The Most Efficient Big 12 Teams And How They Compare To The SEC

We looked last week at the most efficient Big 12 offenses and defenses, and I wanted to give an update on that after another round of games over the weekend. But I also wanted to compare those offenses and defenses to some of our beloved brethren in the SEC that so many fans, players and coaches talk about so often.

But first, the Big 12’s points per drive numbers after last week.

West Virginia was off, and its number didn’t change, but we didn’t talk about it last week. How is a Dana Holgorsen-coached team No. 9 in offense in a pass-happy league? I do not understand. Texas Tech fell below four after going to Snyder-ville. I would like to see OSU get up in that 2.8 to 2.9 range by the time the season is over.

Here is the defense.

OSU’s offensive number fell off a tad but its defensive number improved last week against Iowa State. The Pokes are now No. 73 in the country in points per drive allowed on defense. You can look at all the numbers here.

OK, on to the SEC. Mike Gundy talked about them recently at one of his press conferences.

“It’s not necessarily just the Big 12 now,” said Mike Gundy recently about high-scoring games. “If you look at the SEC, which has over the years prided itself on defense, and the scores in their league are very similar to the scores in our league to a certain extent that we’re in a trend again.”

This is statistically not true. That ain’t true! At the halfway point in the season, here’s how many points are being scored per game in each conference (conference games only):

2016

• Big 12 — 70.45 points
• SEC — 50.05 points

So it’s not even close. But how does this compare to last year?

2015

• Big 12 — 67.16 points
• SEC — 47.21 points

So while it’s true that all scores are up, the SEC is still not in the Big 12’s neighborhood when it comes to high-scoring games. Mostly because they play a more controlled, less-fast style of football. It doesn’t mean their offenses are bad (we’re about to see in a second how good some of their teams’ PPD numbers are). It just means their PPG numbers are not in the Big 12’s stratosphere.

Also, just for fun, I threw in some points-per-drive numbers for four random SEC teams (including the two SEC favorites) to see where they would fit in within the Big 12. People have always incorrectly measured points per game and said “see, the SEC rocks at defense and the Big 12 stinks!” We need to look at points per drive, though.

I admit this is not a perfect measurement because they are not playing common opponents, and SEC apologists would say SEC teams are doing it against tougher teams. But, for example, Georgia looks a lot less big and bad when it has a worse defense than Baylor and a worse offense than Iowa State. A&M does not seem like a national title contender when you realize it has a much less efficient offense than OSU.

Also, there are no feasible measurements to make Alabama’s defense look anything other than otherworldly. That offense, too. Oh my. Ultimately this is a fun exercise pitting our conference against theirs. Don’t believe it when you hear pundits say the Big 12 doesn’t play defense or the SEC doesn’t play offense. It’s almost always a tempo thing. As these numbers reveal.