Ohio State is still #2 in the composite computer polls (http://www.masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm) but this week I wanted to take a look at something interesting.

Advanced stats are something that have been around a long while but haven't really been taken seriously until recently.  Think of it similar to the concepts around moneyball, where there are certain characteristics that when present typically lead to wins.  

S&P+ is one of these types of advanced statistics that takes algorithms based on five traits that have shown to be correlated to wins in college football.  They are: efficiency, explosiveness, field position, finishing drives, and turnovers.  They are defined and broken down with how they are evaluated here (http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ncaa).  The rankings are also on that page.

The rankings this week are as follows:

1) Clemson

2) Michigan

3) Alabama

4) Baylor

5) Ohio State

6) Texas Christian

 7) Florida State

8) Oklahoma

9) West Virginia

10) Louisiana State

The interesting thing for Ohio State is two fold.  First, they jumped 23 spots, this week alone.  Much of that has to do with the fact that we aren't turning the ball over, and we are extremely efficient especially in the redzone the past two weeks.  I don't think it should be overlooked that there has been a sizeable change in the past two weeks that has seemed to help our advanced stats, and on the scoreboard.

For reference, last year Ohio State was 1st in S&P+ both offensively and defensively.  Overall, we were followed by Oregon and Alabama.  So these ranking are tied to a degree of correlation of high levels of success not just last year, but many years.

Just found it to be interesting, and thought it was better than just talking about JT and Cardale for the entire week.