The Ghostwriter

Rather than simply languishing here in the summer doldrums–yearning for salvation in the form of fresh football-related material (sorry Favre)–I began to ask myself, “Self, what kind of story or study would you  be interested in reading?”

Sadly, this question was often followed by a long silence (it is the summer, after all).

Then one day it came to me. I’d like to see a retrospective piece on the last ten years of college football. Which team had the best winning percentage over those years? The worst? Could Duke trump fellow football doormats like Indiana, Baylor, and Iowa State? Would Southern Cal’s recent success be enough to top long-standing regimes like Florida State, Texas, and Ohio State? Keep in mind this would all be strictly within a ten year window.

I was also curious to compare these winning percentages to each respective college’s NFL draft resume over the same years. Would there be a school with top ten level pro talent that wasn’t one of the most winningest franchises? What about a school with meager pro talent that consistently bested teams with better individual players? If nothing else, a comparison of school winning percentage and draft success would speak volumes about the coaching at these institutions.

Once I started breaking down the individual drafts of the last ten years, I quickly realized that I had a problem. I wanted to rank the universities on their draft resumes, but a ranking based off a simple tally would be too shallow. A first-round pick is clearly a far greater accomplishment than being a seventh-rounder.  To compensate for this difference, I came up with a system called “draft pick points.” Under this rubric, the value of a selection is determined by the inverse of its round (i.e. first-rounder = seven points, second-rounder = six points, third-rounder = five points, fourth-rounder = four points, fifth-rounder = three points, sixth-rounder = two points, and seventh-rounder = one point).

Now, I did NOT include every FBS football program in these rankings. Some schools just didn’t merit a draft resume. For clarification purposes, this study includes all of the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big 10, Big East, and Pac 10. I’ve also chosen to include Notre Dame, Utah, BYU, TCU, San Diego State, Eastern Carolina, Central Florida, Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, San Jose State, New Mexico, and Western Michigan. Thus, the rankings you see listed are out of 78 total schools.

Once again, this study is based solely on the last ten years of college football play and NFL drafts. Enjoy!

Cincinnati

I. Season Performance

1. 2008: 11-3

2. Best: 11-3

3. Worst: 3-8

4. Overall: 68-55

a) Winning Percentage: 55.28%

Winning Percentage Rank: 42 (5th in Big East)

II. Draft Performance

1. 2009 Selection Tally: 6

2. Overall Selection Tally: 18

3. 2009 Draft Pick Point Total: 16

4. Overall Draft Pick Point Total: 45

Overall Draft Pick Point Rank: 65 (7th in Big East)

III. Claim(s) to Fame

1. Conference Titles: 2

2. National Championship Titles: 0

Connnecticut

I. Season Performance

1. 2008: 8-5

2. Best: 9-3

3. Worst: 2-9

4. Overall: 58-60

a) Winning Percentage: 49.15%

Winning Percentage Rank: 58 (6th in Big East)

II. Draft Performance

1. 2009 Selection Tally: 4

2. Overall Selection Tally: 9

3. 2009 Draft Pick Point Total: 25

4. Overall Draft Pick Point Total: 41

Overall Draft Pick Point Rank: 66 (8th in Big East)

III. Claim(s) to Fame

1. Conference Titles: 1

2. National Championship Titles: 0

Louisville

I. Season Performance

1. 2008: 5-7

2. Best: 12-1

3. Worst: 5-7

4. Overall: 86-38

a) Winning Percentage: 69.35%

Winning Percentage Rank: 16 (1st in Big East)

II. Draft Performance

1. 2009 Selection Tally: 2

2. Overall Selection Tally: 29

3. 2009 Draft Pick Point Total: 10

4. Overall Draft Pick Point Total: 108

Overall Draft Pick Point Rank: 29 (1st in Big East)

III. Claim(s) to Fame

1. Conference Titles: 4

2. National Championship Titles: 0

Pittsburgh

I. Season Performance

1. 2008: 9-4

2. Best: 9-4

3. Worst: 5-6

4. Overall: 69-52

a) Winning Percentage: 57.02%

Winning Percentage Rank: 37 (4th in Big East)

II. Draft Performance

1. 2009 Selection Tally: 4

2. Overall Selection Tally: 27

3. 2009 Draft Pick Point Total: 11

4. Overall Draft Pick Point Total: 100

Overall Draft Pick Point Rank: 34 (2nd in Big East)

III. Claim(s) to Fame

1. Conference Titles: 1

2. National Championship Titles: 0

Rutgers

I. Season Performance

1. 2008: 8-5

2. Best: 11-2

3. Worst: 1-11

4. Overall: 51-68

a) Winning Percentage: 42.86%

Winning Percentage Rank: 64 (7th in Big East)

II. Draft Performance

1. 2009 Selection Tally: 5

2. Overall Selection Tally: 14

3. 2009 Draft Pick Point Total: 13

4. Overall Draft Pick Point Total: 45

Overall Draft Pick Point Rank: 64 (6th in Big East)

III. Claim(s) to Fame

1. Conference Titles: 0

2. National Championship Titles: 0

South Florida

I. Season Performance

1. 2008: 8-5

2. Best: 9-2

3. Worst: 4-7

4. Overall: 74-43

a) Winning Percentage: 63.25%

Winning Percentage Rank: 26 (3rd in Big East)

II. Draft Performance

1. 2009 Selection Tally: 1

2. Overall Selection Tally: 11

3. 2009 Draft Pick Point Total: 5

4. Overall Draft Pick Point Total: 46

Overall Draft Pick Point Rank: 62 (5th in Big East)

III. Claim(s) to Fame

1. Conference Titles: 0

2. National Championship Titles: 0

Syracuse

I. Season Performance

1. 2008: 3-9

2. Best: 10-3

3. Worst: 1-10

4. Overall: 49-70

a) Winning Percentage: 41.18%

Winning Percentage Rank: 68 (8th in Big East)

II. Draft Performance

1. 2009 Selection Tally: 2

2. Overall Selection Tally: 21

3. 2009 Draft Pick Point Total: 5

4. Overall Draft Pick Point Total: 73

Overall Draft Pick Point Rank: 46 (3rd in Big East)

III. Claim(s) to Fame

1. Conference Titles: 1

2. National Championship Titles: 0

West Virginia

I. Season Performance

1. 2008: 9-4

2. Best: 11-1

3. Worst: 3-9

4. Overall: 81-42

a) Winning Percentage: 65.85%

Winning Percentage Rank: 22 (2nd in Big East)

II. Draft Performance

1. 2009 Selection Tally: 3

2. Overall Selection Tally: 19

3. 2009 Draft Pick Point Total: 8

4. Overall Draft Pick Point Total: 64

Overall Draft Pick Point Rank: 53 (4th in Big East)

III. Claim(s) to Fame

1. Conference Titles: 4

2. National Championship Titles: 0

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