Number Whipping: Defensive Ranks

by rhinoskin on Oct 28, 2008 1:32 PM CDT

ed. - bumped from the fanposts. stat wonks what!

NJBammer's article Rushing D, Scoring D got me thinking. And please don't bust my berries over how I spend my lunch break!

There might be a statistic formed here called "defensive effectiveness" which, quite obviously states how dependent, or rather, how much of your success is dependent on your rush defense.

As suggested by NJBammer, I took a look at both Rushing TDs and Rushing Yards Per Game, sorted and ranked both, averaged the ranks, and compared them to BCS standings.

via www.automotivesys.com

Legend:

BCS - BCS Rankings
TD/YPG - Average of "Rushing TDs Allowed on Defense (Rank)" and "Rushing Yards Per Game (Rank)"
D.E. - Defensive Effectiveness
D.E.R. - Rank of Defensive Effectiveness

The way I interpret this stat is that it basically says "how much of a role has your relative defense strength played into your success this season". For a team like Florida State, their defense has been nearly the entire reason for their current success. FSU's defensive statistic rankings greatly outweigh their offensive statistic rankings. On the other hand, a team like Oklahoma with a -42.5 D.E., meaning their poor defensive rankings relative to their high overall ranking shows us that their offense has been their reason for their success thus far.

Ideally I think the closer to '0' D.E. you are, the better. This would indicate a rushing defense that is as strong as the rest of your team.

FanPosts are just that; posts created by the fans. They are in no way indicative of the opinions of SBN and the authors of Roll Bama Roll.

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Comments

Interesting

I like the analysis. And more than appreciate your productive use of your lunch break.

Roll Tide!!

by touncy28 on Oct 28, 2008 2:24 PM CDT reply actions

this would be a good use of company time

you should create one for offense/rushing while ON the clock.

by tempebamafan on Oct 28, 2008 2:36 PM CDT reply actions

Very interesting...

…but I’m not sure what I think about your ‘closer to zero’ argument, since that would make UConn tied for the #1 slot, and there are 15-20 teams on this list that I would rank ahead of the Huskies. Still, it is thought-provoking, and I applaud your effort. It’s nice to know I’m not the most obsessed fan in the world.

by NiceLittleSaturday on Oct 28, 2008 2:41 PM CDT reply actions

Understanding the Statistic

You have to understand that this is a statistic of balance, not of greatness. Ideally, you’d like to have both, and you could surely measure that too.

More importantly it shows that some ‘great’ teams are (as far as run defense) well balanced like Alabama or Texas, but then it also exposes other seemingly great teams like Oklahoma which win entirely with offense.

UCon is well balanced, and their run defense is every bit as good as their team overall. Unfortunately, that isn’t very much.

by rhinoskin on Oct 28, 2008 4:16 PM CDT up reply actions

I understand...

…that this is a statistic of balance. The only question I had was about your statement that the closer to 0 you are, the better, because — as you noted in your reply — balance does not equal greatness. Texas A&M, for instance is well-balanced as an atrocious team offensively and defensively. Oklahoma, on the other hand, is much better off simply sucking on D while kicking butt on O.

Anyway, it’s still a cool look at the nature of each of the BCS teams and would be fun to view each week if you can get away with it at work. Knowing RBR’s (bad) influence, I’m sure you can.

by NiceLittleSaturday on Oct 28, 2008 10:29 PM CDT up reply actions

Very interesting analysis

I’m going to parse through this a bit more with my statistician fam. BTW: to follow up on Tempe’s suggestion, I have a billing code you can borrow “1.2 hours RE: File Review (insert obscure, nearly-closed file here).”

by Stuck in the Plains on Oct 28, 2008 4:57 PM CDT reply actions