Consistency

by user Leftyloon

There are several different levels of consistency in college football. Some teams consistently win 6-7 games and go to a low-tier bowl, others win 10-11 and play in the BCS, while some are consistently pummeled by the opposition and win only 2-3 games. The Big 12 Conference has been around for 10 years. Which teams have been the most consistent in terms of winning percentage year in and year out, and which have run the gauntlet from also ran to greatness? Here are the 12 teams ranked by standard deviation of seasonal winning percentage from most consistent to least consistent.

• Texas Tech .066
• Baylor .103
• Kansas .112
• Missouri .129
• Texas A&M .133
• Oklahoma State .141
• Colorado .167
• Nebraska .176
• Texas .179
• Kansas State .200
• Iowa State .223
• Oklahoma .258

The Red Raiders rate as the most consistent team with a standard deviation of only 6.6% in winning percentage. In their 10 years of play in the Big 12, they have never finished with a losing record, and have never won more than 9 games. Baylor is the second most consistent team, never posting a losing record and recording 4 seasons of 3 wins and 3 seasons of 2 wins. Texas Tech has been by far the most consistent team, as the difference in standard deviation between themselves and the second place Baylor Bears is nearly the same as the distance between Baylor and the sixth most consistent team (or team with about average consistency if that makes any sense), the Oklahoma St. Cowboys. Oklahoma has been the least consistent team. The primary reason for this is that they never won more than 5 games in the 3 seasons before Bob Stoops arrival. During his tenure in Norman, the Sooner have won more than 10 games 5 times, and have won at least twice as many as they have lost in all but one season. Iowa St. is the second most inconsistent team with finishes of 1-10, 7-7, and 9-3. I don't know how much insight this lends if any, but I just thought it was interesting.

Date

Wed 05/31/06, 4:11 pm EST