2014 NCAA NCSS Rankings: Week 11

MACtion is on its way!

November is one of the more underrated times of year when it comes to football because of the fact that there are games just about every day. I couldn't remember at what point during the season it really took off, but we're here today. After only two MAC games last week, there are a ton on weeknights. I told my wife about it and I don't think she was too happy about it, but we have other stuff going on, so I probably won't be watching much.

Anyway, this spreads out the sheer number of meaningful games around the week, but again, most of the games at this point are in conference. Last week, I think I counted four non-conference games. This will probably be the case until certain SEC teams do their unforgivable late-season cupcake binges that I keep ranting about.

Speaking of which, let's see what changes happen this week.

1. Conference USA (0.00, 6.15; LW: 1). No change.
2. MAC (0.00, 6.08; LW: 2). No change.
3. Mountain West (0.09, 6.00; LW: 3). San Diego State hosts Idaho.
4. American Athletic (0.18, 5.82; LW: 4). Connecticut visits Army.
5. Sun Belt (0.18, 5.27; LW: 5). Idaho visits San Diego State.
6. Big 10 (0.00, 4.21; LW: 6). No change.
7. ACC (0.00, 3.36; LW: 7). No change.
8. Pac 12 (0.09, 3.17; LW: 9). Arizona State hosts Notre Dame.
9. Big XII (0.00, 3.10; LW: 8). No change.
10. SEC (-0.14, 2.79; LW: 10). Ole Miss and Mississippi State host FCS teams.

See? Look at the to so-called "Best Division in Football". These guys are cowards. I can understand, and to some degree justify playing FCS teams. I penalize their non-conference numbers because it doesn't help your resume. I can live with it if you play them early in the season. In November? Unacceptable. And this is with a couple weeks left before the even more unforgivable dessert binges. They're coming. Trust me.

The independents, were they their own conference, would have an NCSS of 15, good for tops in the nation, though that number is inflated by the Notre Dame-Navy game from last week. If you want to see exact numbers for each school, you can view my spreadsheet with all the data here.

MACtion kicks off the Week 11 action tonight, with Bowling Green-Akron and Toledo-Kent State opening the slate at 7:00 tonight. If past history is any indication, it will also mean shootouts galore.

Good luck to your teams this week! I'll be back on Monday with a look at the weekend's action and how it impacts the Death to the BCS Playoffs.