In the past 10 years, only one team has won a national title when either their offensive or defensive efficiency was below 70. Also, no team has won a championship with an overall efficiency less than 80.
| Year | Team | Offense | Defense | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Texas | 92.0 | 85.0 | 94.8 |
| 2006 | Florida | 76.1 | 78.0 | 84.6 |
| 2007 | LSU | 75.0 | 75.8 | 80.8 |
| 2008 | Florida | 91.4 | 86.4 | 95.4 |
| 2009 | Alabama | 77.3 | 89.9 | 89.3 |
| 2010 | Auburn | 92.4 | 57.2 | 84.0 |
| 2011 | Alabama | 80.4 | 94.5 | 92.5 |
| 2012 | Alabama | 90.3 | 91.2 | 95.4 |
| 2013 | Florida State | 93.5 | 89.2 | 96.1 |
| 2014 | Ohio State | 87.5 | 74.9 | 87.5 |
The team with the better overal efficiency did not always win, but there are two times when a team with an overall efficiency less than 80 made it to a championship or playoff game. Those teams didn't fair too well.
| Year | team | offense | defense | overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | USC | 95.8 | 78.7 | 94.1 |
| 2006 | Ohio State | 83.3 | 82.1 | 89.6 |
| 2007 | Ohio State | 67.2 | 82.5 | 82.3 |
| 2008 | Oklahoma | 95.3 | 79.2 | 93.8 |
| 2009 | Texas | 67.4 | 89.1 | 86.2 |
| 2010 | Oregon | 81.2 | 83.2 | 87.2 |
| 2011 | LSU | 76.6 | 90.2 | 92.1 |
| 2012 | Notre Dame | 67.9 | 81.2 | 77.8 |
| 2013 | Auburn | 83.5 | 66.8 | 82.3 |
| 2014 | Oregon | 91.3 | 69.9 | 88.7 |
| 2014 | Alabama | 84.9 | 82.5 | 87.3 |
| 2014 | Florida State | 76.3 | 62.9 | 74.8 |
If we take a look at team efficiencies thus far this season, only Clemson or Oklahoma would continue the trend, however, I think our offensive efficiency is deceivingly low due to the QB situation. Obviously, there is still a lot of football left to play and the efficiency numbers will change.
| Team | Offense | defense | overall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 66.3 | 92.8 | 87.4 |
| Clemson | 81.4 | 87.1 | 87.0 |
| Oklahoma | 82.4 | 83.1 | 86.7 |
| Notre Dame | 86.5 | 61.7 | 83.6 |
| Baylor | 91.9 | 59.6 | 83.1 |
| Ohio State | 63.0 | 82.6 | 81.4 |
| North Carolina | 85.4 | 60.5 | 80.5 |
| Oklahoma State | 75.0 | 72.1 | 79.0 |
| Florida | 59.6 | 83.2 | 78.8 |
| Stanford | 80.6 | 64.5 | 77.6 |
Source: http://espn.go.com/college-football/statistics/teamratings/_/tab/efficiency
