I am always looking for different ways in how to analyze a team for the upcoming season especially a team’s experience coming back.

In today’s blog I took my 2013 postseason All-Conference teams and figured out which players were coming back for 2014 and which players either graduated or left early for the NFL Draft for each team, which you can find in my January 19 blog.

I then assigned a point total for each team. For example, 1st-Team All-Conference was 10 worth points, 2nd team All-Conference was 7 points and 3rd team All-Conference was 4 points. A team would receive 10 points for each player it has returning that was 1st-Team All-Conference and I would deduct 10 points for each player it lost that was 1st-Team All-Conference. The same was done for the 2nd and 3rd-Teams. Players who made my postseason All-American team had an additional 5 points added to their total.

I then subtracted out the differences and came up with a total points column that would evaluate a team’s experience level coming back with regards to their All-Conference performers. The teams with more points naturally are more experienced while the teams with negative point totals means that they lost far more players than what they have returning. A quick note on a team like LSU, Odell Beckham was counted on 2 separate occasions because not only was he a 2nd-Tm All-SEC WR, but also a 1st-Tm KR. The same would go for any other all-purpose player that appeared multiple times on my postseason All-Conference teams.

Here are the Top Teams with regards to experience coming back from my All-Conference teams.

All-Conference Players Coming Back Pts

A first glance you might expect that after arguably their best season in school history, the Blue Devils are due for a fall in 2014. However, they do return 14 starters and seven of those players returning made my postseason All-ACC first or second team while they only lost one 1st or 2nd Tm All-ACC selection. While the Ducks under new head coach Mark Helfrich failed to make a BCS bowl for the fifth straight year in 2013, they still managed their sixth straight double-digit win season. This year they figure to be a preseason top five team as they return a total of 15 starters and most notably ten players who made my postseason All-Pac-12 team (only lost 3).