2015 NCAA Playoff Points: Week 8

Sweet, sweet chaos.

Two more undefeated teams fell out of that realm, leaving us with 12 for the nation eight weeks in. I was hoping that this week would be when I could start doing mock brackets, but with the way the 12 are distributed, I would still be forced to leave an undefeated team out. Unfortunate.

Instead, I'll stick with updating Playoff Points and leave it at that and NCSS rankings for now. I'd have to assume next week I can start looking a little deeper.

If you need a refresher on how Playoff Points work, you can refer back to my Week 1 post. With a little bit over a month to go, here is where each conference stands.


American Athletic
Wins: 3.92 (7th)
PP1: 8.00 (7th)
PP2: 2.34 (9th)

ACC
Wins: 4.29 (6th)
PP1: 10.21 (5th)
PP2: 4.43 (5th)

Big Ten
Wins: 4.79 (1st)
PP1: 14.79 (2nd)
PP2: 6.36 (3rd)

Big XII
Wins: 4.30 (5th)
PP1: 10.10 (6th)
PP2: 4.07 (6th)

Conference USA
Wins: 3.50 (8th)
PP1: 5.38 (10th)
PP2: 1.63 (T-10th)

Independents
Wins: 4.67 (3rd)
PP1: 13.00 (4th)
PP2: 5.61 (4th)

MAC
Wins: 3.46 (9th)
PP1: 6.62 (9th)
PP2: 3.02 (8th)

Mountain West
Wins: 3.42 (10th)
PP1: 6.67 (8th)
PP2: 3.86 (7th)

Pac-12
Wins: 4.42 (4th)
PP1: 13.50 (3rd)
PP2: 7.71 (1st)

SEC
Wins: 4.71 (2nd)
PP1: 15.00 (1st)
PP2: 7.53 (2nd)

Sun Belt
Wins: 2.73 (11th)
PP1: 4.09 (11th)
PP2: 1.63 (T-10th)

Photo by USA Today Sports (photographer uncredited)

If you want to see exact numbers for each team and conference, you can view my spreadsheet here. Overall, not a ton of changes, though the SEC has taken over first place in First Degree Playoff Points, though the Big Ten is right on their heels. The Sun Belt has also climbed into a tie for last place in Second Degree Playoff Points, which is a first.

In terms of individual teams, we're really starting to see teams break away from the pack. Michigan State, Ohio State, and LSU are all tied in First Degree Playoff Points with 29 apiece, and LSU's is even more impressive given that they've only played seven games. Alabama is in the mix with 26 points, Clemson has 25, and Iowa has 24. Only having played those aforementioned seven games, LSU leads the nation in Second Degree Playoff Points as well with 12.14, USC moved up to 12 with the win over Utah (who has 11.5), and UCLA is sitting on 10.8 points.

All of these numbers, along with NCSS rankings and some computer rankings for balance will eventually go into the decision making process for the Death to the BCS Playoffs. However, I'm still not at a point where I can begin to make a mock bracket, because there would be undefeated teams left out of the mix based purely on the system. That will most likely come next week though. Tomorrow, check back for a look at the Week 9 schedule.