Spinnable Sports Your Sports, Our Spin
How do we actually know if a defense is elite or an offense is unstoppable? We all spend countless hours saying this team or conference is great or that league is terrible. I decided to take a look at each of the Power 5 conferences and see what league has the best collective units. The 4 statistical rankings are total yards per game, points scored per game, total yards allowed per game and points allowed per game. In my opinion, this gives us a decent look at each league and which units drive the narrative. I pulled the schools ranked within the top 75 nationally to see where the quality resides.
The stat rankings are as of November 13th to account for an even 10 games played for every program.
BIG TEN CONFERENCE (B1G):
OFFENSE TOTAL YARDS PER GAME: National Rank in Parentheses
- OHIO STATE (6th)
- MICHIGAN (24th)
- PENN STATE (35th)
- PURDUE (44th)
- MINNESOTA (57th)
- ILLINOIS (59th)
- MARYLAND (63rd)
*NOTE: Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and Rutgers are in the Bottom 30 in the Nation, Northwestern is 100th. The only other P5 schools in the Bottom 30 are Colorado, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Boston College and Kentucky.
OFFENSE POINTS SCORED PER GAME:
- OHIO STATE (2nd)
- MICHIGAN (5th)
- PENN STATE (30th)
- MINNESOTA (49th)
- PURDUE (62nd)
- WISCONSIN (67th)
- MARYLAND (69th)
*NOTE: Northwestern, Iowa, Rutgers and Indiana are ranked in the Bottom 30. Only other P5 schools ranked that low are Iowa State, Texas A&M, Stanford, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Boston College and Colorado.
DEFENSE FEWEST TOTAL YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME:
- MICHIGAN (1st)
- ILLINOIS (2nd)
- IOWA (3rd)
- OHIO STATE (7th)
- MINNESOTA (8th)
- WISCONSIN (14th)
- RUTGERS (21st)
- PENN STATE (31st)
- PURDUE (37th)
- MARYLAND (71st)
DEFENSE FEWEST POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME:
- MICHIGAN (1st)
- ILLINOIS (3rd)
- MINNESOTA (4th)
- IOWA (5th)
- OHIO STATE (7th)
- PENN STATE (16th)
- WISCONSIN (27th)
- MARYLAND (52nd)
- PURDUE (55th)
- MICHIGAN STATE (59th)
- RUTGERS (64th)
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE (SEC):
OFFENSE TOTAL YARDS PER GAME:
- TENNESSEE (1st)
- GEORGIA (3rd)
- OLE MISS (13th)
- ALABAMA (19th)
- ARKANSAS (23rd)
- FLORIDA (32nd)
- LSU (40th)
- MISSISSIPPI STATE (62nd)
OFFENSE POINTS SCORED PER GAME:
- TENNESSEE (1st)
- GEORGIA (6th)
- ALABAMA (7th)
- OLE MISS (19th)
- LSU (38th)
- FLORIDA (42nd)
- MISSISSIPPI STATE (48th)
- ARKANSAS (57th)
- SOUTH CAROLINA (68th)
DEFENSE TOTAL YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME:
- GEORGIA (6th)
- ALABAMA (16th)
- KENTUCKY (17th)
- MISSOURI (34th)
- LSU (36th)
- MISSISSIPPI STATE (57th)
- OLE MISS (59th)
- TEXAS A&M (74th)
DEFENSE POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME:
- GEORGIA (2nd)
- ALABAMA (15th)
- KENTUCKY (21st)
- LSU (28th)
- TENNESSEE (38th)
- OLE MISS (40th)
- TEXAS A&M (42nd)
- MISSOURI (62nd)
- MISSISSIPPI STATE (65th)
- SOUTH CAROLINA (67th)
- FLORIDA (72nd)
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE (ACC):
NOTE: 4 programs in the Bottom 30 for Total Yards and Points Scored Per Game; VIRGINIA TECH, VIRGINIA, GEORGIA TECH and BOSTON COLLEGE
OFFENSE TOTAL YARDS PER GAME:
- UNC 4th)
- FSU (16th)
- WAKE FOREST (33rd)
- LOUISVILLE (42nd)
- DUKE (43rd)
- CLEMSON (53rd)
- PITT (60th)
- MIAMI (66th)
OFFENSE POINTS SCORED PER GAME:
- UNC (10th)
- WAKE FOREST (18th)
- CLEMSON (28th)
- FSU (29th)
- DUKE (33rd)
- PITT (52nd)
- LOUISVILLE (66th)
- SYRACUSE (73rd)
DEFENSE TOTAL YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME:
- FSU (11th)
- PITT (15th)
- SYRACUSE (18th)
- NC STATE (19th)
- CLEMSON (32nd)
- LOUISVILLE (38th)
- MIAMI (41st)
- VIRGINIA (43rd)
- BOSTON COLLEGE (53rd)
- VIRGINIA TECH (61st)
- DUKE (73rd)
DEFENSE POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME:
- FSU (13th)
- NC STATE (14th)
- SYRACUSE (25th)
- LOUISVILLE (26th)
- CLEMSON (29th)
- DUKE (35th)
- PITT (47th)
- MIAMI (48th)
- VIRGINIA (49th)
- VIRGINIA TECH (53rd)
PACIFIC 12 CONFERENCE (PAC 12):
OFFENSE TOTAL YARDS PER GAME:
- OREGON (2nd)
- UCLA (5th)
- USC (7th)
- WASHINGTON (8th)
- ARIZONA (21st)
- UTAH (22nd)
- OREGON STATE (58th)
- ARIZONA STATE (74th)
OFFENSE POINTS PER GAME:
- USC (3rd)
- OREGON (4th)
- UCLA (11th)
- UTAH (12th)
- WASHINGTON (13th)
- OREGON STATE (40th)
- ARIZONA (47th)
DEFENSE YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME:
- UTAH (22nd)
- OREGON STATE (28th)
- WASHINGTON STATE (44th)
- UCLA (68th)
- WASHINGTON (69th)
DEFENSE POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME:
*NOTE: 4 schools are in the Bottom 30..(Colorado, Arizona, Stanford and Arizona State). The only other P5 schools in the Bottom 30 are Kansas, UNC, West Virginia, Indiana and Vanderbilt.
- WASHINGTON STATE (20th)
- UTAH (22nd)
- OREGON STATE (36th)
- USC (50th)
- UCLA (70th)
BIG 12 CONFERENCE:
OFFENSE TOTAL YARDS PER GAME:
- TCU (12th)
- TEXAS TECH (18th)
- OKLAHOMA (25th)
- KANSAS (30th)
- BAYLOR (34th)
- TEXAS (41st)
- KANSAS STATE (45th)
- OKLAHOMA STATE (50th)
- WEST VIRGINIA (54th)
OFFENSE POINTS PER GAME:
- TCU (8th)
- KANSAS (17th)
- OKLAHOMA STATE (24th)
- BAYLOR (25th)
- TEXAS TECH (31st)
- TEXAS (34th)
- OKLAHOMA (43rd)
- WEST VIRGINIA (46th)
- KANSAS STATE (50th)
DEFENSE YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME:
- IOWA STATE (10th)
- BAYLOR (45th)
- KANSAS STATE (47th)
- TEXAS (58th)
- TCU (65th)
DEFENSE POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME:
*NOTE: West Virginia and Kansas are in the Bottom 30 Nationally.
- IOWA STATE (9th)
- KANSAS STATE (12th)
- TEXAS (33rd)
- BAYLOR (54th)
- TCU (56th)
OVERALL OPPONENT RECORD:
- GEORGIA 62-38
- LSU 61-39
- TENNESSEE 60-41
- CLEMSON 57-43
- UNC 53-41
- TCU 52-48
- OHIO STATE 49-52
- USC 46-54
- MICHIGAN 45-57
The debate will rage until the end of time regarding which conference is the toughest. Statistically, the Big 10 has great defenses but the offense rankings are average. That doesn’t even factor in the 4 programs that are ranked in 100’s offensively. They do have 7 programs ranked in the top 75 offensively. On the flip side, the number of teams ranked in the top 75 defensively from the BIG 12 and PAC 12 is limited. The ACC is very interesting statically. They have 8 programs that qualify offensively, 10 plus defensively, but 4 offenses in the Bottom 30. The SEC and Big 10 both have 11 programs ranked in the Top 75 for points allowed per game. This debate is where we all need a balance of stats and the eye test.
I research and you debate!
