2017 NCAA NCSS Rankings: Week 5

We're onto Week 5 and the final week of September, which means conference play is beginning in earnest.

That makes my weekly posts regarding NCSS rankings so much easier, because there are only a few games every week that I need to mention, because only a few are non-conference and thus apply to what's going on.

If you need a refresher on how this metric works, you can view that in my season introduction post. Below is each conference ranked by average NCSS score, with a mention of which games affected the ranking.

1. MAC (1.00, 6.00; LW: 1). Central Michigan visits Boston College, Ohio visits UMass, Eastern Michigan visits Kentucky, Miami (Ohio) visits Notre Dame, Northern Illinois visits San Diego State.
2. Conference USA (0.57, 5.00; LW: 3). Rice visits Pittsburgh, UTEP visits Army, Louisiana Tech hosts South Alabama, Marshall visits Cincinnati.
3. Sun Belt (0.83, 4.83; LW: 5). New Mexico State visits Arkansas, Texas State visits Wyoming, Troy visits LSU, South Alabama visits Louisiana Tech.
4. Mountain West (0.25, 4.75; LW: 2). Utha State hosts BYU, Wyoming hosts Texas State, San Diego State hosts Northern Illinois.
5. Big Ten (0.00, 4.14; LW: 4). No change.
6. American Athletic (0.08, 3.67; LW: 7). Cincinnati hosts Marshall.
7. Big 12 (0.00, 3.60; LW: 6). No change.
8. Pac 12 (0.00, 2.92; LW: 8). No change.
9. ACC (0.07, 2.86; LW: 9). Pittsburgh hosts Rice, Boston College hosts Central Michigan, Louisville hosts FCS Murray State.
10. SEC (0.23, 2.43; LW: 10). Arkansas hosts New Mexico State, Kentucky hosts Eastern Michigan, LSU hosts Troy.

To see the updated spreadsheet, click here.

We only had one FCS game on the docket for this coming week, and every conference gained points. We still don't have any disqualifications other than the permanent bans for Penn State and Baylor, which is good.

I didn't mention bye weeks, which go down as zeroes in the spreadsheet and are represented in purple to differentiate from conference games, which are also worth zero points for the purposes of NCSS rankings. Overall though, the MAC takes firm command of the lead in this metric, as the Group of Five has all but consolidated its power at the top. The SEC, of course, remains in last, and probably will until the final week of the season with rivalry week, no thanks in part to Nick Saban Is A Coward Week, which I always look forward to.

That's it for this week! I'll be back on Monday with a look at the results.