beorach

Agreed! At least they're largely better than last week's (at a glance, though I see Rutgers got past us in the final category for the B1G)...

Here are the conference rankings for the nine categories... Passing Offense Rk Team Avg. Z-Score 1 Ohio State 1.85 2 Purdue 0.79 3 Indiana 0.47 4 Michigan State 0.28 5 Michigan 0.25 6 Wisconsin 0.22 7 Penn State 0.21 8 Northwestern -0.12 9 Nebraska -0.20 10 Iowa -0.51 11 Minnesota -0.66 12 Illinois -0.68 13 Maryland -0.85 14 Rutgers -1.40 Passing Defense Rk Team Avg. Z-Score 1 Michigan 1.31 2 Indiana 1.01 3 Minnesota 0.90 4 Ohio State 0.76 5 Wisconsin 0.66 6 Penn State 0.52 7 Maryland 0.50 8 Iowa 0.44 9 Nebraska -0.12 10 Purdue -0.20 11 Rutgers -0.21 12 Northwestern -0.24 13 Michigan State -0.36 14 Illinois -0.76 Rushing Offense Rk Team Avg. Z-Score 1 Penn State 2.12 2 Maryland 1.57 3 Wisconsin 1.37 4 Illinois 0.86 5 Michigan 0.80 6 Ohio State 0.67 7 Purdue 0.35 8 Nebraska 0.27 9 Indiana -0.06 10 Iowa -0.34 11 Michigan State -0.43 12 Minnesota -0.46 13 Rutgers -0.60 14 Northwestern -0.76 Rushing Defense Rk Team Avg. Z-Score 1 Michigan State 1.96 2 Michigan 1.33 3 Iowa 1.22 4 Maryland 1.14 5 Wisconsin 0.63 6 Northwestern 0.51 7 Penn State 0.44 8 Minnesota 0.35 9 Ohio State 0.28 10 Indiana 0.15 11 Purdue 0.02 12 Nebraska -0.40 13 Rutgers -0.71 14 Illinois -1.32 Scoring Offense Rk Team Avg. Z-Score 1 Penn State 2.39 2 Ohio State 2.35 3 Michigan 0.94 4 Maryland 0.63 5 Wisconsin 0.43 6 Purdue 0.12 7 Michigan State -0.01 8 Indiana -0.03 9 Minnesota -0.33 10 Illinois -0.58 11 Northwestern -0.59 12 Nebraska -0.74 13 Iowa -0.92 14 Rutgers -1.30 Scoring Defense Rk Team Avg. Z-Score 1 Iowa 1.58 2 Wisconsin 1.45 3 Michigan 1.41 4 Minnesota 1.12 5 Ohio State 0.98 6 Michigan State 0.86 7 Penn State 0.72 8 Indiana 0.71 9 Maryland 0.55 10 Purdue 0.28 11 Northwestern 0.24 12 Rutgers -0.82 13 Nebraska -0.95 14 Illinois -0.96 Total Offense Rk Team Avg. Z-Score 1 Ohio State 1.62 2 Penn State 1.08 3 Purdue 0.88 4 Wisconsin 0.64 5 Illinois 0.31 6 Indiana 0.25 7 Nebraska 0.16 8 Michigan 0.01 9 Northwestern -0.04 10 Maryland -0.13 11 Michigan State -0.20 12 Minnesota -0.45 13 Iowa -0.71 14 Rutgers -1.25 Total Defense Rk Team Avg. Z-Score 1 Michigan 1.70 2 Iowa 1.42 3 Minnesota 1.15 4 Wisconsin 1.15 5 Indiana 0.86 6 Maryland 0.80 7 Michigan State 0.67 8 Ohio State 0.48 9 Penn State 0.32 10 Northwestern 0.29 11 Nebraska -0.18 12 Rutgers -0.32 13 Purdue -0.51 14 Illinois -1.54 Turnover Margin Rk Team Avg. Z-Score 1 Maryland 0.87 2 Ohio State 0.72 3 Wisconsin 0.71 4 Indiana 0.47 5 Illinois 0.43 6 Michigan 0.12 7 Penn State 0.08 8 Northwestern -0.17 9 Purdue -0.21 10 Michigan State -0.22 11 Minnesota -0.22 12 Iowa -0.25 13 Rutgers -0.81 14 Nebraska -1.09 I'm thinking I should have just made one thread for each of these and kept adding to it all year so we could just scroll back up and see how the stats changed...

This is the offensive pecking order, then, using just the 4 offensive categories... Rk TEAM Avg. Avg. Z-Score (4 offensive categories) 1 UCF 1.93 2 Alabama 1.85 3 Oklahoma 1.63 4 Ohio State 1.62 5 Houston 1.61 6 Penn State 1.45 7 Boise State 1.25 8 Texas Tech 1.24 9 Appalachian State 1.08 10 Memphis 1.05 11 Georgia 1.00 12 Colorado 0.95 13 Oregon 0.90 14 Hawai'i 0.86 15 Missouri 0.86 16 Oklahoma State 0.85 17 Clemson 0.83 18 West Virginia 0.83 19 Ohio 0.82 20 Syracuse 0.78 21 North Texas 0.72 22 North Carolina State 0.69 23 Wisconsin 0.66 24 Boston College 0.66 25 Georgia Tech 0.63 26 Utah State 0.62 27 Purdue 0.54 28 Michigan 0.50 29 Wake Forest 0.49 30 Western Michigan 0.47 31 Notre Dame 0.45 32 Fresno State 0.41 33 South Florida 0.39 34 Liberty 0.38 35 Washington State 0.38 36 Cincinnati 0.38 37 Miami (Florida) 0.36 38 Arizona State 0.30 39 East Carolina 0.30 40 Maryland 0.30 41 Troy 0.28 42 Army 0.28 43 UNLV 0.25 44 Baylor 0.25 45 Toledo 0.22 46 Virginia Tech 0.21 47 South Carolina 0.20 48 LSU 0.20 49 Florida Atlantic 0.20 50 Texas A&M 0.19 51 Florida International 0.19 52 Buffalo 0.18 53 Indiana 0.16 54 Coastal Carolina 0.15 55 Kansas 0.14 56 Navy 0.13 57 Nevada 0.12 58 Kentucky 0.10 59 Mississippi 0.08 60 Arizona 0.06 61 New Mexico 0.05 62 UAB 0.04 63 Virginia 0.02 64 Texas -0.01 65 Illinois -0.02 66 Oregon State -0.06 67 Temple -0.08 68 Michigan State -0.09 69 Washington -0.11 70 Massachusetts -0.12 71 Ball State -0.12 72 Nebraska -0.13 73 Florida -0.13 74 Mississippi State -0.14 75 Georgia Southern -0.17 76 Air Force -0.17 77 Vanderbilt -0.17 78 Arkansas State -0.18 79 TCU -0.18 80 Louisiana Tech -0.19 81 Old Dominion -0.20 82 Southern Mississippi -0.22 83 USC -0.23 84 Duke -0.28 85 Rice -0.29 86 Georgia State -0.29 87 California -0.35 88 Colorado State -0.36 89 Marshall -0.37 90 Northwestern -0.38 91 Tulane -0.39 92 North Carolina -0.41 93 South Alabama -0.42 94 Kent State -0.46 95 Stanford -0.46 96 Minnesota -0.48 97 Tulsa -0.50 98 Louisiana-Monroe -0.51 99 Eastern Michigan -0.51 100 Auburn -0.51 101 Western Kentucky -0.55 102 Pittsburgh -0.57 103 Tennessee -0.59 104 San Diego State -0.59 105 Iowa -0.62 106 Louisiana-Lafayette -0.64 107 Miami (Ohio) -0.70 108 Florida State -0.72 109 Bowling Green -0.77 110 BYU -0.81 111 Middle Tennessee -0.84 112 Connecticut -0.86 113 Akron -0.90 114 Utah -0.91 115 UCLA -0.92 116 SMU -0.92 117 Charlotte -0.93 118 Wyoming -0.94 119 UTEP -0.94 120 Arkansas -0.97 121 Iowa State -0.98 122 Kansas State -0.98 123 San Jose State -1.09 124 Louisville -1.14 125 Rutgers -1.14 126 Texas State -1.15 127 UTSA -1.18 128 Northern Illinois -1.18 129 Central Michigan -1.19 130 New Mexico State -1.31

Here are the defensive rankings per the same method (but just considering four of the nine categories listed in the OP above)... Rk TEAM Avg. Avg. Z-Score (4 defensive categories) 1 Michigan 1.44 2 Kentucky 1.28 3 Iowa 1.16 4 Auburn 1.12 5 Cincinnati 1.12 6 Alabama 1.12 7 Washington State 1.11 8 Washington 1.05 9 Miami (Florida) 1.02 10 North Texas 1.00 11 Mississippi State 0.99 12 Clemson 0.99 13 Wisconsin 0.97 14 Florida 0.94 15 North Carolina State 0.90 16 Minnesota 0.88 17 Georgia 0.86 18 Fresno State 0.84 19 Appalachian State 0.79 20 Michigan State 0.78 21 Utah 0.78 22 Notre Dame 0.76 23 Iowa State 0.76 24 Maryland 0.75 25 LSU 0.73 26 Texas 0.73 27 Southern Mississippi 0.69 28 Indiana 0.68 29 East Carolina 0.65 30 Boise State 0.63 31 Ohio State 0.63 32 West Virginia 0.62 33 Arizona State 0.58 34 TCU 0.55 35 Vanderbilt 0.54 36 Florida State 0.53 37 Colorado 0.52 38 South Carolina 0.52 39 Northern Illinois 0.51 40 Penn State 0.50 41 Virginia 0.46 42 Duke 0.44 43 California 0.42 44 San Diego State 0.37 45 Army 0.36 46 Western Kentucky 0.33 47 Oregon 0.33 48 UAB 0.27 49 Temple 0.26 50 Arkansas 0.24 51 Kansas 0.23 52 Buffalo 0.21 53 Texas A&M 0.21 54 USC 0.21 55 Northwestern 0.20 56 UCF 0.16 57 Stanford 0.16 58 Oklahoma 0.15 59 Virginia Tech 0.13 60 Utah State 0.12 61 Marshall 0.12 62 Central Michigan 0.09 63 Texas State 0.08 64 Tulsa 0.04 65 South Florida 0.03 66 Miami (Ohio) 0.02 67 Kansas State 0.01 68 Eastern Michigan 0.00 69 Oklahoma State -0.01 70 BYU -0.02 71 Syracuse -0.03 72 Missouri -0.03 73 Boston College -0.03 74 Baylor -0.05 75 Tennessee -0.06 76 Louisiana Tech -0.07 77 Arizona -0.09 78 Purdue -0.10 79 Wyoming -0.12 80 Memphis -0.15 81 Florida International -0.16 82 Troy -0.17 83 North Carolina -0.18 84 Akron -0.18 85 UTEP -0.21 86 UTSA -0.23 87 UNLV -0.23 88 Louisville -0.23 89 Georgia Southern -0.25 90 Arkansas State -0.27 91 Georgia Tech -0.31 92 Ball State -0.32 93 Charlotte -0.34 94 Tulane -0.35 95 Nebraska -0.41 96 New Mexico State -0.43 97 Navy -0.50 98 Rutgers -0.51 99 Middle Tennessee -0.54 100 UCLA -0.55 101 Nevada -0.57 102 San Jose State -0.58 103 Western Michigan -0.61 104 Wake Forest -0.63 105 Liberty -0.63 106 SMU -0.63 107 Pittsburgh -0.67 108 Hawai'i -0.68 109 Mississippi -0.75 110 Air Force -0.76 111 Old Dominion -0.81 112 Coastal Carolina -0.82 113 Louisiana-Monroe -0.83 114 Texas Tech -0.84 115 New Mexico -0.87 116 Ohio -0.92 117 Houston -0.93 118 Colorado State -1.01 119 Georgia State -1.07 120 South Alabama -1.09 121 Illinois -1.14 122 Florida Atlantic -1.16 123 Rice -1.36 124 Toledo -1.47 125 Massachusetts -1.48 126 Bowling Green -1.48 127 Kent State -1.62 128 Oregon State -1.68 129 Louisiana-Lafayette -1.88 130 Connecticut -2.56

Here are the rankings of all FBS teams, per the average z-score rating of all those (9) categories listed above. Mathematically, I'm averaging the averages for all those to make this list. Rk TEAM Avg. Avg. Z-Score (all 9 categories) 1 Alabama 1.40 2 UCF 1.11 3 Ohio State 1.08 4 Georgia 0.95 5 Boise State 0.91 6 Michigan 0.88 7 Penn State 0.87 8 North Texas 0.85 9 Oklahoma 0.82 10 North Carolina State 0.81 11 Wisconsin 0.81 12 Appalachian State 0.78 13 Clemson 0.76 14 Colorado 0.71 15 Cincinnati 0.70 16 Miami (Florida) 0.65 17 West Virginia 0.62 18 Notre Dame 0.60 19 Kentucky 0.60 20 Fresno State 0.58 21 Washington State 0.58 22 Oregon 0.56 23 Maryland 0.56 24 Florida 0.49 25 LSU 0.48 26 Arizona State 0.47 27 Syracuse 0.45 28 Indiana 0.43 29 Washington 0.42 30 East Carolina 0.40 31 Mississippi State 0.40 32 Kansas 0.40 33 Utah State 0.38 34 Memphis 0.38 35 Auburn 0.35 36 Oklahoma State 0.35 37 Texas 0.34 38 Houston 0.34 39 Boston College 0.34 40 Missouri 0.31 41 Michigan State 0.28 42 Army 0.28 43 Virginia Tech 0.28 44 South Carolina 0.24 45 Iowa 0.22 46 South Florida 0.21 47 Vanderbilt 0.20 48 UAB 0.19 49 Buffalo 0.19 50 Virginia 0.19 51 Purdue 0.17 52 Georgia Tech 0.15 53 Minnesota 0.15 54 Duke 0.15 55 Southern Mississippi 0.13 56 Texas Tech 0.12 57 Temple 0.11 58 Texas A&M 0.10 59 Hawai'i 0.06 60 Troy 0.03 61 Baylor 0.02 62 California 0.01 63 Florida International -0.01 64 UNLV -0.02 65 Stanford -0.03 66 TCU -0.03 67 Arizona -0.03 68 Ohio -0.05 69 Louisiana Tech -0.05 70 USC -0.08 71 Western Michigan -0.08 72 Georgia Southern -0.08 73 Wake Forest -0.09 74 Utah -0.10 75 Northwestern -0.10 76 Western Kentucky -0.10 77 Iowa State -0.10 78 San Diego State -0.10 79 Liberty -0.11 80 Navy -0.11 81 Arkansas State -0.12 82 Ball State -0.15 83 Marshall -0.19 84 Eastern Michigan -0.19 85 Nevada -0.22 86 Florida State -0.25 87 Northern Illinois -0.26 88 Miami (Ohio) -0.29 89 Mississippi -0.30 90 Tulane -0.32 91 Coastal Carolina -0.32 92 BYU -0.33 93 Akron -0.36 94 Tulsa -0.36 95 Nebraska -0.36 96 New Mexico -0.39 97 Air Force -0.39 98 Kansas State -0.40 99 North Carolina -0.42 100 Arkansas -0.43 101 Old Dominion -0.43 102 Tennessee -0.44 103 Illinois -0.47 104 Wyoming -0.47 105 Texas State -0.49 106 Florida Atlantic -0.51 107 Toledo -0.56 108 Central Michigan -0.57 109 Pittsburgh -0.57 110 Charlotte -0.59 111 UTEP -0.59 112 Georgia State -0.61 113 UTSA -0.61 114 Colorado State -0.63 115 San Jose State -0.64 116 SMU -0.65 117 Louisiana-Monroe -0.65 118 UCLA -0.67 119 South Alabama -0.68 120 Louisville -0.70 121 Middle Tennessee -0.72 122 Rice -0.79 123 Massachusetts -0.79 124 Oregon State -0.82 125 New Mexico State -0.83 126 Rutgers -0.83 127 Kent State -0.97 128 Bowling Green -1.08 129 Louisiana-Lafayette -1.14 130 Connecticut -1.64

The numbers below are percentile ratings for team stats, relative to those for all 130 FBS teams counting all games played through last weekend. Games against lower division opponents (FCS) have not been included. I may start to reduce the sample size to only games played between conference opponents in a week or two. If I was to average all the percentile averages for all the individual (nine) categories, NU's stats are 36th (up from 25th before the Purdue game) percentile overall and Wisconsin's are 79th. Passing Defense completions per game: 20 to 19 (after three and now 4 games played for the good guys) with UW posting 87 (after having played four games) percentage: 19 to 36, 64 yards per attempt: 66 to 65, 65 touchdowns per game: 43 to 59, 71 passer rating: 46 to 57, 67 yards per game: 49 to 39, 86 Passing Offense completions per game: 35 to 52, 25 percentage: 68 to 66, 79 yards per attempt: 18 to 33, 74 touchdowns per game: 17 to 32, 54 passer rating: 22 to 34, 80 yards per game: 15 to 36, 33 Rushing Defense yards per carry: 49 to 47, 46 touchdowns per game: 15 to 12, 92 yards per game: 51 to 52, 72 Rushing Offense yards per carry: 36 to 68, 92 touchdowns per game: 25 to 39, 83 yards per game: 51 to 73, 96 Scoring Defense touchdowns per game: 14 to 21, 92 points per game: 9 to 14, 93 Scoring Offense touchdowns per game: 11 to 25, 68 points per game: 9 to 21, 65 Total Defense yards per play: 58 to 54, 58 yards per game: 50 to 44, 89 plays per game: 36 to 32, 98 Total Offense yards per play: 18 to 46, 86 yards per game: 19 to 56, 82 plays per game: 46 to 66, 47 Turnover Margin fumbles gained per game: 21 to 15, 81 interceptions gained per game: 33 to 26, 65 turnovers gained per game: 19 to 11, 82 fumbles lost per game: 5 to 16, 66 interceptions lost per game: 11 to 20, 73 turnovers lost per game: 3 to 12, 76 turnover margin per game: 3 to 5, 86 p.s. - A z-score is a numerical measurement of a value's relationship to the mean in a group of values. If a Z-score is 0, it represents the score as identical to the mean score. I convert the z-scores for all the stats listed above to percentiles so we can all understand the nature of that value better.

I read a post in which our recent defensive woes were referenced as if they were what we should have been expecting because the Golden Knights' defense was poor last season. I still had spreadsheets with data from JUST the games they played against other American Athletic Conference opponents (unless they were Conference USA or something and I'm confused). To come up with the percentiles I'll share below, I took only stats from conference games played by all FBS teams in conferences (such that some FBS teams, like Notre Dame, were left out) through November 13th of last year. Pass D completions per game: 40 percentage: 88 yards per attempt: 76 touchdowns per game: 54 rating: 82 yards per game: 42 Rush D yards per game: 51 touchdowns per game: 77 yards per carry: 43 Scoring D touchdowns per game: 72 points per game: 80 Total D yards per play: 61 yards per game: 45 plays per game: 21 Turnover Margin fumbles gained per game: 56 interceptions gained per game: 86 turnovers gained per game: 83 turnover margin per game: 85 Now, just because I didn't think it was fair to qualify their performance as bad doesn't mean there are no parallels to be drawn. That the defense faced an inordinate amount of plays per game says something in light of our third down troubles perhaps, to state the most obvious example. p.s. - I know we discussed the UCF defense at length last year around the time of the coaching search so anyone really interested could find that thread.

I don't disagree but would add that the Solich firing also had a lot to do with the perception he wasn't long for the job. Given how important recruiting is, that was no small thing (to add to the history of how it came to be people looked at him as a lame duck).

I don't believe Nebraska IS that terrible. A lot of the stats the kids have put up to date leave a lot to be desired is all. Tomorrow is a new day. As for people saying UCF had a bad defense last season, that just isn't accurate. The stats within the total defense category were somewhat below average but their numbers in the passing, rushing, and scoring defense categories were all well above average to great. Their stats in the turnover margin category were second only to Miami's based on my bowl game printout.

A z-score is just a stat's difference from a mean/average, expressed in terms of the number of standard deviations (for the data sample the stat belongs to). Excel will calculate it for you and then you can convert it to a percentile, which is what I share more often because people are familiar with that term. I used to go into some detail on the math with every stats post but stopped doing it after a couple of years, partly because I mostly get responses like yours above (such that I figure only people who understand what these things are even care). The bottom line is nothing I'm sharing is beyond the level of the most basic stats class. If you know what a bell curve is, you can grasp what I share such that it's just a matter of terminology. When I first started sharing stats here, I wasn't using z-scores but conditional statements in Excel to determine whether stats were beyond 1-2 confidence intervals. Someone asked me why I wasn't just using z-scores, for which I was and continue to be very thankful. I think it's important to note that these stats are just representations of performances. Nebraska can obviously play a lot better! Thanks for the assist, Hz!

Why I'm resurfacing to the beat of a dead horse I don't know but here goes... I mistakenly thought the OP asked if we hired Frost too soon. I answered, apparently too simply (i.e., without writing something along the lines of "IF IT WERE POSSIBLE"). that things couldn't have been any worse had we hired him to follow Bo. What I wrote was that I thought most of us, given the hypothetical choice, would have rather had Frost after Bo as opposed to Riley. Why that was some kind of affront to anyone, such that I am still being lectured to regarding obvious differences in the situations three years apart, is beyond me. Maybe I'm wrong and people wouldn't have wanted a promising York native versus a coach whose star had been waning for years, even where it had once shone brightest. I can only be certain of one thing. If someone told you that your posts were stupid, I'd let you make the call as to whether that was insulting.

I sure wouldn't mind being similar (just with better talent).

I will have these in my main stats thread next week but figured nobody (who might want to see that we're not dead last in every category after what happened last weekend) would see it if I put it there now so... Passing Offense: 1 Ohio State 2.06 2 Purdue 0.74 3 Michigan State 0.38 4 Indiana 0.32 5 Michigan 0.26 6 Penn State 0.10 7 Wisconsin 0.08 8 Northwestern 0.00 9 Iowa -0.04 10 Nebraska -0.60 11 Illinois -0.75 12 Minnesota -0.79 13 Maryland -0.97 14 Rutgers -1.67 Passing Defense 1 Michigan 1.10 2 Indiana 0.78 3 Ohio State 0.74 4 Minnesota 0.67 5 Penn State 0.53 6 Wisconsin 0.41 7 Maryland 0.26 8 Iowa 0.20 9 Nebraska -0.27 10 Purdue -0.35 11 Rutgers -0.41 12 Northwestern -0.73 13 Michigan State -0.85 14 Illinois -0.92 Rushing Offense 1 Penn State 2.17 2 Maryland 1.22 3 Wisconsin 1.04 4 Ohio State 0.74 5 Michigan 0.65 6 Illinois 0.45 7 Purdue -0.11 8 Indiana -0.29 9 Nebraska -0.33 10 Iowa -0.33 11 Northwestern -0.69 12 Minnesota -0.69 13 Rutgers -0.77 14 Michigan State -0.99 Rushing Defense 1 Michigan State 1.94 2 Iowa 1.47 3 Michigan 1.13 4 Maryland 1.02 5 Northwestern 0.63 6 Wisconsin 0.51 7 Ohio State 0.21 8 Minnesota 0.20 9 Purdue 0.20 10 Penn State 0.17 11 Indiana -0.16 12 Nebraska -0.34 13 Illinois -0.91 14 Rutgers -1.16 Scoring Offense 1 Penn State 2.40 2 Ohio State 2.26 3 Michigan 0.94 4 Maryland 0.20 5 Wisconsin 0.03 6 Indiana -0.28 7 Michigan State -0.45 8 Purdue -0.50 9 Illinois -0.65 10 Minnesota -0.65 11 Northwestern -0.68 12 Iowa -0.73 13 Nebraska -1.27 14 Rutgers -1.52 Scoring Defense 1 Iowa 1.35 2 Michigan 1.28 3 Wisconsin 1.27 4 Ohio State 0.92 5 Minnesota 0.90 6 Penn State 0.68 7 Michigan State 0.56 8 Indiana 0.32 9 Maryland 0.29 10 Purdue 0.10 11 Northwestern -0.33 12 Illinois -0.71 13 Nebraska -1.23 14 Rutgers -1.54 Total Offense 1 Ohio State 1.68 2 Penn State 0.82 3 Purdue 0.51 4 Northwestern 0.44 5 Wisconsin 0.37 6 Illinois -0.04 7 Indiana -0.07 8 Michigan -0.15 9 Michigan State -0.31 10 Iowa -0.34 11 Maryland -0.37 12 Minnesota -0.62 13 Nebraska -0.63 14 Rutgers -1.35 Total Defense 1 Michigan 1.42 2 Iowa 1.34 3 Minnesota 0.95 4 Wisconsin 0.94 5 Ohio State 0.64 6 Maryland 0.59 7 Indiana 0.55 8 Penn State 0.18 9 Michigan State 0.09 10 Northwestern 0.06 11 Nebraska -0.05 12 Purdue -0.41 13 Rutgers -0.47 14 Illinois -1.28 Turnover Margin 1 Ohio State 0.79 2 Maryland 0.76 3 Illinois 0.73 4 Wisconsin 0.60 5 Indiana 0.60 6 Michigan 0.10 7 Penn State 0.08 8 Iowa -0.24 9 Minnesota -0.28 10 Northwestern -0.32 11 Purdue -0.48 12 Michigan State -0.61 13 Nebraska -1.26 14 Rutgers -1.32 I've included all games played through last weekend (including those against FCS teams) and no adjustment has been made to reflect strength of schedule. p.s. - If I average the rankings from up above to come up with overall rankings (instead of just going with Z-scores like I did earlier this week), we get this pecking order of STATS, not TEAMS: 1 Ohio State 3.11 2 Michigan 3.78 3 Wisconsin 4.78 4 Penn State 5.11 5 Indiana 6.44 6 Maryland 6.44 7 Iowa 6.89 8 Purdue 8 9 Michigan State 8.33 10 Minnesota 8.33 11 Northwestern 9.11 12 Illinois 9.78 13 Nebraska 11.4 14 Rutgers 13.4

The game doesn't begin for us until the other team has scored at least twice. At least nobody had to hold a balloon for the better part of an hour in Ann Arbor.

It might weird you out a bit, at first, that they're red but they'll taste just fine after the libations!

For so long, being a fan on this board meant fighting with people who either did or didn't support the current HC. Old habits die hard and recent ones harder? What are the funniest old lines you remember from when we were unrealistic about our past coaches? I remember how we were "never going to get blown out again" after hiring Pelini.

If we're going to play off the coach's name to the extent we have, I don't think we can complain too much when someone else does it better (arguably in terms of appropriateness, and obviously depending on your perspective). Not everyone loves us. I'm just glad anyone still hates us maybe...

We obviously didn't read this the same way. I can see how you were reading it now. I don't get why you were upset over my reading it differently even after I explained it, though. I was never trying to "mess with" you.

You're the one who won't answer a simple question. Are you really going to argue that I can't reasonably make the assumption that "favorite coach" means Scott Frost after all the gushing since he became a viable candidate last year?

To whom is he referring in the title, then, with "favorite coach"?

You wrote that I introduced the discussion on the timing of the Frost hire but that was part of the OP. I can't help your not seeing that but I'll tell you again that's why I'm confused. Whether Frost could have been hired at that time is also speculation. I wasn't speculating on (the feasibility of) it even but sharing an opinion that he couldn't have done worse than Riley such that asking whether he was hired too soon was the silly thing.

You wrote that the OP was asking if we fired coaches too soon and I was pointing out that he also asks if we hired the latest one too soon (with the titular language in parentheses). I countered with a simple statement that we may as well have hired Frost when we hired Riley and somehow that has been worth a lot of text from others. Why you're directing all this at me instead of the OP is confusing but I guess I keep responding, too...

I never thought the OP was asking if we hired Frost too late. The basic title was asking whether the timing of what NU did, including making the latest hire (I'm assuming based on the parenthetical "pick favorite coach"), was premature.

If you read more of the thread, you'll see I explained myself later. The basic gist is I figured that, given we wasted three seasons with Riley, we might as well have hired Frost to follow Pelini. This is one of those weird message board things to me. I can't see how a conversation between Nebraska fans at a tailgater goes like this: Fan 1: "Did we hire Coach Frost too soon?" Fan 2: "Pssht. We should have hired him to replace Bo for all the good Riley did us." Fan 3: "That's so stupid I find it offensive." The original post ITT asks an odd hypothetical already (as if we could pick and choose when we get a coach of Frost's caliber) such that I don't follow how my response gets so much critique. I should have been clearer from the beginning but the original post wasn't realistic.

Was anyone else still paying attention when they showed footage of the sideline reporter visiting some kind of storage area at Michigan and pulling out a program from 1997? There was no mention of Nebraska during the exchanges that surrounded the footage. One of the announcers said something along the lines of, "They blew out Peyton Manning's Tennessee team." As if the game itself wasn't bad enough, they were trying to appropriate Nebraska football history. I'm sure most here will remember that it was Ryan Leaf's Washington State team the Wolverines managed to win against for their postseason game. The Cougars weren't too interested, as evidenced by their leaving the field with time left on the clock... I went and looked up the Michigan page of historical scores and found Tennessee only featured once, in a 2001 Outland Bowl, where the Vols blew out the Wolverines.