Phil Steele's Daily Blog - July 11th - 12th

Yesterday I took a look at the best and worst home teams this decade and today I take a look at the road warriors. Here are the current away records this decade.

AWAY
AWAY
# of Times
AWAY
AWAY
# of Times
W's
L's
Fav on RD
W's
L's
Fav on RD
1
TEXAS
36
5
87.8%
37
61
EAST CAROLINA
21
33
38.9%
19
2
GEORGIA
32
6
84.2%
27
62
MEMPHIS
18
29
38.3%
14
3
OKLAHOMA
30
8
78.9%
31
63
OKLA ST
18
29
38.3%
14
4
BOISE ST
40
12
76.9%
40
64
TULSA
21
34
38.2%
25
5
OHIO STATE
32
10
76.2%
34
65
MISSOURI
16
26
38.1%
19
6
USC
38
12
76.0%
42
66
MICHIGAN ST
17
28
37.8%
17
7
VIRGINIA TECH
31
13
70.5%
31
67
FAU
18
30
37.5%
5
8
MIAMI FL
32
15
68.1%
33
68
TROY
23
39
37.1%
14
9
LSU
26
14
65.0%
25
69
MINNESOTA
17
29
37.0%
18
10
FLORIDA
24
13
64.9%
27
70
CONNECTICUT
18
31
36.7%
12
11
TENNESSEE
27
15
64.3%
22
71
KANSAS ST
15
26
36.6%
23
12
TCU
33
19
63.5%
32
72
W MICHIGAN
20
35
36.4%
20
13
WEST VIRGINIA
29
17
63.0%
28
73
RUTGERS
16
30
34.8%
10
14
LOUISVILLE
30
18
62.5%
33
74
VIRGINIA
17
32
34.7%
17
15
OREGON
29
18
61.7%
24
75
UCF
19
36
34.5%
17
16
UTAH
30
20
60.0%
33
76
MISSISSIPPI
15
29
34.1%
12
17
FLORIDA  ST
27
19
58.7%
36
77
HOUSTON
17
33
34.0%
16
18
MICHIGAN
25
18
58.1%
30
78
CENTRAL MICH
19
37
33.9%
16
19
AUBURN
23
17
57.5%
18
79
ARIZONA
15
30
33.3%
6
20
GEORGIA TECH
27
20
57.4%
19
80
MARSHALL
18
36
33.3%
21
21
BYU
29
23
55.8%
27
81
AKRON
19
39
32.8%
17
22
WISCONSIN
25
20
55.6%
25
82
MIDDLE TENN
19
39
32.8%
18
23
BOSTON COLL
26
21
55.3%
23
83
NEVADA
18
37
32.7%
19
24
NOTRE DAME
23
20
53.5%
14
84
STANFORD
16
33
32.7%
7
25
BOWLING GRN
30
27
52.6%
24
85
N CAROLINA
16
33
32.7%
9
26
CLEMSON
22
20
52.4%
20
86
WASHINGTON
14
32
30.4%
10
27
SOUTHERN MISS
29
27
51.8%
29
87
UAB
17
39
30.4%
13
28
FRESNO ST
30
28
51.7%
28
88
ILLINOIS
13
30
30.2%
13
29
PITTSBURGH
24
23
51.1%
22
89
OHIO
17
41
29.3%
16
30
WKU
28
28
50.0%
0
90
NORTH TEXAS
17
42
28.8%
13
31
MIAMI OH
30
31
49.2%
24
91
RICE
16
40
28.6%
12
32
TEXAS TECH
24
25
49.0%
25
92
SAN JOSE ST
17
44
27.9%
11
33
WASH ST
23
25
47.9%
17
93
UTEP
15
39
27.8%
12
34
Air Force
23
25
47.9%
19
94
LOUIS TECH
17
45
27.4%
17
35
NAVY
18
21
46.2%
8
95
KENT
15
41
26.8%
10
36
NEW MEXICO
24
28
46.2%
15
96
KANSAS
11
31
26.2%
8
37
OREGON ST
23
27
46.0%
21
97
VANDERBILT
12
34
26.1%
6
38
WAKE FOREST
22
26
45.8%
14
98
UNLV
14
40
25.9%
12
39
USF
22
26
45.8%
19
99
IOWA ST
12
35
25.5%
9
40
MARYLAND
21
25
45.7%
17
##
KENTUCKY
11
33
25.0%
6
41
NEBRASKA
19
23
45.2%
26
##
LOUISIANA
14
42
25.0%
12
42
ALABAMA
18
22
45.0%
19
##
SYRACUSE
12
37
24.5%
11
43
TOLEDO
23
29
44.2%
20
##
SAN DIEGO ST
13
42
23.6%
6
44
CINCINNATI
23
29
44.2%
21
##
TULANE
12
40
23.1%
7
45
N ILLINOIS
23
29
44.2%
25
##
ULM
13
46
22.0%
4
46
S CAROLINA
19
24
44.2%
14
##
MISS ST
10
38
20.8%
12
47
HAWAII
19
24
44.2%
19
##
NEW MEX ST
11
46
19.3%
12
48
ARKANSAS
17
22
43.6%
10
##
FIU
8
34
19.0%
2
49
NC STATE
19
25
43.2%
16
##
ARK ST
10
46
17.9%
9
50
BALL ST
25
33
43.1%
14
##
WYOMING
9
43
17.3%
6
51
NORTHWESTERN
21
28
42.9%
12
##
INDIANA
8
39
17.0%
4
52
COLO ST
21
28
42.9%
18
##
TEMPLE
9
44
17.0%
6
53
CALIFORNIA
21
28
42.9%
22
##
BUFFALO
9
47
16.1%
0
54
IOWA
19
26
42.2%
17
##
UTAH ST
8
51
13.6%
7
55
UCLA
20
28
41.7%
23
##
IDAHO
8
53
13.1%
9
56
PURDUE
19
27
41.3%
23
##
ARMY
6
40
13.0%
3
57
TEXAS A&M
18
26
40.9%
15
##
E MICHIGAN
7
47
13.0%
2
58
ARIZONA  ST
18
27
40.0%
16
##
BAYLOR
6
41
12.8%
4
59
COLORADO
17
26
39.5%
14
##
SMU
6
46
11.5%
7
60
PENN ST
17
26
39.5%
22
##
DUKE
4
46
8.0%
1
FBS TOTALS
2340
3562
39.6%

 

The king of the road warriors is Texas which is 36-5 on the road this decade. I know that Mark Richt has a great record in opposing home stadiums and this is shown by Georgia's 32-6 record on the road this decade. The usual suspects are at the top with Oklahoma, Boise St, USC, Virginia Tech, Miami Florida, LSU and Tennessee all winning over 64% of the time on the road. Yesterday I pointed out that the average home winning percentage for all 120 FBS teams was 63.3% (4109-2385). The 120 teams are a combined 2340-3562 on the road or just 39.6%. Yes, those numbers add up to more than 100% but that is because wins at home and on the road vs FCS teams (1AA) only count in the win column and not the loss column.

Yesterday I pointed out that just 24 teams had a losing record at home this decade. The numbers are similar on the road with just 29 teams able to post winning records away from home this decade. Those 29 teams basically looks like a listing of the whose who in college football but there are a few surprises. Bowling Green and Georgia Tech are not known as being powerhouses but make that list.

The teams at the bottom of the list are the usual suspects with Duke taking the title for worst home record and worst road record of the decade. The only teams that have been regularly in the postseason as of late that are in the bottom 25 are Kansas (26%) and Kentucky (25%).

Yesterday I took at look at home teams and the amount of wins they had as compared to the amount of times they were expected to lose (underdog). Today I look at road teams and the amount of wins they had as opposed to the amount of times they were expected to win on the road. First let me take a look at which teams have been favored the most on the road this decade. The winner is USC at 42 times or nearly 5 times a year. They have been favored
in 42 of their 50 road games. Here is the top ten. 1. USC (42) 2. Boise St (40) 3. Texas (37) 4. Florida St (36) 5. Ohio State (34) 6. Miami Florida (33) 6. Louisville (33) 6. Utah (33) 9. TCU (32) 10 Virginia Tech (31) 10 Oklahoma (31).

Only one team has never been favored or expected to win a road game this decade and that is Buffalo. The others that have been favored on the road 4 times or less are 1 time - Duke 2 times Eastern Michigan, Florida International 3 times Army 4 times Baylor, Indiana, ULMonroe.

Here are the teams that have underperformed on the road this decade. Florida St has been favored to win 36 games on the road this decade but has only won 27 of them for -9. There are 8 teams that have won 4 or fewer times than they have been favored this decade. I will list them in order and the number in parenthesis is the amount of times they have been favored minus the amount of actual road wins. Kansas St (8), Nebraska (7), Michigan (5), Penn St (5), USC (4), Tulsa (4) and Purdue (4).

Now lets look at the teams that outperform expectations on the road. The team that has done the best is Ball St as they have been expected (favorite) to win just 14 road games but they have actually won 25 games on the road or +11. Here are the other teams that do better than expected on the road. Navy +10, New Mexico +9, Notre Dame +9, Troy +9, Northwestern +9, Stanford +9, Arizona +9, ULMonroe +9, Buffalo +9, Georgia Tech +8, Wake Forest +8, Arkansas +7, North Carolina +7 and San Diego St +7. I find it interesting that Notre Dame has only been expected to win 14 times on the road this decade yet are 23-20.

Tomorrow I take a look at the biggest disparities between home and away record this decade.

53 DAYS UNTIL FOOTBALL SEASON!