2014 NCAA Playoff Points Rankings: Week 8

I'm back on a normal schedule this week after pushing everything back a day last week. And of course, it was another week with some chaos, which I love.

I actually got to sit and watch a really good chunk of a college football game for the first time probably since my time at WROK in Rockford when I was at the board for Illinois football. KSU-Oklahoma turned out to be a pretty good game, and I flipped over a bit to watch parts of the first half of Baylor-West Virginia. That was really all I got to see, so most of the rest of the day any info I got was from scoreboard watching.

In the grand scheme of things though, I want to run a playoff by numbers, since I don't have the time to watch multiple games on a Saturday usually. That's what this post is for.

Most of this weekend's action was in-conference, but it always will have an impact on the Playoff Points situation. Last week saw little change in the rankings, but the playoff bracket changed pretty dramatically. Let's get to that later though.

Here's a refresher on how the Playoff Points metric works. Let's see how the Week 8 slate changed the conference outlooks.


American Athletic
Wins: 2.73 (10th; LW: 10th)
PP1: 4.64 (10th; LW: 9th)
PP2: 2.38 (10th; LW: 9th)

ACC
Wins: 4.36 (T-2nd; LW: 4th)
PP1: 12.36 (2nd; LW: 5th)
PP2: 6.69 (2nd; LW: 4th)

Big 10
Wins: 4.36 (T-2nd; LW: 2nd)
PP1: 11.79 (4th; LW: 4th)
PP2: 5.85 (5th; LW: 5th)

Big XII
Wins: 4.10 (5th; LW: 6th)
PP1: 10.70 (6th; LW: 6th)
PP2: 6.67 (3rd; LW: 3rd)

Conference USA
Wins: 3.38 (8th; LW: 8th)
PP1: 7.46 (8th; LW: 7th)
PP2: 4.63 (7th; LW: 6th)

Independents
Wins: 3.75 (6th; LW: 5th)
PP1: 10.75 (5th; LW: 3rd)
PP2: 3.02 (9th; LW: 8th)

MAC
Wins: 3.15 (9th; LW: 9th)
PP1: 5.92 (9th; LW: 10th)
PP2: 3.56 (8th; LW: 10th)

Mountain West
Wins: 3.58 (7th; LW: 7th)
PP1: 8.17 (7th; LW: 8th)
PP2: 4.68 (6th; LW: 7th)

Pac 12
Wins: 4.33 (4th; LW: 3rd)
PP1: 12.25 (3rd; LW: 2nd)
PP2: 6.50 (4th; LW: 2nd)

SEC
Wins: 4.71 (1st; LW: 1st)
PP1: 15.14 (1st; LW: 1st)
PP2: 7.38 (1st; LW: 1st)

Sun Belt
Wins: 2.64 (11th; LW: 11th)
PP1: 3.45 (11th; LW: 11th)
PP2: 1.25 (11th; LW: 11th)

Note: even though all numbers are rounded to the nearest hundredth, the average win totals for the ACC and Big Ten are exactly the same.

Photo from USA TODAY Sports (No photographer credited)

In the midst of the chaos, the math is starting to get easier. The spreadsheet containing all my data has had a flaw in some columns where I need actual data, otherwise it divides by zero and by some miracle I don't create a black hole. Only one conference has this problem now: the American Athletic, only because SMU has yet to win a game. Every other team now has won at least once this season, so I only need to use a calculator once at most to compile numbers. You can check the link above to see my work, and let me know if there happen to be any discrepancies.

Photo by Brett Deering (Getty Images)

At the other end of the spectrum, we're down to four undefeated teams at the FBS level. So my question to you, dear readers, is this: Who should make the playoffs? I'm not talking about the College Football Playoff, because only four teams is not enough. The ten conference "champions" all make it automatically, but where should they be seeded? And what about the six at-large berths to complete the field? Who else should make it? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll see if there's enough of a factual case.


Check back later this afternoon, as I run the numbers as well as any comments you may have, and I'll come back with the third version of the Death to the BCS Playoffs.