Football Wonk: State U

Been a while since I did one of these. And in fact, this one probably doesn't count, because it doesn't prove a damn thing. Seriously, any attempt to infer anything like "this proves we're better than you" should be mocked quickly and strictly. I did it just for fun and to see what it'd look like.

Here's what I did: I divided all 119 D-1A programs up by the state in which they are located. Then I totalled up their wins and losses for this season, removing all games played against other divisions and all games played against other teams within the state (since those games would just inch the resulting w/l percentage toward .500). Then I ranked them. Yes, I know that the several single school states skew the list. And yes, I realize that California and Texas have multiple elite teams and would be tops if you only considered the best 2 or 3 schools from a particular state. But I didn't do that. Everybody counts. You don't get to disregard Rice because Texas has been so good, or San Jose State because of USC. Finally, I ranked the states by winning percentage of teams located therein. Here's the result, with Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Alaska not ranked since there is no D-1A program located in any of them. Ties are ranked the same, listed alphabetically.

1. Georgia 15-5 (.7500)
1. Virginia 15-5 (.7500)
1. Wisconsin 9-3 (.7500)
4. Massachusetts 8-3 (.7272)
5. California 36-18 (.6667)
5. Oregon 12-6 (.6667)
7. South Carolina 13-7 (.6500)
8. Minnesota 7-4 (.6364)
9. Iowa 11-7 (.6111)
10. Nebraska 6-4 (.6000)
10. New Jersey 6-4 (.6000)
12. Alabama 22-15 (.5946)
13. Florida 36-26 (.5806)
14. West Virginia 11-8 (.5789)
15. Texas 40-32 (.5556)
16. Missouri 6-5 (.5455)
17. Oklahoma 15-13 (.5357)
18. Maryland 10-9 (.5263)
19. Michigan 23-21 (.5227)
20. Louisiana 25-23 (.5208)
21. Colorado 15-14 (.5172)
22. Kentucky 9-9 (.5000)
23. Ohio 28-29 (.4912)
24. Indiana 19-20 (.4872)
25. Kansas 9-10 (.4737)
26. Illinois 13-15 (.4643)
27. Idaho 9-11 (.4500)
27. Nevada 9-11 (.4500)
29. Connecticut 4-5 (.4444)
30. Pennsylvania 14-18 (.4375)
31. Tennessee 15-20 (.4286)
31. Utah 12-16 (.4286)
33. Arizona 8-11 (.4201)
34. Arkansas 8-12 (.4000)
35. Hawaii 4-7 (.3636)
35. Wyoming 4-7 (.3636)
37. North Carolina 13-28 (.3171)
38. Mississippi 8-20 (.2857)
39. New Mexico 5-16 (.2381)
40. Washington 4-15 (.2105)
41. New York 5-26 (.1613)

Some other interesting state facts:

• Texas, Florida and Ohio have the most bowl-eligible teams, with 5 each (Florida was 5/7, Ohio 5/8, Texas only 5/10).
• Georgia, Iowa, South Carolina and Virginia were the only states with more than one team and with 100% bowl eligibility.
• New York and Washington are the only states with more than one team and 0% bowl eligibility.
• Arkansas, Tennessee, Maryland, Mississippi: states where the BCS conference teams aren't going bowling, but the redheaded stepchildren not in major conferences are.
• Either 36 or 37 out of 41 states have a bowl eligible team. Only Hawaii, New York, Washington, Wyoming do not. Connecticut still might since UConn can get eligible with a win over Louisville this weekend.

Again, this proves absolutely nothing. Except how awesome the state of Georgia is. And how weak New York is. THE FACTS DON'T LIE, SUCKAS!