Daily Blog • June 7, 2012

In the past several blogs I have been breaking down each factor that goes into my New and Improved Experience Chart and today I conclude the series by combining the five factors into my final ranking.

For more than 7 years I have listed an experience chart, which broke down the number of seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen each team had in the two deep and rated the teams experience level with a formula I devised. In '09 I made the experience chart FIVE TIMES better.

We still do the exact same chart but now I just list the Senior starters, the rest of the seniors in the two deep and the points accumulated by using the system I used from 2002-‘08. In the chart listed below I have now included 4 other factors. The 2nd factor listed in the chart below is the % of lettermen returning. I devised a point system for this and explain it in depth on page 319 of this year’s magazine. Also added was the % of returning offensive yards. I took the total yards passing, rushing and receiving for each team and divided out the yardage of the returning players and the yards returning % listed below is that figure. I did the same with the total tackles from last year and the % of tackles returning. This gives us an idea of the defense’s experience. The final factor is the career starts returning for the offensive line. These players are not included in the stats but are a vital part of the offense.

I then devised a formula that factors all 5 into the total points equation and then turned the point total into a number from 100 to 0. A 100 would be a team with 25 seniors (NCAA scholarship limit) in the two deep and every yard and tackle returning and 120+ career starts on the offensive line. A 0 would be a team with no experience and 0 seniors in the two deep. Just as in years past the first number is where each team ranks in the NCAA.

If you have been following the past couple of experience blogs, it should come as no surprise that UTSA has the most experience points for 2012 with 81.1 as they have the most returning starters and finished among the tops in % of Lettermen returning and % of tackles returning. Tennessee also is one of the most experienced teams with 78.8 pts as they return at least 75% of their lettermen, yds and tackles while also boasting 105 career OL starts.

At the bottom of the chart is Colorado and Miami, Fl who both feature 2nd-Year HC’s who certainly have their work cut out for them. Remember though two years ago Oklahoma St was #120 in this chart and surprised EVERYONE.
Here is the complete New and Improved Experience Chart which is featured on page 321 in this year’s magazine.

2012 Combined Experience Chart

    Total Senior Senior Senior % LTR % YDS % TKL OL CAR
Rank
Team Exp Pts Strs 2 Deep Exp Pts Return Return Return STRS
1
UTSA 81.1 3 1 51 85.5% 91.0% 89.0% 48
2
Tennessee 78.8 5 5 66 76.6% 79.5% 75.8% 105
3
Central Michigan 76.6 11 3 69 77.6% 86.4% 73.2% 94
4
Oklahoma 75.6 12 3 73 70.0% 83.9% 68.0% 102
5
Kent St 75.4 13 1 70 69.1% 71.2% 81.9% 101
6
Eastern Michigan 73.7 11 3 64 72.6% 95.3% 66.0% 95
7
West Virginia 73.2 10 6 66 66.7% 92.3% 60.2% 105
8
Duke 72.4 9 2 61 66.7% 81.5% 74.2% 90
9
Miami, Oh 72.2 13 1 70 73.1% 88.3% 55.5% 88
10
Rutgers 72.1 10 3 67 75.4% 78.0% 80.3% 76
11
Louisiana Tech 71.8 13 8 79 76.7% 82.2% 53.7% 92
12
Ohio 71.6 11 4 71 75.4% 63.2% 74.4% 98
13
NC State 71.6 11 3 72 59.6% 75.0% 65.3% 112
14
Utah 71.2 11 4 69 78.4% 95.8% 58.3% 65
15
Ball St 71.1 9 4 63 63.8% 83.7% 60.2% 115
16
WKU 70.8 9 3 64 82.8% 66.0% 71.4% 88
17
Texas Tech 70.8 12 1 61 67.1% 87.0% 76.6% 69
18
FIU 70.6 11 5 73 78.7% 42.6% 88.2% 103
19
Boston College 70.5 6 2 55 72.7% 98.4% 69.5% 66
20
Mississippi 70.3 6 5 67 78.9% 84.1% 74.0% 57
21
Army 70.3 9 4 75 71.3% 91.6% 74.8% 45
22
South Alabama 69.9 5 4 66 73.4% 89.9% 96.0% 30
23
Florida St 69.8 8 3 63 77.3% 87.8% 75.6% 50
24
Troy 69.6 13 4 78 67.1% 95.2% 58.2% 56
25
UCLA 69.3 11 3 62 73.9% 69.1% 84.6% 74
26
Kansas St 69.0 13 8 86 66.7% 95.8% 58.8% 43
27
USF 68.8 12 4 72 70.3% 85.5% 77.3% 46
28
Oregon St 68.8 9 4 68 70.3% 87.1% 77.6% 50
29
Texas St 68.7 8 3 64 72.7% 89.8% 79.5% 43
30
Georgia Tech 68.6 7 2 66 76.8% 65.7% 77.5% 83
31
Georgia 68.4 10 1 63 73.0% 89.4% 88.5% 31
32
Bowling Green 68.1 4 2 49 72.4% 66.6% 87.9% 78
33
UCF 67.5 10 6 64 66.7% 55.0% 76.8% 89
34
Michigan 66.8 10 3 63 67.6% 81.8% 77.4% 64
35
Tulane 66.5 8 1 48 77.8% 90.6% 86.0% 50
36
Louisville 66.5 5 3 53 77.0% 77.7% 70.8% 74
37
Purdue 66.4 10 4 71 65.8% 86.3% 66.7% 49
38
Iowa St 66.4 11 7 79 66.7% 84.9% 65.1% 53
39
BYU 66.3 9 8 70 73.0% 64.1% 66.4% 77
40
North Carolina 66.2 9 4 62 65.0% 77.3% 55.8% 93
41
Nebraska 66.0 9 7 74 66.7% 92.0% 62.1% 44
42
FAU 65.7 5 5 70 74.2% 63.3% 74.9% 57
43
Fresno St 65.6 10 6 73 66.0% 79.4% 68.9% 51
44
Missouri 65.1 10 3 66 62.7% 83.3% 67.8% 68
45
UMass 65.1 11 4 69 71.2% 42.1% 74.8% 85
46
Vanderbilt 64.6 11 2 62 67.2% 83.1% 62.8% 60
47
Wyoming 64.6 11 4 68 72.9% 77.5% 64.2% 64
48
Connecticut 64.3 11 3 66 63.3% 79.1% 75.9% 48
49
ULM 63.9 7 3 62 68.3% 94.6% 47.0% 69
50
Ohio St 63.7 9 2 60 66.7% 75.9% 81.9% 42
51
Florida 63.6 8 2 63 84.6% 36.5% 86.3% 79
52
Arkansas  63.6 9 6 71 71.0% 73.3% 56.4% 65
53
Clemson 63.2 8 2 51 66.7% 94.0% 71.7% 48
54
Texas 63.1 3 3 57 68.3% 83.9% 57.6% 63
55
USC 63.0 8 1 50 56.3% 85.3% 71.8% 60
56
Pittsburgh 62.4 10 0 61 74.6% 92.9% 47.7% 52
57
Illinois 61.8 10 4 57 71.9% 63.7% 68.2% 68
58
Indiana 61.5 3 1 51 69.4% 79.0% 64.8% 58
59
Virginia  61.4 7 4 57 62.7% 81.4% 56.0% 76
60
East Carolina 61.1 7 3 73 70.6% 46.8% 76.9% 68
61
UNLV 61.1 5 4 56 64.8% 76.7% 54.6% 82
62
Washington St 61.1 8 5 68 71.0% 55.5% 68.0% 57
63
Louisiana 61.0 11 0 58 70.0% 84.9% 42.9% 73
64
Colorado St 60.8 7 2 50 63.5% 79.1% 83.0% 56
65
Notre Dame 60.5 7 3 53 56.9% 75.4% 64.8% 65
66
Baylor 60.4 9 6 73 77.1% 30.9% 81.2% 77
67
Western Michigan 60.3 8 4 62 64.2% 63.3% 60.3% 68
68
UTEP 60.1 12 5 71 66.2% 63.8% 61.1% 53
69
Syracuse 59.9 7 5 60 65.6% 65.9% 68.4% 63
70
New Mexico 59.8 12 5 74 65.7% 51.5% 55.6% 65
71
South Carolina 59.4 10 5 61 69.8% 73.5% 59.3% 61
72
Kansas 59.4 12 3 76 69.9% 49.5% 60.6% 75
73
LSU 58.9 4 5 59 63.2% 52.3% 62.8% 104
74
Maryland 58.9 10 2 55 65.6% 71.3% 84.8% 46
75
Utah St 58.8 11 3 70 64.9% 54.4% 60.0% 66
76
Alabama 58.5 7 1 60 64.1% 56.7% 50.6% 95
77
Washington 58.1 3 6 54 64.6% 60.6% 70.3% 62
78
Memphis 58.0 7 2 63 74.5% 71.3% 70.4% 42
79
Tulsa 57.9 12 5 74 68.3% 52.3% 61.5% 70
80
Buffalo 57.7 7 3 64 73.3% 42.1% 70.7% 72
81
Akron 57.5 7 4 57 65.1% 87.9% 57.2% 34
82
California 57.1 8 4 56 67.6% 81.7% 45.8% 63
83
Marshall 56.9 4 1 53 72.7% 90.8% 43.3% 44
84
Middle Tennessee 56.7 7 3 61 61.2% 79.1% 57.4% 37
85
Navy 56.3 11 7 86 51.4% 59.2% 71.6% 34
86
Arkansas St 56.3 11 7 79 66.7% 77.9% 44.1% 33
87
North Texas 55.4 7 3 58 56.5% 64.0% 46.4% 67
88
Texas A&M 55.3 11 4 60 66.3% 39.3% 61.3% 95
89
Oklahoma St 54.9 10 2 67 71.4% 35.7% 78.7% 63
90
Kentucky 54.1 8 4 53 67.1% 84.7% 42.1% 50
91
Minnesota 54.0 7 1 57 71.2% 69.1% 53.5% 40
92
Michigan St 54.0 5 5 59 71.4% 21.0% 86.8% 74
93
TCU 53.7 7 2 51 65.6% 91.9% 53.7% 28
94
Auburn 53.7 8 1 51 70.6% 58.0% 81.8% 35
95
Southern Miss 53.3 11 3 74 64.6% 45.4% 50.9% 80
96
Wisconsin 52.8 7 1 65 64.1% 51.8% 74.3% 49
97
Oregon 52.1 9 1 57 79.2% 36.5% 72.8% 65
98
Penn St 52.1 9 4 71 60.3% 79.5% 52.1% 17
99
Mississippi St 52.0 7 7 65 76.1% 54.2% 60.4% 43
100
Iowa  51.9 6 5 58 64.5% 59.9% 55.2% 45
101
San Diego St 51.6 6 6 67 63.5% 38.9% 55.3% 75
102
Nevada 51.5 11 3 58 57.4% 38.6% 52.6% 75
103
Virginia Tech 51.4 8 3 58 65.2% 53.8% 76.5% 17
104
Houston 51.2 8 5 69 74.6% 16.5% 68.4% 71
105
San Jose St 51.2 6 6 66 62.3% 44.2% 60.9% 66
106
Wake Forest 50.4 6 2 50 72.4% 63.4% 68.8% 19
107
UAB 49.8 8 3 55 66.7% 78.8% 49.7% 17
108
Toledo 49.3 9 6 72 69.6% 59.2% 47.1% 26
109
Stanford 48.8 5 4 56 79.2% 41.1% 67.7% 37
110
Rice 47.9 6 1 58 64.7% 61.8% 60.0% 15
111
Northwestern 47.5 8 3 57 69.0% 41.7% 49.4% 73
112
Arizona 47.4 6 8 67 75.3% 22.7% 52.7% 61
113
Northern Illinois 46.5 11 2 65 71.6% 33.2% 71.8% 24
114
Idaho 46.1 14 3 81 68.3% 34.8% 52.3% 31
115
Cincinnati 45.7 8 6 69 67.2% 41.8% 57.7% 28
116
SMU 45.2 11 5 65 63.6% 39.8% 71.7% 24
117
Temple 44.7 11 1 71 70.0% 37.9% 44.2% 29
118
Boise St 43.6 9 7 67 70.6% 36.0% 39.9% 64
119
New Mexico St 43.5 9 6 73 64.2% 35.1% 41.1% 59
120
Arizona St 42.5 9 3 71 66.7% 30.2% 47.6% 47
121
Air Force 42.1 11 8 73 68.0% 37.4% 48.2% 39
122
Hawaii 41.4 7 3 61 69.2% 51.1% 45.6% 20
123
Miami, Fl 38.1 6 3 59 63.1% 23.7% 50.8% 36
124
Colorado 37.8 6 0 43 58.7% 22.3% 62.3% 51


Please check PhilSteele.com everyday to get my Top 40 Countdown which continued today with #5 Alabama. Every day now thru June 12th, I will post both magazine pages on each team that day and you can get an early look on how I breakdown your favorite team. Remember I will make those magazine pages available for only 24 hours for you to download.

Only 84 DAYS LEFT UNTIL THE FIRST COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME!!!