2017 NCAA Playoff Points Rankings: Week 10

I'm back on my normal schedule with these posts, which is good because there was chaos again this past week.

As I did last week and all season to date, on Monday I go through what each team pulled off over the weekend, then run the numbers comparing every conference to each other. We've for the most part settled into a pecking order, but some teams have better metrics than others. I'll look into team rankings after the conference ones.

If you need a refresher on what each score stands for and how they get computed, you can view that back in my season introductory post.



American Athletic
Wins: 4.83 (7th)
PP1: 15.67 (6th)
PP2: 9.33 (5th)
aPP: 5.00 (5th)

ACC
Wins: 5.00 (T-4th)
PP1: 17.93 (4th)
PP2: 10.54 (4th)
aPP: 7.36 (4th)

Big Ten
Wins: 5.29 (3rd)
PP1: 21.07 (1st)
PP2: 11.77 (1st)
aPP: 11.14 (2nd)

Big XII
Wins: 5.00 (T-4th)
PP1: 16.10 (5th)
PP2: 8.12 (6th)
aPP: 4.00 (6th)

Conference USA
Wins: 4.14 (11th)
PP1: 10.50 (T-9th)
PP2: 5.45 (10th)
aPP: -6.50 (10th)

Independents
Wins: 4.75 (8th)
PP1: 15.0-0 (7th)
PP2: 7.44 (7th)
aPP: -2.00 (7th)

MAC
Wins: 4.25 (10th)
PP1: 10.50 (T-9th)
PP2: 6.44 (8th)
aPP: -5.83 (9th)

Mountain West
Wins: 4.50 (9th)
PP1: 12.83 (8th)
PP2: 5.75 (9th)
aPP: -4.33 (8th)

Pac-12
Wins: 5.50 (2nd)
PP1: 20.75 (2nd)
PP2: 11.19 (2nd)
aPP: 9.00 (3rd)

SEC
Wins: 5.57 (1st)
PP1: 20.50 (3rd)
PP2: 10.71 (3rd)
aPP: 12.36 (1st)

Sun Belt
Wins: 5.00 (T-4th)
PP1: 8.08 (11th)
PP2: 4.74 (11th)
aPP: -12.42 (11th)

To see the updated spreadsheet, click here.

Photo by Gregory Shamus (Getty Images)

I think the SEC provides a good summation of what's going on. They beat up on teams out of weak conferences like the Sun Belt and Conference USA, which gives them the best win average in the country, but their First Degree and Second Degree Playoff Points are a little off the lead. The Big Ten, meanwhile. doesn't quite have the same win total, but they lead the country in First Degree and Second Degree Playoff Points. The independents are basically being kept afloat by Notre Dame (though Army is no slouch). I bring this up every week, but I need to do so again. Somehow, the Sun Belt is tied for fourth in average number of wins, but they're in last place by a mile in every playoff point metric. Football is weird.

I do have to note that for the second week in a row, I forgot to make some adjustments in the Adjusted Playoff Points metric. Last week I forgot to update the losses in the MAC. Those adjustments have been made, and thus every team should be accurate now.

Photo by Crystal Vander Weit (Decatur Daily)

We sit on a total of five undefeated teams, and all of them should be on track for an appearance in the Death to the BCS Playoffs should they stay that way, though with that said, two of them are Georgia and Alabama, and would play each other in the SEC title game should both run the table. But Playoff Points are important, so I need to look at the top five in each category. Alabama has taken the lead in PP1 with 42 points, Georgia and Clemson are tied for second with 41 apiece, Notre Dame has 39, and USC rounds out the top five with 37 points. In PP2, Notre Dame leads the country with 19.75 points, Iowa is next at 19.67, Michigan State is in third with 17.71, Tulsa of all teams is in fourth with 17.50, and Clemson rounds out the top five with 16.88 points. Finally, over in aPP, Alabama is in the lead with 42 points, then Georgia with 41, followed by Notre Dame at 39, with Clemson and Wisconsin tying for fourth with 36 points.

So, with all of this information in mind, I'm going to head to the lab. This afternoon, I will emerge with the latest mock bracket for the Death to the BCS Playoffs!