(12-14-2016 06:46 PM)cleveland Wrote:  

(12-14-2016 01:21 PM)axeme Wrote:  Tough to get a meaningful comparison among conferences when there is limited scheduling among them. Not enough data.

I like the comparison of Off. Pts. per Possession minus Def. PPP to get a total points per possession differential. It has proved out over the course of the season to show relative strength of teams. Right now, with only OOC games in play, it's difficult to equalize the numbers due to SOS. But here are the current MAC numbers:

Team OPPP. DPPP Total Diff.
1. KSU. 1.135. 0.949. +.186
2. Akron 1.114. 0.968. +.146
3. EMU. 1.122 1.022 +.100
4. Ohio 1.040 0.959. +.081
5. BallSt 1.066 1.000 +.066
6. CMU. 1.115. 1.062. +.053
7. NIU 0.985. 0.988. -.003
8. UB 1.034 1.048 -.014
9. UT 1.038 1.069 -.031
10. BG 0.945. 0.978. -.033
11. Miami 0.967. 1.018. -.051
12. WMU 0.981 1.105. -.124

ABSOLUTELY CAN'T RELY ON THESE NUMBERS RIGHT NOW ... Ohio has the best record in the conference, but the Bobcats are more than .100-diff from No. 1 Kent State ... And the Flashes already have three losses ... Buffalo has played a much tougher schedule than most and they are four more spots behind Ohio ... Toledo has played five OT games. That has to skew the numbers a little ... Would love to see these numbers after the first round of MAC play (w/o the non-con) to get a more realistic picture.

Agreed. The only numbers you can really rely on are the MAC W-L numbers. KSU's figures above are good because of two reasons: they blew double digit leads late in all three losses and lost by only 3, 4, & 4 points, but the schedule has been weak. The numbers would be about the same if Kent were undefeated. The next three games should tell a better story about the Flashes before MAC play. (Wright St., Ore. St., & Texas.)

Before the season started, the schedule looked respectable with a nice array of decent mid-majors mixed in with a couple power conference teams and a couple low majors. It just didn't pan out as most of the teams are having poor starts.