2008, By The Numbers Part 2 Revisited

The numbers are in, and we have finally had a chance to review some fairly interesting things from the 2008 season. A few weeks back, I took you through the top 25 most statistically balanced teams. What we found was quite expected in some cases, but in others the results were a little more surprising - maybe a bit disturbing.

Today we discuss the other end of the spectrum from what we discussed Thursday. These teams were horribly mismatched when we looked at their entire 2008 schedule - FCS, non-conference, and conference games alike. But unlike the ones Thursday, these teams had absolutely no chance of success based on the quality of the opponents they played. We'd like to just say up front that we respect the fact that they showed up for their games, but all the Hollywood scripting in the world couldn't have gotten these teams into "Rocky" or "Mighty Duck" status. Let's put it this way - these teams were a combined 22-99. Ouch.

The top ten in descending order of rough schedule to ridiculously insanely impossible schedule are:

10) Mississippi St. (24.51 ranking differential) Clearly the worst in the SEC. It's gotta be rough against all those juggernauts.

9) Utah St. (25.88 ranking differential) What's funny is that as bad as they were, they still weren't the worst in the WAC. I guess that's something...

8) Texas A&M (28.51 ranking differential) Aside from the SEC, the Big 12 is arguable the toughest conference. A&M just didn't have it this year, especially losing to non-conference Arkansas St. and Miami.

7) SMU (29.78 ranking differential) One win. That's all we got? One goddamn win?

6) San Diego St. (30.40 ranking differential) Congratulations! The only FBS team with a loss to an FCS team.

5) Idaho (31.24 ranking differential) There's more than potatoes in Idaho. There's also a college that had 2 wins in 2008 and got blanked 70-0 by Arizona. Yes, this happened.

4) North Texas (33.72 ranking differential) Again, only one win, but at least it was a semi-FBS program (Western Ky.). Ball State should be ok in 2009 against these guys.

3) Syracuse (34.87 ranking differential) Charlie Weis sings, "I fought the Orange, and the Orange won." What a dismal year.

2) Washington St. (42.07 ranking differential) Their claim to 2008? Hey, at least we're not Washington!

1) Washington (58.40 ranking differential) Ever laugh really hard when you see someone hurt themselves - like bang their head on a shelf or rack their sack on a fence post? You feel bad, but you just can't help it? Yeah, that's Washington. Check this out: outscored 159-463 last year. Holy hell! But they nearly took BYU and were within 7 against Stanford. If that counted for anything, maybe Ty would still have a job... probably not, but maybe.

Ok readers, how do you feel about this list? Coming up soon: be prepared for the numbers to destroy your favorite conference.