The NCAA News - News and Features

October 13, 1997

SEC regains nonconference dominance in I-A football

With just one loss, Southeastern Conference teams apparently will set percentage record

BY GARY K. JOHNSON
NCAA STATISTICS COORDINATOR

After losing its title last year as the nation's best when playing Division I-A football opponents from other conferences, the Southeastern Conference has come charging back to leave no doubt about who will be this season's champion.

Before last season, the SEC had the nation's best nonconference winning percentage 10 times in 12 years, including five straight titles from 1991 to 1995. But in 1996, the Big Ten Conference's .743 winning percentage just edged the SEC's .727.

On September 13, Southern Methodist defeated Arkansas, 31-9, for the SEC's only loss in 24 nonconference games this season. The conference's .958 winning percentage is far ahead of the Pacific-10 Conference's .731 and the Atlantic Coast Conference's .722.

The Big Ten is fourth at .694 and the Big Twelve Conference is at .639. No other conference is above the .500 mark.

Of the 12 teams in the SEC, only Arkansas has played three nonconference opponents and only Mississippi State has played one. The league's other teams each have two nonconference victories, including wins against such opponents as UCLA, Virginia and Indiana and two wins against both Central Florida and Southern Mississippi.

The Pacific-10, which finished third last year in the nonconference race, is second this season as three of its members are undefeated in nonleague play. Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State are all 3-0, while six of the remaining seven teams are 2-1.

The highest nonconference winning percentage in the 1980s was posted by the Pac-10 in 1988, when it compiled a .794 (27-7) winning percentage. The SEC tied that mark in 1995 for the best in the 1990s, but this season's 23-1 record puts the SEC in good position to break its own record.

In the last 13 years, the SEC has won the nonconference title every year except 1988 (Pac-10), 1990 (ACC) and 1996 (Big Ten). During that time, the SEC had two separate streaks of five straight titles.

Last year, after the aforementioned Big Ten and SEC, the other I-A conferences finishing above .500 in nonconference competition were the Pac-10 (.700), Big Twelve (.588) and Big East (.516).

Division I-A independent teams were 32-40 for a .444 winning percentage last year; this season, they have dropped to 8-27 (.229).

Some conferences have many nonconference games left, while others are almost finished with outside games. Here are the standings through October 4.

1997 I-A conference records vs.

Division I-A nonconference foes*

Conference -- W -- L -- Pct.

Southeastern -- 23 -- 1 -- .958

Pacific-10 -- 19 -- 7 -- .731

Atlantic Coast -- 13 -- 5 -- .722

Big Ten -- 25 -- 11 -- .694

Big Twelve -- 23 -- 13 -- .639

Big East -- 9 -- 13 -- .409

Western Athletic -- 15 -- 27 -- .357

Conference USA -- 10 -- 18 -- .357

Mid-American -- 8 -- 16 -- .333

All independents -- 8 -- 27 -- .229

Big West -- 3 -- 18 -- .143

*Games against Division I-AA and non-major opponents are deleted.

Although some upsets of Division I-A teams by I-AA teams do happen and are usually publicized widely, the I-A teams this season are dominating their I-AA counterparts.

The I-A teams have a record of 22-4 for a winning percentage of .846 against I-AA opponents. This high winning percentage and the wide variation in the number of such games among conferences are the reasons these games are deleted when comparing the I-A conferences.

Atlantic 10 tops in I-AA

The Big Sky Conference has won four consecutive titles as the nonconference champion in Division I-AA, but this year, its title hopes are in serious jeopardy.

The Atlantic 10 Conference, formerly known as the Yankee Conference, sits in the top spot with a 10-4 won-lost record and a .714 winning percentage against nonconference competition. The Southland Conference is close behind at 11-5 (.688).

The Big Sky, currently in sixth place in the race, has played only five I-AA nonconference opponents this season and has won three of the games for a .600 winning percentage. Also ahead of the Big Sky are the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference at 8-4 (.667), the Ivy Group at 9-5 (.643) and the Gateway Conference with a 10-6 (.625) mark.

The Pioneer Conference also has a winning record at 5-4 (.556), while two conferences are right at the .500 mark -- the Southern (6-6) and Metro Atlantic (4-4).

The independents, a group of 14 teams, have played 34 games against I-AA teams this season and have won 14 for a winning percentage of .412.

Last season, the Big Sky led the division at .778 (7-2), followed by the familiar company of the Yankee (.727, 16-6) and the Southern (.824, 14-3).

While the SEC has been dominating the I-A nonconference title through the years, several conferences were at the top in the I-AA rankings before the Big Sky's recent domination. Six years ago, the Gateway won by a landslide with an .810 winning percentage (15-2-2), while in 1992 the Yankee (.700) just edged the Southern Conference (.688).

Games against Division I-A opponents are deleted because some I-AA conferences play several such games, some play few and still others none. Games against teams in Divisions II and III or the NAIA also are deleted for the same reasons.

Here are the standings through October 4:

1997 I-AA conference records vs.

Division I-AA nonconference foes

Conference -- W -- L -- Pct.

Atlantic 10 -- 10 -- 4 -- .714

Southland -- 11 -- 5 -- .688

Mid-Eastern -- 8 -- 4 -- .667

Ivy -- 9 -- 5 -- .643

Gateway -- 10 -- 6 -- .625

Big Sky -- 3 -- 2 -- .600

Pioneer -- 5 -- 4 -- .556

Southern -- 6 -- 6 -- .500

Metro Atlantic -- 4 -- 4 -- .500

Patriot -- 7 -- 9 -- .438

All independents -- 14 -- 20 -- .412

Northeast -- 3 -- 7 -- .300

Ohio Valley -- 6 -- 15 -- .286

Southwestern -- 3 -- 8 -- .273

In addition to the top three conferences already mentioned, the other conferences a year ago that posted winning records were the Gateway (.739) and the Ivy (.565).

All I-AA independents last year were 41-37 for a .526 winning percentage.