Eleven Warriors

I'm not sure if the Buckeyes were the luckiest team in college football. However, I do consider myself the luckiest college football fan in America. I enjoyed a season that made me laugh, cry, scream, use profanity, high five total strangers, throw things in anger, and stand cheering in my living room nearly in tears. I had the pleasure of enjoying what may possibly be my favorite season, and if I'm lucky, I'll still be around for 2013.

This is actually pulled from an article from Football Outsiders. They use some kind of formula in determining things like this. It's not an OSU slam piece at all.

I've been saying for a long time that LSU is just so friggin lucky. They're not as dominant as people think. If you're dominant, you don't need to gamble like they do. Let's look at Les Miles' record against two coaches known for their attention to detail: Urban Meyer and Nick Saban.

Against Urban, Les is 3-3.

The wins? 13 points in '06, 30 point blowout in '08, 10 points in '09. All double digits wins.

The losses: 

1) 2005 - Urban's first year. 4 point loss after Les went for it on 4th and 1 at midfield while still int he third quarter. Extended the drive and gave LSU the eventual go ahead TD.

2) 2007 - LSU scores two TDs on 4th and goal, as well as a another TD on a fake field goal, and still only wins by 4. In that game, the Les was 5-5 on 4th down conversions.

3) 2010 - the infamous "bounced" fake field goal. Never seen a luckier play in my life. Another 4 point win for Les.

Against Saban, Les is 3-4.

The wins? 6 points in '08, 9 points in '09, 21 points in '11, and 4 points this year.

The losses:

1) 2007 - John Parker Wilson fumbles at the Alabama 4 with 1 minute left in a tie game to set up a game winning TD.

2) 2010 - a reverse on 4th and 1 extends a late drive that gives LSU the go ahead TD in the 4th. Loses by 3 points.

3) 2011 - Alabama goes 2/6 on field goals. Loses by 3 points in OT.

If not for his absurd success rate in gambling, he's probably sporting a 1-5 record against Urbz and a 1-6 record against Saban. If this year's game against Alabama is any indication, coaches are catching on and his luck is running out. The longer you gamble, the more likely the House eventually wins its money back.

side note: I predicted three losses for LSU this year, but I had no idea Arkansas and Auburn would be so God-awful (and Auburn still almost won). So its up to Clemson to deliver my prediction to me.

Cincyosu, do you work for espn? Own stock in it? I mean, what's your deal. Any time anyone says anything about espn you run to the rescue and defend them and discount what the others say. Why? Espn may not go out of its way to disrespect ohio state, but they certainly don't go out of their way not to, either. Just wondering why you love espn so much as to negate any claims by our fans as there being some bias towards us from some of the fine folks at the four letter network?

makes sense to me God is clearly a BUCKEYES fan

As my old pappy used to say, "you make your own luck".

Luckiest Teams 

1. Ohio State

2. LSU

3. Stanford

4. Louisville

5. Notre Dame

Unluckiest Teams

1. Michigan State

2. Oklahoma State

3. Michigan

4. BYU

5. Cincinnati 

I've posted the comments from the insider for Ohio State and just for fun added Michigan St and Michigan since they are B1G teams. 

1. Ohio State Buckeyes (12-0)

One of our measures of overachievement is based on win expectations, a measure of a team's record as compared with its performance. Most teams play within one game of expected average wins over the course of the year, but there are outliers like the Buckeyes. According to our data, Ohio State won 2.0 more games than a team with its FEI rating against its schedule should have been expected to win. In the last five years, teams that had a mean wins performance at least two games better than expected lost an average of 2.6 more games the following year.

Urban Meyer's team can avoid that drop-off by continuing its dominant play in value drive scoring, defined as possessions that start on a team's own side of the field and cross the opponent's 30-yard line. Ohio State ranked seventh nationally in net points per value drive this season. The top ten teams in the category had a combined record of 100 wins and 18 losses against FBS teams this year. Meyer's last championship team in Florida ranked No. 1 in net points per value drive in 2008.

1. Michigan State Spartans (6-6)

The Spartans faithful may have been slightly spoiled by back-to-back double-digit winning seasons in 2010 and 2011, and a step backward in 2012 was to be expected after heavy personnel losses in key positions. But no fan base could have prepared itself for dealing with so many games slipping right through their fingers. Michigan State limped home to a .500 record overall and a 3-5 Big Ten conference record. The combined margin of defeat in those five conference games was a mere 13 points.

The defense was outstanding throughout the season, holding opponents to only 1.2 points per drive (seventh-fewest nationally), 273 yards per game (fourth-fewest nationally) and forcing three-and-outs on 46.5 percent of opponent possessions (third-best nationally). Getting opponents off the field quickly often leads to field position advantages, but MSU's anemic offense and inconsistent special teams couldn't capitalize. The Big Ten Legends division is well within reach next year if the Spartans can find even a little bit more production on offense.

3. Michigan Wolverines (8-4)

Michigan was on the lucky side of the equation last year, which was why we had identified them as a top candidate to regress in 2012. The schedule was as brutal as predicted: Michigan lost four times to teams with a combined record of 46-4, and the two losses to undefeated Notre Dame and Ohio State came by only 12 points combined. The Wolverines lost the turnover battle in both of those games (minus-6), costing Michigan 19.3 points of scoreboard value, according to our game splits analysis. Turnovers were the big boost for the Wolverines in the first year of the Brady Hoke era, and they were the critical factor preventing Michigan from turning in another double-digit winning season this year.

Michigan's defensive success has been strong in each of the last two years, ranking among the top-20 in opponent-adjusted defensive efficiency. The Wolverines were especially effective in limiting opponent big plays, giving up an "explosive drive" (possession that average at least 10 yards per play) on only 3.4 percent of opponent drives, the second-best rate in the nation behind Notre Dame.