In advance of today's Summer Vacation piece on the Orange...
Adj. Points have a lot of interesting functions, some of which I'm just now beginning to understand. For instance, since it compares each team's single-game performance to expectations given the opponent at hand, looking at combined Adj. Points for a given game can show us the most surprisingly explosive contests from a given season. The higher the combined Adj. Points, the higher both offenses performed over expectations. December 30's Pinstripe Bowl fits the "surprisingly explosive" bill. It was crazy even before the ridiculous finish.
Top Ten Most High-Scoring Games of 2010 According to Adj. Points
1. Boise State 57, Toledo 14 (Total Adj. Points: 170.4)
2. Nevada 52, California 31 (Total Adj. Points: 170.0)
3. Oregon 52, Stanford 31 (Total Adj. Points: 169.9)
4. Auburn 65, Arkansas 43 (Total Adj. Points: 164.5)
5. Washington 32, USC 31 (Total Adj. Points: 162.2)
6. USC 49, Hawaii 36 (Total Adj. Points: 161.2)
7. Temple 42, Army 35 (Total Adj. Points: 160.2)
8. Oregon State 29, Arizona 27 (Total Adj. Points: 159.8)
9. Michigan 42, UMass 37 (Total Adj. Points: 157.0)
10. Syracuse 36, Kansas State 34 (Total Adj. Points: 155.9)
And while we're at it, here are five games you probably didn't want to be watching last season...
Top Five Lowest-Scoring Games of 2010 According to Adj. Points
1. Nevada 20, Boston College 13 (Total Adj. Points: 18.7)
2. Navy 13, Georgia Southern 7 (Total Adj. Points: 28.3)
3. West Virginia 17, Louisville 10 (Total Adj. Points: 43.4)
4. Nebraska 20, Kansas 3 (Total Adj. Points: 43.4)
5. Texas 24, Texas Tech 14 (Total Adj. Points: 44.2)