Fun with football numbers

It’s a good thing the two major FCS polls are based on winning and losing or Jacksonville State might not enjoy as lofty a position as they do right now.

The Gamecocks are 5-0 and ranked No. 3 in both major polls this week – their highest ranking in the school’s Division I history – but if you compared where they stand statistically on offense and defense, they’d barely be in the top 40.

Applying point values to a team’s position in the 10 major offensive and defensive categories in the weekly NCAA FCS statistics, the Gamecocks would come in 35th with 485 points. They wouldn’t even be the best in the Ohio Valley Conference, trailing Tennessee State (16th, 348 points) and Southeast Missouri (26th, 404).

But statistics can only tell you so much.

Consensus No. 1 Appalachian State is fifth in the Musky Power Rankings (249) and consensus No. 1 Delaware is third (240).

Bethune-Cookman (4-0), ranked in the top 10 in eight of the 10 categories, tops the list this week. The MEAC school leads the nation in total and scoring offense, and is second in rushing, pass efficiency and pass efficiency defense.

For what it’s worth, here’s this week’s the top 40. We’ll try to keep up with it each week now that the season has hit the mid-point.


Bethune-Cookman 88
W Illinois 202
Delaware 240
SC State 242
App St 249
Montana 258
Villanova 274
Liberty 282
Ga. Southern 294
Wofford 300
N Arizona 309
Montana St. 311
New Hamp 323
James Madison 335
UMass 342
Tenn. St 348
Harvard 353
Dayton 356
J'ville 380
Wm & Mary 380
Cent Arkansas 381
Chattanooga 391.5
Brown 393
Jackson St. 401
Robt Morris 401
SE Missouri 404
N. Iowa 420
Stephen F Austin 423
Penn 429
Old Dominion 433
Cent. Conn 437
S. Illinois 469
Furman 474
Hampton 481
JAX STATE 485
Youngstown St 529
Missouri St 530
ND State 533
Maine 534
Alabama St 540