[Ratings] The Big XII and UCF ... by the Sagarin's

[UCFBS]

UCF is 2-4 in the Big XII this year. Yet all 4 of the losses are against the top 5 teams in the conference according to the Sagarin Ratings (actually top 6, as UCF is #5!), using Jeff Sagarin's default and primary 'Central Mean.' Although there are others, they come in close in most cases.


BTW, Big XII even barely edges out the Big 10 as the #2 conference -- let me say that again, the #2 conference in the country -- although Big XII, Big 10 and ACC are all a bit below the #1 SEC.


Although the 'jump down' back to the AAC is over double the 'jump up' to the SEC. Look at those rankings, let alone Strength of Schedule (SoS), against UCF's old conference, the AAC (aka American). The AAC (American) is nothing in comparison ... NOTHING! Even the Big 10 SoS is not as good the Big XII, far different!


SoS of Florida teams:

1. Florida #6 - one of the toughest, including OoC)
2. FSU #12 - much tougher OoC than the ACC median)
3. UCF #28 - it was #18 before Arizona, sub-30 is Big XII median
4. Miami #54 -- yes, 54th!!! -- par for the ACC, median 50+!!!
5. USF #79 - in UCF's old conference, harder than AAC median (a few OoC games)
6. FAU #105 - also UCF's old conference, close to AAC median, 100+!!!
7. FIU #139 - close to C-USA median

And ... the Big XII has the 'highest ranked bottom feeder' in #78 Arizona, while even the SEC has a lower #84 Miss St. Now 2nd lowest is #53 Kentucky, while the Big XII has #63 Houston.


But the ACC has #115 Stanford and #91 Wake Forest ...


While the Big 10 has #109 Purdue and #79 Northwestern.


Now let's look at top 50 ... both the Big XII and SEC have all but 3, the Big 10 over half, but the ACC?!

1. Big XII & SEC: 13 of 16 (over 80%)
2. Big 10: 10 of 18 (just over half)
3. ACC: 7 of 17 (just over 40%)

The ACC has been 'easy street' for a long time, even before some of the Pac-12 was added. In fact, SMU -- coming from the AAC -- doing so well says a lot! I mean, not a single Big XII team has a SoS as easy as SMU. Cinci and UCF have done better than Houston, but the Big XII is really a lot tougher than the ACC.

The Big XII is a really tough conference! Far more than the ACC, let alone the AAC. People really need to 'reset their expectations' in the Big XII.

 

[Central Floridave]

Interesting stats. Thanks for the info.

 

[90Knight]

Whether it's the AAC or the Big XII, we expect Gus to win. The standard hasn't changed because we're now in the Big XIi. This season has been a huge disappointment. Gus will get all of the credit for winning and for losing. He's whiffed on choosing QBs and it's one of the reasons we had a horrible 5 game losing streak

 

[LoboCane]

Sagarin is a relevant as Colley.