Today, the world of college football hinges on the College Football Playoff. This piece is designed to take a closer look at the out of conference scheduling for each conference and try to settle the debate as to which conference does it the best.
With only four spots open for the CFP, one of the Power Five Conferences will be left out. One of the arguments for inclusion, or exclusion, is the strength of a team's conference.
It is great to play other Power Five schools to help bolster a conference's perceived strength, especially ranked P5 teams. It is good to compete against Football Bowl System (non-P5) competition. It is bad to schedule Football Championship Series (FCS) cupcakes. It is horrible to lose to a an FCS school.
To help sort this out, let's take a look at how the Power Five Conference did in Week 3 against their OOC opponents.
OUT OF CONFERENCE POWER RANKINGS
To determine which conference has the best out of conference schedule and performance, the following formula was used:
- 3 points for every win over a ranked opponent.
- 2 points for every win over a Power Five opponent.
- 1 point for every FBS victory.
- 0.5 point for every FCS win.
- -2 points for every FCS loss.
| RANK | CONFERENCE | TOTAL POINTS | RANKED w | P5 W | FBS W | FCS W | FCS L | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BIG TEN | 43.0 | 6 | 14 | 22 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2 | SEC | 40.5 | 9 | 16 | 10 | 5.5 | 0 | |||
| 3 | ACC (+1) | 33.5 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 4.5 | 0 | |||
| 4 | PAC-12 (-1) | 30.0 | 0 | 14 | 12 | 4 | 0 | |||
| 5 | BIG 12 | 21.0 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 3 | -2 |
3 Things The Week 3 Power Rankings
- The ACC and SEC gained the most Power Ranking Points (5.0) in Week 4.
- The Big 12 and PAC-12 (1.0) picked up the least amount of points.
- The Big Ten's dropped from 5.5 points down to 2.5 over the SEC.
| RANK | CONFERENCE | WK1 | WK2 | WK3 | WK4 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BIG TEN | 18.0 | 31.5 | 41.0 | 43.0 | ||||||
| 2 | SEC | 17.5 | 27.5 | 35.5 | 40.5 | ||||||
| 3 | ACC | 12.0 | 21.0 | 28.5 | 33.5 | ||||||
| 4 | PAC-12 | 12.5 | 20.5 | 29.0 | 30.0 | ||||||
| 5 | BIG 12 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 20.0 | 21.0 |
The Big Ten has been the top conference in OOC play for the first four weeks of the 2017 season. This is the first week the Big Ten did not extend its lead. For the fourth straight week, the ACC and PAC-12 swapped positions.
The power rankings will be updated each Sunday.*
*Or the day my schedule allows me to work on this.
Maryland was the only Power Five team to lose to a non P5 out of conference opponent.
| CONFERENCE | OVERALL RECORD | W% | p5 RECORD | P5W% | fbs RECORD | FBS W% | fcs RECORD | fcs W% | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC | 29–6 | .829 | 5–6 | .455 | 13–0 | 1.000 | 11–0 | 1.000 | ||||||
| PAC-12 | 27–7 | .794 | 6–2 | .750 | 13–5 | .722 | 8–0 | 1.000 | ||||||
| BIG TEN | 31–10 | .756 | 7–5 | .583 | 22–5 | .815 | 2–0 | 1.000 | ||||||
| ACC | 27–10 | .730 | 5–8 | .385 | 13–2 | .867 | 9–0 | 1.000 | ||||||
| BIG 12 | 19–10 | .655 | 4–6 | .400 | 9–3 | .750 | 6–1 | .857 |
OVERALL RECORD CRIB NOTES
- The SEC, PAC-12 and Big 12 had their overall record winning percentages increase. The SEC had the largest increase (16 points).
- With 5 wins, the ACC earned the most out of conference victories in Week 4.
- The ACC and Big Ten were the only conferences to have their winning percentages drop. The Big Ten fell 13 points and the ACC 3 points.
- None of the teams in the Power Five conferences played an FCS opponent.
- With a 2–1 record, the Big Ten had the worst Week 4 out of conference performance.
- The game between LSU and Syracuse was the only OOC game between Power Five teams.
- The P5 conferences went 11–2 against FBS opponents and are now 70–15 (.824).
- The ACC has played the most out of conference Power Five (13), but the Big Ten has faced the most FBS schools (27).
- Against inferior FCS competition, the P5 is 36–1 (.973).
After four weeks, the PAC-12 is the only conference not to face a ranked OOC opponent.
| CONFERENCE | OOC RECORD WHEN RANKED | W % | RECORD AGAINST OOC RANKED OPPONENT | W% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIG TEN | 12–1 | .923 | 2–4 | .333 | ||
| SEC (+1) | 12–2 | .857 | 3–3 | .500 | ||
| ACC (-1) | 9–2 | .818 | 2–4 | .333 | ||
| PAC-12 | 9–2 | .818 | 0–0 | .000 | ||
| BIG 12 | 11–3 | .786 | 1–2 | .333 |
Top 25 Crib Notes
- The Big Ten's ranked teams have the best out of conference record. The only loss belongs to Ohio State.
- In Week 4, the ACC's ranked teams went 3–0 against out of conference teams.
- None of the Top 25 teams played against a ranked out of conference opponent.
- This week, none of the ranked P5 teams lost to an OOC foe.
