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A week ago, I started back up my regular feature focusing on how the Big 12 Conference stacks up in terms of FootballOutsiders' advanced statistics. We're back again this week with updated statistics, and after all the feedback, I've decided to break things up again between overall, offensive, and defensive statistics. I haven't quite worked out how to do sortable columns in the SB Nation editor, so that will have to wait.
Here are the charts. Again, all numbers are courtesy of the metrics at FootballOutsiders.com. Compare to last week's chart to see how things have changed.
Big 12 Conference by F/+
1. Oklahoma Sooners
2. Baylor Bears
3. TCU Horned Frogs
4. West Virginia Mountaineers
5. Oklahoma State Cowboys
6. Kansas State Wildcats
7. Texas Longhorns
8. Iowa St. Cyclones
9. Texas Tech Red Raiders
10. Kansas Jayhawks
Alabama's rise in the national rankings coincides with that of WVU in our conference rankings, since they are the only Big 12 team to have played the Crimson Tide this season. The same goes for OSU and FSU's fall, since the Cowboys played the Seminoles in Week 1. Once again, the Top 2 in our conference rankings were pretty easy to predict, but after that, things are starting to get really interesting. TCU is easily the most improved team in the conference, and they play OU and Baylor over the next two weeks. Baylor draws WVU in Morgantown two weeks from Saturday.
Big 12 Offenses
1. OU (9+7)/2= 8
2. Baylor (18+9)/2= 13.5
3. WVU (4+59)/2= 31.5
4. TCU (20+46)/2= 33
5. KSU (46+32)/2= 39
6. TT (42+38)/2= 40
7. OSU (39+43)/2= 41
8. ISU (34+64)/2= 49
9. UT (73+104)/2= 88.5
10. KU (120+123)/2= 121.5
The clump we had last week around 40 in the combined national rankings is back again, although WVU seems to have left the group behind a bit and risen into the 30s, where TCU joins them. Tech has fallen from 3rd to 6th, probably because of what A&M did to their co-opponent, Arkansas. There will be a lot of movement in these numbers over the next few weeks. There always is.
The Big 12 has the #1 rushing and passing offenses by S&P in TCU and Baylor. That's something.
Big 12 Defenses
1. Baylor (5+3)/2= 4
2. OU (7+5)/2= 6
3. TCU (1+22)/2= 11.5
4. UT (6+37)/2= 21.5
5. KSU (41+16)/2= 28.5
6. OSU (50+21)/2= 35.5
7. KU (40+60)/2= 50
8. WVU (92+23)/2= 62
9. TT (112+88)/2= 100
10. ISU (113+99)/2 = 106
Not a lot of separation at the top of our defensive rankings, with good arguments to be made that any of the three (or four) top teams could actually be the best. I'm not at all surprised to see TCU and OSU so high in the explosive drive rankings; they've both been doing that for years. S&P+ and FEI do not agree in any way about WVU's defense, and I don't know what to make of that.
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This took long enough that I'm going to once again forgo the team-by-team notes as part of this post. I will say, though, that OU-TCU takes on an entirely new look when you see that it's the #1 and #3 Big 12 teams, generally, and the #2 and #3 defenses, specifically. BU-OU looks like a mismatch by comparison, mostly because UT's offense is the second-worst in the conference.