru where necessary), for lack of an on-hand committee to spit out a detailed list. We’ll also fill in the major bowl games also slated to be part of the playoff structure. Additionally, for our own enjoyment, you’ll find a 16-team hypothetical tournament below, too. Just because it’s too much fun not to think about.

If the Four-Team Playoff Started This Year…

Rose Bowl (semifinal): #2 Florida State vs. #3 Oregon

Sugar Bowl (semifinal): #1 Alabama vs. #4 Ohio State

National Championship: #1 Alabama over #2 Florida State

Orange Bowl: Clemson vs. Missouri

Cotton Bowl: Baylor vs. Fresno State

Fiesta Bowl: Stanford vs. Texas Tech

Chick-fil-a Bowl: Miami vs. Auburn

A lot’s changed here: a new national champ, new teams occupying most of the top bowls, and a bunch of very intriguing matchups, plus ACC and SEC dominance in full force. All of that will happen when half of the top 10 loses in a single week. Alabama v. Florida State is the National Championship game we’d all pay to see. FSU-Oregon is the semi-final we’d pay an incredible amount to attend. For the first time in this hypothetical setup, we have a slew of appealing games that remind us why we wanted this setup in the first place…

If There Was a 16 Team Playoff…

Atlantic Coast Convos 2013 College Football Top 25 Rankings: Week 9

After Beating Clemson on National TV, Florida State Lays Claim to the Nation’s No. 1 Ranking

Upset Saturday impacted nearly every conference in the country and completed rattled the rankings as we knew them. And now with the National Championship chase in full swing, each and every contest going forward will be under the microscope as we try and figure out the top two teams (for the last time).

Completely disagree with the way in which these teams are ordered? Believe that you’re better at ranking teams that have yet to play a game? Share your thoughts/gripes/manifestos in the comments.

Atlantic Coast Convos 2013 Top 25 (Week 9)

1. Florida State Seminoles (6-0) (Last: 5)

2. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-0) (Last: 1)

3. Oregon Ducks (7-0) (Last: 2)

4. Ohio State Buckeyes (7-0) (Last: 4)

5. Missouri Tigers (7-0) (Last: 14)

6. Stanford Cardinal (6-1) (Last: 12)

7. Miami Hurricanes (6-0) (Last: 9)

8. Baylor Bears (6-0) (Last: 13)

9. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-0) (Last: 16)

10. Clemson Tigers (6-1) (Last: 3)

Florida State vs. Clemson Preview: Why the Tigers Will Win

In Part I of Our Extended FSU-Clemson Preview, We Explain Why Clemson Will Win

(Ed Note:) Saturday’s matchup between Florida State and Clemson is obviously a big deal. And since this is an ACC blog, it only makes sense that we discuss the game as much as possible. We’ve done so all week, but now it’s almost game day, and that means in-depth previews. I gave my short thoughts yesterday, but we want to dive in further. To help, I enlisted the assistance of none other than fellow ACC afficionado Hokie Mark — whom you know from his contributions here as well as his own site, ACCFootballRx. In this battle of ACC powers, he’ll be arguing in favor of Clemson, while I’ll present the reasons why Florida State should emerge victorious. Enjoy!

***

This is the week: the Game of the Century (at least for the ACC). Florida State vs. Clemson. The winner likely takes the Atlantic Division, probably the ACC, maybe even a shot at the BCS title. To say this game is huge is an understatement!

Yes, I know that Florida State is the Las Vegas favorite, and yes, I’m aware that some of the computer models like CFBTN and others are also picking the ‘Noles. I’m still going to pick the Tigers, and I’ll tell you why…

First, Clemson is at home. In the recent history of this series, the home teams are 6-0. In fact, FSU has not won in Clemson since 2001 — 12 years ago. Quite honestly, the Seminoles are a different team on the road. At home the ‘Noles win by an average score of 41-11, but on the road, the margin drops to 32-22. Meanwhile, the Tigers have only lost one home game in two-and-a-half seasons (South Carolina). Advantage: Clemson.

Another factor is big game experience at quarterback. Tiger QB Tajh Boyd has been in some real battles over the years: Auburn (2011, 2012), Virginia Tech (2011, twice), LSU (2012), Georgia (2013) — not to mention this is Boyd’s third FSU game as starting QB. By contrast, Jameis Winston‘s toughest road game of his career was probably the game at Boston College; the most hostile environment Winston has played in so far? Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. Advantage: Clemson.

Atlantic Coast Convos 2013 College Football Top 25 Rankings: Week 8

Missouri’s Upset Over Georgia is One of Several Big Wins That Shook Up This Week’s Polls

Finally, a real college football weekend! Upsets all over the place this past Saturday, and as a result, we’ve seen a fairly radical shake-up in the rankings. Plenty of season still left to go of course, but the wheels are finally moving toward figuring out who are the best teams in the country.

Completely disagree with the way in which these teams are ordered? Believe that you’re better at ranking teams that have yet to play a game? Share your thoughts/gripes/manifestos in the comments.

Atlantic Coast Convos 2013 Top 25 (Week 8)

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-0) (Last: 1)

2. Oregon Ducks (6-0) (Last: 2)

3. Clemson Tigers (6-0) (Last: 4)

4. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-0) (Last: 5)

5. Florida State Seminoles (5-0) (Last: 6)

6. Louisville Cardinals (6-0) (Last: 8)

7. Texas A&M Aggies (5-1) (Last: 9)

8. LSU Tigers (6-1) (Last: 10)

9. Miami Hurricanes (5-0) (Last: 11)

10. UCLA Bruins (5-0) (Last: 12)

 

College Football 2012 Offensive Scoring Efficiency Ratings

Oregon’s Offense Was High-Powered in 2012, But Did It Score More Efficiently Than Others?

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been tossing around an idea: what does scoring efficiency look like for every college football team, and does that also correlate to victories? Admittedly, it’s not overly complicated, but nonetheless, certainly took a good deal of number crunching (aka, simple math) to come up with some figures. Additionally, while putting this all together, I thought it would be interesting to see if teams that ran or passed the ball more saw a higher scoring efficiency rate, higher win total or both.

You can feel free to peruse the full data set for all 124 FBS schools here (color-coded for conference affiliation) in this handy Google doc. Included are the total offensive plays run during the 2012 season, total points scored, the efficiency rating (we’ll discuss below), run percentage, pass percentage and total victories.

The crux of this exercise is the scoring efficiency metric, which is actually a pretty simple points-scored-per-play figure. Basically, we’re assuming that efficiency is scoring more points in less plays, while inefficiency is scoring less points in more plays. With that definition in mind, the top 10 most efficient scoring offenses were as follows:

SCHOOL	PLAYS	POINTS	EFF.
Oregon	1059	645	0.609065156
Alabama	898	542	0.603563474
Kansas State	841	505	0.600475624
Louisiana Tech	1054	618	0.586337761
Oklahoma State	1014	594	0.585798817
Florida State	941	550	0.584484591
Georgia	924	529	0.572510823
Texas A&M	1025	578	0.563902439
North Carolina	898	487	0.542316258
Baylor	1072	578	0.539179104

Not a whole lot of surprise here. Some of the nation’s most highly regarded offenses (Oregon, Texas A&M, Baylor, Louisiana Tech) are all present, though admittedly, I’m a bit surprised to see Florida State and Georgia. While I wouldn’t exactly call Alabama an offensive machine, the have a knack for brutal efficiency in every aspect of the game, so it should not come as a shock to see them listed right under the Ducks’ attack, despite running 150 less plays in one more game than Oregon. Also of note, every one of these teams tallied at least eight wins last season, and six had 11 or more. In fact, when looking at the full, sorted efficiency list, the first 25 schools all had at least seven wins on the season, with the first losing team being no. 26, Tennessee (AIR IT OUT, TYLER BRAY!)

And what about the least efficient scoring teams in the country? Your bottom 10:

ACC Football Top 25 Players of 2012: #3, DeAndre Hopkins

Clemson’s DeAndre Hopkins Was Among the ACC’s Biggest Surprises During a Record-Setting 2012

As part of our 2012 season review, we’re counting down the top 25 players in the ACC this season, from no. 25 to no. 1. Obviously these lists are always completely subjective — and thus completely bulletproof, obviously — so feel free to weigh in with your own thoughts in the comments, too.

No. 3, DeAndre Hopkins, WR/Clemson (Preseason Rank: NR)

This season was supposed to all about a Clemson receiver differentiating himself from the rest of the nation’s wideouts. But who knew that receiver would be Hopkins, rather than his highly-touted counterpart, Sammy Watkins? From game one though, Hopkins showed himself up to the task of being the Tigers’ top option. First against Auburn, 13 catches and one touchdown, then six catches for three touchdowns versus Ball State — whether Watkins was in the lineup or not, DeAndre Hopkins was a force from game-to-game, scoring at least one touchdown in all but one contest. The junior set Clemson records for touchdown catches in a season (18, in just 13 games) and receiving yards in a season (1,405), while turning himself into one of the nation’s most talked-about offense weapons and now a potential first-round NFL Draft pick. Yes, unfortunately, ‘Nuk will forgo his senior season and a sure-fire shot at a National Championship and potential Heisman Trophy buzz, in exchange for the pros. Where he’s selected is still up in the air, but wherever it may be, they’re inheriting a smart receiver who still has plenty more growth ahead of him.