Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics

Need Help with KUBIAK or Premium?

blog advertising is good for you


2011 NCAA S&P+ RATINGS, DEFENSE

through games of 1/9/12

The S&P+ Ratings are a college football ratings system derived from the play-by-play data of all 800+ of a season's FBS college football games (and 140,000+ plays). There are three key components to the S&P+:

  • Success Rate: A common Football Outsiders tool used to measure efficiency by determining whether every play of a given game was successful or not. The terms of success in college football: 50 percent of necessary yardage on first down, 70 percent on second down, and 100 percent on third and fourth down.
  • EqPts Per Play (PPP): An explosiveness measure derived from determining the point value of every yard line (based on the expected number of points an offense could expect to score from that yard line) and, therefore, every play of a given game.
  • Opponent adjustments: Success Rate and PPP combine to form S&P, an OPS-like measure for football. Then each team's S&P output for a given category (Rushing/Passing on either Standard Downs or Passing Downs) is compared to the expected output based upon their opponents and their opponents' opponents. This is a schedule-based adjustment designed to reward tougher schedules and punish weaker ones.

The S&P+ figures used in the tables below only look at the plays that took place while a game was deemed "close," or competitive. The criteria for being "close" are as follows: a game within 24 points in the first quarter, with 21 points in the second quarter, and within 16 points in the second half.

Passing Downs are defined as:

  • second down with 8 or more yards to go
  • third or fourth down with 5 or more yards to go

All other downs are Standard Downs.

Please note that in the split of rushing and passing S&P+, sacks are counted as passes, as in NFL data, and not runs as in official NCAA totals.

Use the menu above for pages that give more details on total and defensive S&P+, or our other college football ratings, the drive-based FEI.


Team Def S&P+ Rk Rushing
S&P+		 Rk Passing
S&P+		 Rk Standard
Downs
S&P+		 Rk Passing
Downs
S&P+		 Rk
Alabama 179.7 1 170.2 1 187.2 1 156.4 2 210.5 1
LSU 159.6 2 169.8 2 160.6 2 159.8 1 142.7 5
Boise State 142.3 3 146.2 5 142.9 5 124.8 11 128.2 18
Texas 136.2 4 151.5 3 138.6 8 127.5 8 156.7 2
Georgia 135.7 5 129.7 13 139.6 7 130.4 6 134.2 16
Florida State 135.1 6 134.6 9 129.8 12 127.7 7 134.7 15
Oklahoma 135.1 7 145.9 6 135.4 10 137.2 3 138.0 11
Michigan State 132.7 8 138.2 8 135.4 11 135.1 5 142.5 6
Penn State 131.7 9 129.4 14 147.4 3 137.1 4 137.1 12
Oregon 128.6 10 121.2 17 142.7 6 125.9 10 138.5 10
Illinois 127.0 11 131.6 11 129.3 13 127.1 9 123.5 25
Virginia Tech 125.5 12 114.1 27 137.5 9 114.9 23 152.0 4
Notre Dame 123.8 13 148.3 4 111.6 31 122.7 13 121.2 29
South Carolina 123.7 14 104.6 49 146.4 4 123.6 12 118.4 33
Utah 122.6 15 127.4 16 122.6 19 121.9 14 125.2 22
Southern Miss 120.7 16 118.7 20 115.7 25 115.4 22 106.2 52
Oklahoma State 119.3 17 114.2 26 127.1 14 113.7 26 135.9 13
Texas A&M 119.3 18 128.6 15 121.4 21 117.0 20 141.7 7
Rutgers 119.2 19 110.1 39 126.7 16 113.1 28 140.6 8
Louisiana Tech 117.9 20 117.9 21 119.9 22 108.9 33 154.0 3
Team Def S&P+ Rk Rushing
S&P+		 Rk Passing
S&P+		 Rk Standard
Downs
S&P+		 Rk Passing
Downs
S&P+		 Rk
Kent State 117.0 21 112.3 31 123.2 18 114.9 24 113.1 41
Tulsa 116.1 22 129.8 12 112.6 30 111.9 29 125.3 21
Nebraska 115.9 23 113.4 29 126.9 15 106.9 42 135.5 14
California 115.0 24 108.3 44 125.0 17 118.9 15 110.6 43
Stanford 114.8 25 114.2 25 122.2 20 118.8 16 114.9 39
Temple 114.0 26 108.6 43 104.3 47 100.8 59 125.1 23
Vanderbilt 113.8 27 108.2 45 116.3 24 117.6 18 111.1 42
TCU 113.5 28 142.4 7 95.2 75 118.5 17 94.9 76
BYU 113.1 29 120.5 18 99.6 64 108.7 34 107.4 49
Ohio State 113.0 30 119.1 19 112.6 29 113.5 27 114.1 40
SMU 112.5 31 112.5 30 113.8 27 110.6 32 123.3 26
Mississippi State 112.3 32 110.6 36 110.2 32 103.4 46 121.4 28
USC 111.9 33 115.3 24 116.7 23 107.1 41 115.5 35
Arkansas State 110.3 34 104.8 48 103.2 51 105.7 43 101.5 63
Central Florida 109.9 35 102.9 52 107.7 36 96.1 79 124.6 24
Michigan 109.6 36 110.5 37 107.8 35 114.3 25 106.0 55
Florida 109.4 37 111.9 32 101.6 57 107.3 39 118.9 32
Nevada 109.3 38 101.6 56 115.5 26 110.9 31 99.4 66
Cincinnati 108.9 39 110.7 35 96.6 69 90.8 100 134.2 17
Missouri 108.5 40 116.5 22 109.5 34 108.0 35 139.7 9
Team Def S&P+ Rk Rushing
S&P+		 Rk Passing
S&P+		 Rk Standard
Downs
S&P+		 Rk Passing
Downs
S&P+		 Rk
Connecticut 108.5 41 132.0 10 92.2 84 101.6 51 117.3 34
Virginia 107.8 42 110.0 40 103.0 52 116.7 21 99.9 65
Toledo 107.5 43 115.4 23 105.7 42 96.9 76 105.7 58
Florida International 107.3 44 94.8 81 105.7 41 103.4 47 89.6 86
South Florida 107.2 45 114.1 28 96.3 71 107.2 40 109.8 46
Tennessee 106.1 46 110.2 38 103.8 49 104.4 45 108.5 47
North Carolina 104.9 47 108.8 42 102.8 53 105.1 44 102.0 61
Arkansas 104.9 48 100.0 61 107.0 38 101.3 55 126.0 20
Pittsburgh 104.8 49 105.1 47 101.8 55 99.4 64 122.2 27
San Diego State 104.4 50 100.5 58 107.6 37 117.4 19 85.1 95
Boston College 103.1 51 98.7 65 112.7 28 101.4 54 119.9 30
West Virginia 103.0 52 94.8 80 100.3 60 101.0 56 99.4 67
Iowa 102.8 53 111.6 34 89.8 92 99.9 63 90.6 81
Miami-OH 102.8 54 106.2 46 99.8 62 111.1 30 89.1 87
NC State 102.5 55 95.8 76 105.0 45 101.6 52 108.3 48
Louisville 101.9 56 102.8 54 90.5 90 100.5 61 90.3 84
Kentucky 101.8 57 97.6 68 105.0 44 99.2 65 99.0 68
Kansas State 101.4 58 111.7 33 103.8 50 107.8 37 101.6 62
Wisconsin 101.2 59 96.9 70 97.7 67 96.1 78 126.3 19
Arizona State 101.0 60 98.3 66 105.9 40 100.0 62 106.8 50
Team Def S&P+ Rk Rushing
S&P+		 Rk Passing
S&P+		 Rk Standard
Downs
S&P+		 Rk Passing
Downs
S&P+		 Rk
Northern Illinois 100.9 61 99.5 64 101.6 56 97.4 72 103.9 59
Ohio 100.7 62 96.5 72 93.1 79 93.5 88 96.3 73
Houston 100.3 63 94.1 84 95.8 73 102.6 48 90.5 82
Marshall 99.9 64 103.6 51 104.8 46 99.2 66 105.9 57
UL-Monroe 99.3 65 104.5 50 92.1 85 101.4 53 92.8 78
Georgia Tech 99.0 66 86.9 101 105.1 43 92.5 93 92.5 79
Iowa State 98.5 67 100.2 59 106.8 39 107.5 38 106.0 56
Syracuse 98.3 68 102.1 55 95.8 72 93.8 87 115.5 36
Eastern Michigan 98.2 69 102.9 53 84.6 99 95.2 82 83.9 101
Clemson 96.7 70 94.4 82 99.3 65 96.0 80 119.4 31
Wake Forest 96.4 71 95.6 77 94.3 77 92.9 89 106.3 51
Oregon State 96.3 72 96.5 73 110.1 33 107.8 36 106.1 53
Miami-FL 96.0 73 109.7 41 78.2 109 95.9 81 101.2 64
UL-Lafayette 95.8 74 95.0 79 86.5 96 90.5 101 87.7 90
Auburn 95.5 75 100.1 60 92.8 80 97.9 70 89.0 88
Purdue 95.4 76 99.6 63 92.6 81 97.5 71 110.4 44
Bowling Green 95.3 77 87.5 99 100.8 59 88.0 103 115.3 37
Utah State 95.1 78 90.9 94 92.4 83 98.4 69 81.2 105
Hawaii 93.4 79 93.5 86 86.0 97 86.4 107 98.8 69
East Carolina 93.1 80 88.2 97 102.5 54 98.7 67 95.2 75
Team Def S&P+ Rk Rushing
S&P+		 Rk Passing
S&P+		 Rk Standard
Downs
S&P+		 Rk Passing
Downs
S&P+		 Rk
Western Kentucky 92.8 81 93.8 85 85.2 98 92.5 92 78.3 109
San Jose State 92.8 82 95.9 75 93.2 78 101.0 57 89.8 85
Baylor 92.7 83 99.8 62 90.3 91 92.8 90 98.6 70
UCLA 92.5 84 86.5 102 104.3 48 98.5 68 103.2 60
Western Michigan 92.4 85 86.4 103 91.8 86 92.7 91 84.9 96
Arizona 91.7 86 97.7 67 98.3 66 100.7 60 86.8 91
UTEP 90.2 87 86.1 104 94.9 76 96.6 77 77.4 110
Rice 90.2 88 93.1 87 96.3 70 95.1 84 92.3 80
Minnesota 90.0 89 91.7 93 99.8 63 93.8 86 110.1 45
Ole Miss 89.6 90 88.5 96 96.7 68 95.1 83 88.9 89
Northwestern 88.9 91 95.9 74 74.8 116 87.6 105 80.2 106
Air Force 88.8 92 95.5 78 76.8 112 91.1 98 74.1 116
Washington 88.8 93 84.9 107 101.1 58 100.8 58 84.1 98
Maryland 88.0 94 83.0 112 100.1 61 94.1 85 97.0 72
Troy 87.7 95 94.1 83 79.9 105 88.5 102 92.9 77
Duke 87.5 96 89.2 95 91.8 87 87.7 104 85.6 93
North Texas 87.5 97 92.5 90 84.5 100 91.4 95 97.2 71
Buffalo 87.1 98 92.9 88 78.5 108 85.5 109 83.7 102
Colorado State 86.6 99 83.0 111 95.2 74 80.2 115 115.0 38
Wyoming 86.5 100 87.1 100 88.8 95 91.4 97 75.9 112
Team Def S&P+ Rk Rushing
S&P+		 Rk Passing
S&P+		 Rk Standard
Downs
S&P+		 Rk Passing
Downs
S&P+		 Rk
Idaho 86.1 101 97.0 69 83.6 102 91.4 96 106.0 54
Florida Atlantic 85.7 102 84.9 106 88.8 94 101.7 50 66.1 120
Ball State 85.2 103 100.8 57 79.7 107 97.2 73 75.2 114
Army 84.8 104 92.0 92 79.7 106 97.1 74 68.7 119
Fresno State 84.5 105 83.5 109 84.4 101 85.5 108 85.9 92
Central Michigan 84.2 106 83.5 110 78.1 110 81.7 114 83.3 103
New Mexico State 83.6 107 79.4 113 92.5 82 83.7 111 84.3 97
Colorado 83.6 108 88.1 98 91.7 88 102.2 49 72.9 118
Washington State 83.4 109 96.7 71 77.8 111 86.7 106 90.5 83
Texas Tech 83.3 110 92.3 91 82.0 104 91.5 94 84.0 100
UNLV 81.5 111 85.8 105 91.0 89 97.0 75 77.1 111
Tulane 80.6 112 71.8 118 89.6 93 84.8 110 84.1 99
Navy 79.4 113 84.4 108 74.9 115 79.1 118 96.2 74
Kansas 78.1 114 92.6 89 82.9 103 91.0 99 82.6 104
Middle Tennessee 75.8 115 73.6 117 75.5 113 79.4 117 85.2 94
Memphis 74.2 116 76.7 115 70.2 118 79.4 116 74.0 117
Indiana 72.3 117 78.5 114 70.0 119 82.5 113 80.1 107
UAB 69.1 118 67.1 120 75.3 114 73.8 119 74.4 115
New Mexico 67.9 119 75.7 116 71.9 117 82.8 112 75.3 113
Akron 66.8 120 71.4 119 64.9 120 72.3 120 80.0 108