Welcome to the third edition of our
Tuesday Trivia feature. So far we've examined
the state of parity in college football and
the most improbable winning streaks. Today's edition is the first part of a two-part look at the biggest swings in team strength over the course of consecutive seasons. This week we'll examine the depths of failure. Which teams went from meteoric heights and plummeted to the depths of mediocrity (or, even worse, plummeted from mediocrity to outright garbage)? As always, we confine our search to seasons that span two consecutive years in the 2003-2004 to 2011-2012 span.
With that, let the countdown begin after the jump.
| #5: Kansas Jayhawks |
| Year |
WinPct |
SoS |
Off. |
Def. |
Pace |
| 2009 |
0.562 |
48 |
0.605 |
17 |
21.8 |
34 |
19.8 |
66 |
173.0 |
17 |
| 2010 |
0.232 |
99 |
0.538 |
54 |
15.3 |
97 |
24.7 |
101 |
167.3 |
51 |
| Date |
Away Team |
|
Home Team |
Odds |
| 2009/09/12 |
29 |
Kansas |
34 |
at |
80 |
UTEP |
7 |
27.2% |
| 2009/09/19 |
79 |
Duke |
16 |
at |
24 |
Kansas |
44 |
88.8% |
| 2009/09/26 |
57 |
Southern Miss. |
28 |
at |
23 |
Kansas |
35 |
81.0% |
| 2009/10/10 |
84 |
Iowa St. |
36 |
at |
19 |
Kansas |
41 |
90.4% |
| 2009/10/17 |
22 |
Kansas |
30 |
at |
66 |
Colorado |
34 |
33.2% |
| 2009/10/24 |
3 |
Oklahoma |
35 |
at |
29 |
Kansas |
13 |
75.7% |
| 2009/10/31 |
32 |
Kansas |
21 |
at |
16 |
Texas Tech |
42 |
25.9% |
| 2009/11/07 |
37 |
Kansas |
10 |
at |
57 |
Kansas St. |
17 |
42.4% |
| 2009/11/14 |
15 |
Nebraska |
31 |
at |
44 |
Kansas |
17 |
67.0% |
| 2009/11/21 |
45 |
Kansas |
20 |
at |
3 |
Texas |
51 |
9.4% |
| 2009/11/28 |
34 |
Missouri |
41 |
vs |
47 |
Kansas |
39 |
58.4% |
| Date |
Away Team |
|
Home Team |
Odds |
| 2010/09/11 |
20 |
Georgia Tech |
25 |
at |
48 |
Kansas |
28 |
54.7% |
| 2010/09/17 |
50 |
Kansas |
16 |
at |
72 |
Southern Miss. |
31 |
44.5% |
| 2010/09/25 |
120 |
New Mexico St. |
16 |
at |
57 |
Kansas |
42 |
96.0% |
| 2010/10/02 |
63 |
Kansas |
7 |
at |
75 |
Baylor |
55 |
49.9% |
| 2010/10/14 |
62 |
Kansas St. |
59 |
at |
81 |
Kansas |
7 |
52.6% |
| 2010/10/23 |
51 |
Texas A&M |
45 |
at |
87 |
Kansas |
10 |
63.2% |
| 2010/10/30 |
95 |
Kansas |
16 |
at |
74 |
Iowa St. |
28 |
22.7% |
| 2010/11/06 |
77 |
Colorado |
45 |
at |
96 |
Kansas |
52 |
62.1% |
| 2010/11/13 |
95 |
Kansas |
3 |
at |
12 |
Nebraska |
20 |
7.4% |
| 2010/11/20 |
21 |
Oklahoma St. |
48 |
at |
95 |
Kansas |
14 |
88.5% |
| 2010/11/27 |
18 |
Missouri |
35 |
vs |
95 |
Kansas |
7 |
90.0% |
The first stop on our countdown is a basketball school that tried briefly to masquerade as a football school during the
Mark Mangino experiment. The Jayhawks peaked in 2007, going 12-1 and winning the
2008 Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech. It was downhill from there.
| Year |
WinPct |
SoS |
Off. |
Def. |
Pace |
| 2007 |
0.805 |
11 |
0.474 |
71 |
22.9 |
26 |
13.0 |
7 |
172.4 |
26 |
| 2008 |
0.683 |
27 |
0.576 |
39 |
22.0 |
27 |
16.2 |
37 |
172.3 |
16 |
| 2009 |
0.562 |
48 |
0.605 |
17 |
21.8 |
34 |
19.8 |
66 |
173.0 |
17 |
| 2010 |
0.232 |
99 |
0.538 |
54 |
15.3 |
97 |
24.7 |
101 |
167.3 |
51 |
TFG ranked Kansas at 11th by the end of the year, mostly thanks to their 7th-ranked defense that only allowed 12.0 points per hundred (PPH) plays; a 22.9 PPH offense is respectable, but nothing amazing. Their defense slipped slightly in 2009 to 16.2 PPH, while the offense remained pretty steady. The bottom started to drop out in earnest the next year, as the defense slipped to a below-average 19.8 PPH; the Jayhawks started with 4 wins against FBS opponents, but then the real slide started. Losses to Colorado, Kansas State, and Missouri effectively ended Mangino's career at Kansas (nto to mention the harsh treatments of players). After that the bottom dropped out of the defense, and the offense finally suffered, too, putting the nail in the Jayhawk coffin.
| #4: Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
| Year |
WinPct |
SoS |
Off. |
Def. |
Pace |
| 2006 |
0.753 |
24 |
0.574 |
42 |
25.1 |
12 |
16.1 |
40 |
170.9 |
34 |
| 2007 |
0.418 |
73 |
0.584 |
30 |
15.8 |
89 |
18.0 |
50 |
169.2 |
53 |
| Date |
Away Team |
|
Home Team |
Odds |
| 2006/09/02 |
18 |
Notre Dame |
14 |
at |
40 |
Georgia Tech |
10 |
46.5% |
| 2006/09/09 |
10 |
Penn State |
17 |
at |
22 |
Notre Dame |
41 |
50.1% |
| 2006/09/16 |
11 |
Michigan |
47 |
at |
14 |
Notre Dame |
21 |
57.1% |
| 2006/09/23 |
20 |
Notre Dame |
40 |
at |
34 |
Michigan St. |
37 |
48.3% |
| 2006/09/30 |
39 |
Purdue |
21 |
at |
23 |
Notre Dame |
35 |
72.8% |
| 2006/10/07 |
92 |
Stanford |
10 |
at |
21 |
Notre Dame |
31 |
93.8% |
| 2006/10/21 |
34 |
UCLA |
17 |
at |
23 |
Notre Dame |
20 |
72.1% |
| 2006/10/28 |
56 |
Navy |
14 |
vs |
23 |
Notre Dame |
38 |
74.4% |
| 2006/11/04 |
95 |
North Carolina |
26 |
at |
22 |
Notre Dame |
45 |
91.5% |
| 2006/11/11 |
25 |
Notre Dame |
39 |
at |
49 |
Air Force |
17 |
34.6% |
| 2006/11/18 |
108 |
Army |
9 |
at |
23 |
Notre Dame |
41 |
94.4% |
| 2006/11/25 |
22 |
Notre Dame |
24 |
at |
3 |
USC |
44 |
25.2% |
| 2007/01/03 |
24 |
Notre Dame |
14 |
vs |
4 |
LSU |
41 |
26.9% |
| Date |
Away Team |
|
Home Team |
Odds |
| 2007/09/01 |
31 |
Georgia Tech |
33 |
at |
26 |
Notre Dame |
3 |
69.5% |
| 2007/09/08 |
36 |
Notre Dame |
10 |
at |
8 |
Penn State |
31 |
14.3% |
| 2007/09/15 |
41 |
Notre Dame |
0 |
at |
14 |
Michigan |
38 |
18.1% |
| 2007/09/22 |
48 |
Michigan St. |
31 |
at |
58 |
Notre Dame |
14 |
51.9% |
| 2007/09/29 |
61 |
Notre Dame |
19 |
at |
50 |
Purdue |
33 |
29.0% |
| 2007/10/06 |
71 |
Notre Dame |
20 |
at |
42 |
UCLA |
6 |
22.6% |
| 2007/10/13 |
16 |
Boston College |
27 |
at |
62 |
Notre Dame |
14 |
71.8% |
| 2007/10/20 |
10 |
USC |
38 |
at |
63 |
Notre Dame |
0 |
74.7% |
| 2007/11/03 |
63 |
Navy |
46 |
at |
76 |
Notre Dame |
44 |
51.3% |
| 2007/11/10 |
57 |
Air Force |
41 |
at |
76 |
Notre Dame |
24 |
56.9% |
| 2007/11/17 |
97 |
Duke |
7 |
at |
76 |
Notre Dame |
28 |
67.5% |
| 2007/11/24 |
74 |
Notre Dame |
21 |
at |
84 |
Stanford |
14 |
40.2% |
I know Notre Dame is a regular whipping boy here (and many other places), but in this case it's deserved. The Golden Domers had snuck into the bottom of the 2006 - 2007 top 25 at season's end, in large part thanks to an explosive offense that was good for 25.1 PPH and 12th-best in college ball. That offense vanished several months later, replace by one that could barely muster 15.8 PPH. Given that their defense stayed pretty common -- at 16.4 PPH -- this was is all on the offense. And in 2006, it worked. Most games were 30+ point affairs, even against respectable competition like (49) Air Force, (10) Penn State, (39) Purdue, and (34) Michigan State.
In 2007, though, Brady Quinn and two other offensive starters were taken in the 2007 draft. This lead to a staggering 9.3 PPH drop in offensive efficiency, taking Notre Dame from 12th to 89th in scoring efficiency. The defense also saw a mild drop -- 1.9 PPH -- but without the offensive firepower of the previous seasons the Fighting Irish simply couldn't keep up with their opponents. Excluding a 44 point showing in a losing effort to (57) Air Force, Notre Dame only scored 153 points all season; this was only two points ahead of their scoring total from
September of the previous year. This lackluster offense dropped Notre Dame from 24th to 73rd in less than 12 months.
| #3: Bowling Green Falcons |
| Year |
WinPct |
SoS |
Off. |
Def. |
Pace |
| 2005 |
0.562 |
46 |
0.320 |
110 |
21.8 |
29 |
19.8 |
66 |
174.3 |
24 |
| 2006 |
0.220 |
102 |
0.299 |
111 |
15.1 |
85 |
25.0 |
107 |
170.7 |
37 |
| Date |
Away Team |
|
Home Team |
Odds |
| 2005/09/03 |
25 |
Bowling Green |
42 |
at |
24 |
Wisconsin |
56 |
36.4% |
| 2005/09/10 |
39 |
Bowling Green |
40 |
at |
116 |
Ball St. |
31 |
7.9% |
| 2005/09/21 |
44 |
Bowling Green |
20 |
at |
35 |
Boise St. |
48 |
31.3% |
| 2005/10/01 |
107 |
Temple |
7 |
at |
50 |
Bowling Green |
70 |
92.2% |
| 2005/10/08 |
97 |
Ohio |
14 |
at |
45 |
Bowling Green |
38 |
90.3% |
| 2005/10/15 |
44 |
Bowling Green |
27 |
at |
117 |
Buffalo |
7 |
4.6% |
| 2005/10/22 |
103 |
Western Michigan |
45 |
at |
44 |
Bowling Green |
14 |
93.0% |
| 2005/10/29 |
92 |
Akron |
24 |
at |
54 |
Bowling Green |
14 |
85.5% |
| 2005/11/05 |
58 |
Bowling Green |
24 |
at |
100 |
Kent St. |
14 |
20.6% |
| 2005/11/15 |
61 |
Bowling Green |
42 |
at |
45 |
Miami-OH |
14 |
40.8% |
| 2005/11/22 |
63 |
Toledo |
44 |
at |
47 |
Bowling Green |
41 |
56.7% |
| Date |
Away Team |
|
Home Team |
Odds |
| 2006/09/02 |
22 |
Wisconsin |
35 |
vs |
46 |
Bowling Green |
14 |
67.3% |
| 2006/09/09 |
116 |
Buffalo |
40 |
at |
58 |
Bowling Green |
48 |
96.3% |
| 2006/09/16 |
66 |
Bowling Green |
33 |
at |
NA |
FIU |
28 |
32.7% |
| 2006/09/23 |
107 |
Kent St. |
38 |
at |
71 |
Bowling Green |
3 |
88.7% |
| 2006/09/30 |
85 |
Bowling Green |
21 |
at |
99 |
Ohio |
9 |
43.9% |
| 2006/10/07 |
83 |
Bowling Green |
7 |
at |
2 |
Ohio St. |
35 |
2.1% |
| 2006/10/14 |
106 |
Eastern Michigan |
21 |
at |
80 |
Bowling Green |
24 |
80.2% |
| 2006/10/19 |
80 |
Bowling Green |
14 |
at |
75 |
Central Michigan |
31 |
33.8% |
| 2006/10/28 |
82 |
Bowling Green |
14 |
at |
117 |
Temple |
28 |
13.2% |
| 2006/11/04 |
97 |
Bowling Green |
28 |
at |
82 |
Akron |
35 |
38.0% |
| 2006/11/15 |
90 |
Miami-OH |
9 |
at |
97 |
Bowling Green |
7 |
51.8% |
| 2006/11/21 |
97 |
Bowling Green |
21 |
at |
92 |
Toledo |
31 |
45.2% |
We've covered "plummeting to the depths of mediocrity"; now it's time to examine "plummeting from mediocrity to outright garbage." First up: 2005 - 2006 Bowling Green. The Falcons were already decidedly "middle of the pack" in 2005 when they went 6-5 against FBS competition and ended the season ranked 46th. Their offense was respectable at 21.8 PPH, but their defense was thoroughly mediocre at 19.8 PPH. Having a 2.0 PPH advantage means that in an average game you've got about a field goal's worth of wiggle room.
Well in 2007 that wiggle room disappeared. Both offense and defense disappeared to the tune of about six PPH, flipping that 2.0 PPH advantage to a 9.9 PPH disadvantage; that's around a two touchdown per game deficit. Those shortcomings really showed on the field, where the Falcons went 4-8. Their four wins came by a combined 28 points, including a 3-point victory against Eastern Michigan and a 5-point squeaker against Florida International.
| #2: Washington Huskies |
| Year |
WinPct |
SoS |
Off. |
Def. |
Pace |
| 2007 |
0.541 |
55 |
0.634 |
12 |
21.5 |
34 |
20.1 |
68 |
171.9 |
29 |
| 2008 |
0.194 |
106 |
0.636 |
7 |
13.8 |
107 |
24.4 |
100 |
166.6 |
73 |
| Date |
Away Team |
|
Home Team |
Odds |
| 2007/08/31 |
65 |
Washington |
42 |
at |
82 |
Syracuse |
12 |
34.1% |
| 2007/09/08 |
20 |
Boise St. |
10 |
at |
54 |
Washington |
24 |
65.5% |
| 2007/09/15 |
2 |
Ohio St. |
33 |
at |
47 |
Washington |
14 |
85.6% |
| 2007/09/22 |
45 |
Washington |
31 |
at |
47 |
UCLA |
44 |
41.0% |
| 2007/09/29 |
4 |
USC |
27 |
at |
48 |
Washington |
24 |
79.5% |
| 2007/10/13 |
40 |
Washington |
20 |
at |
15 |
Arizona St. |
44 |
25.4% |
| 2007/10/20 |
14 |
Oregon |
55 |
at |
47 |
Washington |
34 |
62.7% |
| 2007/10/27 |
65 |
Arizona |
48 |
at |
49 |
Washington |
41 |
71.6% |
| 2007/11/03 |
54 |
Washington |
27 |
at |
80 |
Stanford |
9 |
34.7% |
| 2007/11/10 |
50 |
Washington |
23 |
at |
46 |
Oregon St. |
29 |
41.7% |
| 2007/11/17 |
29 |
California |
23 |
at |
53 |
Washington |
37 |
66.9% |
| 2007/11/24 |
70 |
Washington St. |
42 |
at |
49 |
Washington |
35 |
64.8% |
| 2007/12/01 |
53 |
Washington |
28 |
at |
38 |
Hawaii |
35 |
40.2% |
| Date |
Away Team |
|
Home Team |
Odds |
| 2008/08/30 |
56 |
Washington |
10 |
at |
17 |
Oregon |
44 |
26.3% |
| 2008/09/06 |
17 |
BYU |
28 |
at |
62 |
Washington |
27 |
68.9% |
| 2008/09/13 |
5 |
Oklahoma |
55 |
at |
56 |
Washington |
14 |
78.4% |
| 2008/09/27 |
72 |
Stanford |
35 |
at |
62 |
Washington |
28 |
67.3% |
| 2008/10/04 |
61 |
Washington |
14 |
at |
37 |
Arizona |
48 |
24.8% |
| 2008/10/18 |
23 |
Oregon St. |
34 |
at |
74 |
Washington |
13 |
69.5% |
| 2008/10/25 |
58 |
Notre Dame |
33 |
at |
76 |
Washington |
7 |
52.0% |
| 2008/11/01 |
82 |
Washington |
0 |
at |
1 |
USC |
56 |
2.0% |
| 2008/11/08 |
48 |
Arizona St. |
39 |
at |
93 |
Washington |
19 |
73.5% |
| 2008/11/15 |
71 |
UCLA |
27 |
at |
95 |
Washington |
7 |
60.7% |
| 2008/11/22 |
97 |
Washington |
13 |
at |
118 |
Washington St. |
16 |
20.8% |
| 2008/12/06 |
103 |
Washington |
7 |
at |
25 |
California |
48 |
10.3% |
The theme for the last two entries here are "sucky teams in Washington during 2008." And given that this is a college football blog, we're clearly not talking about the Redskins. No, the next-to-last team on our countdown is the 2008 Washington Huskies. The 2007 Huskies were actually a somewhat respectable mid-pack team that suffered a few bad bounces -- hello
Arizona,
Washington State, and
Hawaii -- that prevented them from having a better season. This was Jake Locker's freshman year, and there was a lot of potential for growth.
Unfortunately for the Husky faithful, Locker broke his thumb in the fourth game of the 2008 season. The effects were immediate, as the Huskies dropped 7.7 PPH on offense from the previous year; it didn't help that they also went 4.3 PPH in the wrong direction of defense, too. The only winnable game the Huskies had the remainder of the year was against fellow Pac-10 basement-dweller Washington State, but they lost that one in double overtime. A loss the next week against Cal completed the perfect 0-12 season.
| #1: Washington State Cougars |
| Year |
WinPct |
SoS |
Off. |
Def. |
Pace |
| 2007 |
0.444 |
70 |
0.572 |
41 |
17.8 |
72 |
19.4 |
61 |
176.9 |
7 |
| 2008 |
0.082 |
118 |
0.585 |
37 |
10.5 |
119 |
27.5 |
110 |
166.7 |
70 |
| Date |
Away Team |
|
Home Team |
Odds |
| 2007/09/01 |
54 |
Washington St. |
21 |
at |
13 |
Wisconsin |
42 |
12.4% |
| 2007/09/08 |
94 |
SDSU |
17 |
at |
52 |
Washington St. |
45 |
86.3% |
| 2007/09/15 |
111 |
Idaho |
28 |
at |
49 |
Washington St. |
45 |
94.4% |
| 2007/09/22 |
53 |
Washington St. |
14 |
at |
4 |
USC |
47 |
8.7% |
| 2007/09/29 |
54 |
Washington St. |
20 |
at |
60 |
Arizona |
48 |
46.6% |
| 2007/10/06 |
12 |
Arizona St. |
23 |
at |
66 |
Washington St. |
20 |
75.2% |
| 2007/10/13 |
65 |
Washington St. |
7 |
at |
21 |
Oregon |
53 |
16.2% |
| 2007/10/27 |
39 |
UCLA |
7 |
at |
75 |
Washington St. |
27 |
61.4% |
| 2007/11/03 |
66 |
Washington St. |
17 |
at |
25 |
California |
20 |
21.9% |
| 2007/11/10 |
80 |
Stanford |
17 |
at |
67 |
Washington St. |
33 |
67.3% |
| 2007/11/17 |
43 |
Oregon St. |
52 |
at |
62 |
Washington St. |
17 |
62.7% |
| 2007/11/24 |
70 |
Washington St. |
42 |
at |
49 |
Washington |
35 |
35.2% |
| Date |
Away Team |
|
Home Team |
Odds |
| 2008/08/30 |
69 |
Washington St. |
13 |
vs |
34 |
Oklahoma St. |
39 |
30.7% |
| 2008/09/06 |
34 |
California |
66 |
at |
76 |
Washington St. |
3 |
65.0% |
| 2008/09/12 |
88 |
Washington St. |
17 |
at |
103 |
Baylor |
45 |
48.0% |
| 2008/09/27 |
18 |
Oregon |
63 |
at |
103 |
Washington St. |
14 |
89.6% |
| 2008/10/04 |
104 |
Washington St. |
3 |
at |
66 |
UCLA |
28 |
16.6% |
| 2008/10/11 |
112 |
Washington St. |
13 |
at |
33 |
Oregon St. |
66 |
5.4% |
| 2008/10/18 |
1 |
USC |
69 |
at |
114 |
Washington St. |
0 |
98.5% |
| 2008/11/01 |
117 |
Washington St. |
0 |
at |
66 |
Stanford |
58 |
10.1% |
| 2008/11/08 |
25 |
Arizona |
59 |
at |
119 |
Washington St. |
28 |
96.4% |
| 2008/11/15 |
117 |
Washington St. |
0 |
at |
50 |
Arizona St. |
31 |
6.2% |
| 2008/11/22 |
97 |
Washington |
13 |
at |
118 |
Washington St. |
16 |
79.2% |
| 2008/11/29 |
118 |
Washington St. |
10 |
at |
72 |
Hawaii |
24 |
10.8% |
And the "winner" of the Tuesday Trivia countdown of "biggest nosedive" is .... the 2008 Washington State Cougars! While their cross-state rivals were busy undergoing a 0.347-point dive, the Cougars were one-upping that with a 0.362-point flop. 2007 was a 5-7 season with no effective offense and the definition of a mediocre defense. The only thing the Cougars had going for them was speed; they might have been average, but they were amazingly quick at being average -- 7th fastest in FBS, at nearly 177 plays per game.
In 2008, though, the pace slowed down significantly, and so did the offense. The Cougar offense went from "anemic" to "in cardiac arrest", managing a mere 10.5 PPH against
average competition. The defense didn't fare much better, yielding 27.5 PPH to average competition. Unfortunately the Cougars had to play an above-average schedule, and managed to limp their way to a 1-11 record against FBS competition. Their only win was against previously-mentioned fellow nosedivers Washington, in the 2008 "
Somebody Has to Win" Bowl. All-in-all the 2007-2008 seasons represented a 15.4 PPH shift in the wrong direction and landed the Cougars at 118th spot in the 120-team TFG rankings for 2008.
