Drive-Point Efficiency thru Week 9

The Big 5 (Alabama, Baylor, Oregon, Florida State, and Louisville) remain apart from the rest of the FBS.  Ohio State, riding a 20-game winning streak and coming off a beat down victory over Penn State, is putting up comparable offensive numbers, but is much less efficient defensively than the other BCS National Championship contenders.

I do not envy anyone involved in the BCS this year.  Unless simple dumb luck intervenes, two of the four are going to be left out of the party, when for all intents and purposes there is no discernible difference in their performance on the field this year.  Baylor might have the most to complain about.  It was a middle-of-the-pack Big 12 pick before the season started, so its starting position has all but guaranteed it will not be in the race at the end.

It seems like every year at this time writers and fans start contemplating the likelihood that there will be three or four or five undefeated teams after the conference championship games.  And it never happens.  This year, however, may be different.  Of the five undefeated teams, OSU is probably the most likely to stumble.  But it's hard to see the other four losing.

It looks to me like the BCS intends to go out in a memorable, if not infamous, way.

As always, teams in the upper right are the most efficient on offense (scoring more points per possession that expected based on starting field position) and defense (preventing opponents from doing the same.  The size of the marker indicates current WL%