beorach
Special Teams Player
Preface/disclaimer/BS: I waited longer than most to join this conversation, right? Maybe things will change but I'm looking at things the same way I did in 2014 (and those posts are still around thanks to this swell website we frequent) because, like Bill Moos, I like to be prepared. Those old posts featured a different methodology, in terms of calculations (don't think I was using z-scores back then), and coaches have changed places but I digress.
Do we need to get a guy to get us back in the top 25 regularly first so we can hire a guy to take the next step or are people expecting Bill Moos to hire the latter immediately somehow? We're not Kansas but our current state has to affect the process, right? Hiring a coach is always going to involve some risk but it stands to reason that your program's attractiveness factors in, I mean. p.s. - Do we need a guy who has multiple full seasons experience as a HC already? p.p.s. - Can we break the rules and get a great OC and DC with an administrative head coach? Let's get Joe Moglia, Brett Venables, and <insert greatest OC out there here>...taking care to spend the big dollars on the coordinators (who can bring whomever but the HC has to deal with whomever we can get as far as those coordinators go). While I'm dreaming, would it be as crazy to think we hire a great OL coach to be our OC? Michigan State's guy isn't too long in the tooth and they've always impressed.
I know we all discussed another expectation that Eichorst failed to prioritize. We want our team to run the ball first and see the return of the Blackshirts. I guess the latter is generic (have a great defense) but the former is no longer the norm. I have two spreadsheets running now (one with stats from all games between FBS teams and the other from all games between conference teams) and decided to focus only on rushing d, rushing o, scoring d, and turnover margin to figure out what teams out there are the toughest. The only problem with the data right now (aside from it only being data -
) is some teams have only played a couple of conference games to date this season. The lists are as follows:
All FBS Games Sample Top 25 "Toughest" Teams w/o SOS adjustment
1
Alabama
2
South Florida
3
Notre Dame
4
UCF
5
Ohio State
6
Penn State
7
Georgia
8
Auburn
9
Wisconsin
10
Clemson
11
Washington
12
TCU
13
Miami (Florida)
14
Wake Forest
15
North Carolina State
16
Stanford
17
Kansas State
18
Virginia Tech
19
UTSA
20
Michigan State
21
Michigan
22
San Diego State
23
Duke
24
Oklahoma
25
Appalachian State
Nebraska is 89th by this rationale.
All FBS Games Sample Top 25 "Toughest" Teams w/ SOS adjustment
1
Alabama
2
Notre Dame
3
Ohio State
4
Penn State
5
Clemson
6
Georgia
7
Auburn
8
Wisconsin
9
South Florida
10
UCF
11
Stanford
12
Miami (Florida)
13
North Carolina State
14
Washington
15
TCU
16
Michigan State
17
Wake Forest
18
Michigan
19
Oklahoma
20
San Diego State
21
Duke
22
Kansas State
23
USC
24
Virginia Tech
25
Oklahoma State
Nebraska is 80th by this rationale.
Conference Games Only Sample Top 25 "Toughest" Teams w/o SOS adjustment
1
South Florida
2
Alabama
3
Ohio State
4
Toledo
5
Georgia
6
Fresno State
7
Washington
8
Auburn
9
UCF
10
Clemson
11
Michigan State
12
TCU
13
Florida Atlantic
14
Marshall
15
Rice
16
Wisconsin
17
North Carolina State
18
Boise State
19
Appalachian State
20
Penn State
21
Tulane
22
Southern Mississippi
23
Georgia Tech
24
South Alabama
25
Western Michigan
Nebraska is 100th by this rationale.
Conference Games Only Sample Top 25 "Toughest" Teams w/ SOS adjustment
1
TCU
2
Boise State
3
Clemson
4
Michigan State
5
Tulane
6
South Alabama
7
Charlotte
8
Utah State
9
Toledo
10
Wyoming
11
North Carolina State
12
Georgia Southern
13
Appalachian State
14
Colorado State
15
Florida State
16
Southern Mississippi
17
Stanford
18
Miami (Florida)
19
Texas
20
Wake Forest
21
Washington
22
San Diego State
23
Northern Illinois
24
Wisconsin
25
South Florida
Nebraska is 94th by this rationale.
Do we need to get a guy to get us back in the top 25 regularly first so we can hire a guy to take the next step or are people expecting Bill Moos to hire the latter immediately somehow? We're not Kansas but our current state has to affect the process, right? Hiring a coach is always going to involve some risk but it stands to reason that your program's attractiveness factors in, I mean. p.s. - Do we need a guy who has multiple full seasons experience as a HC already? p.p.s. - Can we break the rules and get a great OC and DC with an administrative head coach? Let's get Joe Moglia, Brett Venables, and <insert greatest OC out there here>...taking care to spend the big dollars on the coordinators (who can bring whomever but the HC has to deal with whomever we can get as far as those coordinators go). While I'm dreaming, would it be as crazy to think we hire a great OL coach to be our OC? Michigan State's guy isn't too long in the tooth and they've always impressed.
I know we all discussed another expectation that Eichorst failed to prioritize. We want our team to run the ball first and see the return of the Blackshirts. I guess the latter is generic (have a great defense) but the former is no longer the norm. I have two spreadsheets running now (one with stats from all games between FBS teams and the other from all games between conference teams) and decided to focus only on rushing d, rushing o, scoring d, and turnover margin to figure out what teams out there are the toughest. The only problem with the data right now (aside from it only being data -

All FBS Games Sample Top 25 "Toughest" Teams w/o SOS adjustment
1
Alabama
2
South Florida
3
Notre Dame
4
UCF
5
Ohio State
6
Penn State
7
Georgia
8
Auburn
9
Wisconsin
10
Clemson
11
Washington
12
TCU
13
Miami (Florida)
14
Wake Forest
15
North Carolina State
16
Stanford
17
Kansas State
18
Virginia Tech
19
UTSA
20
Michigan State
21
Michigan
22
San Diego State
23
Duke
24
Oklahoma
25
Appalachian State
Nebraska is 89th by this rationale.
All FBS Games Sample Top 25 "Toughest" Teams w/ SOS adjustment
1
Alabama
2
Notre Dame
3
Ohio State
4
Penn State
5
Clemson
6
Georgia
7
Auburn
8
Wisconsin
9
South Florida
10
UCF
11
Stanford
12
Miami (Florida)
13
North Carolina State
14
Washington
15
TCU
16
Michigan State
17
Wake Forest
18
Michigan
19
Oklahoma
20
San Diego State
21
Duke
22
Kansas State
23
USC
24
Virginia Tech
25
Oklahoma State
Nebraska is 80th by this rationale.
Conference Games Only Sample Top 25 "Toughest" Teams w/o SOS adjustment
1
South Florida
2
Alabama
3
Ohio State
4
Toledo
5
Georgia
6
Fresno State
7
Washington
8
Auburn
9
UCF
10
Clemson
11
Michigan State
12
TCU
13
Florida Atlantic
14
Marshall
15
Rice
16
Wisconsin
17
North Carolina State
18
Boise State
19
Appalachian State
20
Penn State
21
Tulane
22
Southern Mississippi
23
Georgia Tech
24
South Alabama
25
Western Michigan
Nebraska is 100th by this rationale.
Conference Games Only Sample Top 25 "Toughest" Teams w/ SOS adjustment
1
TCU
2
Boise State
3
Clemson
4
Michigan State
5
Tulane
6
South Alabama
7
Charlotte
8
Utah State
9
Toledo
10
Wyoming
11
North Carolina State
12
Georgia Southern
13
Appalachian State
14
Colorado State
15
Florida State
16
Southern Mississippi
17
Stanford
18
Miami (Florida)
19
Texas
20
Wake Forest
21
Washington
22
San Diego State
23
Northern Illinois
24
Wisconsin
25
South Florida
Nebraska is 94th by this rationale.
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