Best FCS Conference....Big Sky? Missouri Valley?

[FB@Sioux]

This probably has been discussed previously but which Football conference is the most competitive?

[UND-FB-FAN]

MVFC

[Bison06]

Both are strong conferences with a few traditionally powerful programs. To say one is better than the other will be based on nothing more than personal bias if you ask me.

The way they may be able to be separated is in style of play. Big sky is a more wide open league, while the Missouri valley could be classified as more of a pro-style team league. Less gimmicky offenses(not a slam, just an observation)

[geaux_sioux]

MVFC at this point. If Davis UND and Poly can get constantly good like they should be the Big Sky will be better.

[Cratter]

Whatever conference the Bison are in.

[NewUNDAlum]

I think the MV is better at the top whereas the the Big Sky isn't as good at the top but has more quality throughout. I guess its kinda pick your poison right now.

[FB@Sioux]

Whatever conference the Bison are in.

[FB@Sioux]

That's the thing does the top team dictate the strength of the conference?

[jodcon]

NDSU has been in a league of their own and the bottom of the Big Sky has been horrible, that's been the difference the last couple years, take those factors out and the rest of the field is pretty comparable.

[JohnboyND7]

I'd say the average team from the Valley is probably better. Probably a year to year thing.

[VMeister]

I'd say the average team from the Valley is probably better. Probably a year to year thing.

Apparently teams 3 & 4 from the Big Sky were better this year.

[JohnboyND7]

Apparently teams 3 & 4 from the Big Sky were better this year.

Horse a piece. How the Sky do in the playoffs this year? 2-4? Valley? 4-1 thus far.

[jodcon]

Horse a piece. How the Sky do in the playoffs this year? 2-4? Valley? 4-1 thus far.

Yeah that's a great analogy considering one team has all the wins except for the win by the only other team to make the field who won when their opponents QB got hurt.

MVFC - NDSU = very average.

[JohnboyND7]

Yeah that's a great analogy considering one team has all the wins except for the win by the only other team to make the field who won when their opponents QB got hurt.

MVFC - NDSU = very average.

Big Sky - EWU = No playoff wins....and didn't EWU get to play against two backup QB's in the playoffs?

[jodcon]

Big Sky - EWU = No playoff wins....and didn't EWU get to play against two backup QB's in the playoffs?

So the only win besides NDSU was one win by EWU without injuries involved? Doesn't really help your case. It was proven on the field that neither conference was that good this year past the conference winners, beating up on weaklings looks good in the standings until you start playing for real.

[Herd]

In 2013, there is no doubt.

CONFERENCE CENTRAL MEAN SIMPLE AVERAGE

1 SEC-WEST (A) = 83.08 82.75 ( 1)

2 PAC-12(NORTH) (A) = 82.63 81.39j ( 2)

3 PAC-12(SOUTH) (A) = 82.03 81.08 ( 3)

4 SEC-EAST (A) = 77.28 76.92 ( 5)

5 BIG TEN-LEGENDS (A) = 76.81 77.51 ( 4)

6 BIG 12 (A) = 75.86 75.60 ( 7)

7 ACC-COASTAL (A) = 74.97 74.08 ( 8)

8 BIG TEN-LEADERS (A) = 74.02 73.55 ( 9)

9 ACC-ATLANTIC (A) = 73.45 75.60 ( 6)

10 AMERICAN ATHLETIC (A) = 65.02 65.96 ( 10)

11 MWC-WEST (A) = 63.48 63.74 ( 11)

12 MWC-MOUNTAIN (A) = 61.69 62.12 ( 12)

13 I-A INDEPENDENTS (A) = 61.54 61.37 ( 13)

14 CONFERENCE USA-WEST (A) = 61.08 60.04 ( 14)

15 MAC-WEST (A) = 60.25 59.30 ( 15)

16 MISSOURI VALLEY (AA)= 59.04 58.99 ( 16)

17 COLONIAL (AA)= 58.71 57.77 ( 18)

18 SUN BELT (A) = 58.46 57.62 ( 19)

19 MAC-EAST (A) = 58.27 58.05 ( 17)

20 CONFERENCE USA-EAST (A) = 57.65 56.59 ( 20)

21 OHIO VALLEY (AA)= 52.73 52.25 ( 21)

22 SOUTHLAND (AA)= 51.43 51.69 ( 22)

23 IVY LEAGUE (AA)= 49.86 48.14 ( 23)

24 SOUTHERN (AA)= 48.44 47.88 ( 24)

25 BIG SOUTH (AA)= 47.31 47.66 ( 25)

26 BIG SKY (AA)= 47.02

27 PATRIOT (AA)= 45.61 45.34 ( 27)

28 I-AA INDEPENDENTS (AA)= 41.84 41.18 ( 28)

29 NORTHEAST (AA)= 40.81 40.86 ( 29)

30 MID-EASTERN (AA)= 39.29 39.94 ( 30)

31 SWAC-EAST (AA)= 34.32 33.40 ( 31)

32 SWAC-WEST (AA)= 27.34 27.42 ( 32)

33 PIONEER (AA)= 26.86 25.98 ( 33)

34 ***UNRATED*** (__)= -90.00 -90.00 ( 34)

[jodcon]

In 2013, there is no doubt.

CONFERENCE CENTRAL MEAN SIMPLE AVERAGE

1 SEC-WEST (A) = 83.08 82.75 ( 1)

2 PAC-12(NORTH) (A) = 82.63 81.39j ( 2)

3 PAC-12(SOUTH) (A) = 82.03 81.08 ( 3)

4 SEC-EAST (A) = 77.28 76.92 ( 5)

5 BIG TEN-LEGENDS (A) = 76.81 77.51 ( 4)

6 BIG 12 (A) = 75.86 75.60 ( 7)

7 ACC-COASTAL (A) = 74.97 74.08 ( 8)

8 BIG TEN-LEADERS (A) = 74.02 73.55 ( 9)

9 ACC-ATLANTIC (A) = 73.45 75.60 ( 6)

10 AMERICAN ATHLETIC (A) = 65.02 65.96 ( 10)

11 MWC-WEST (A) = 63.48 63.74 ( 11)

12 MWC-MOUNTAIN (A) = 61.69 62.12 ( 12)

13 I-A INDEPENDENTS (A) = 61.54 61.37 ( 13)

14 CONFERENCE USA-WEST (A) = 61.08 60.04 ( 14)

15 MAC-WEST (A) = 60.25 59.30 ( 15)

16 MISSOURI VALLEY (AA)= 59.04 58.99 ( 16)

17 COLONIAL (AA)= 58.71 57.77 ( 18)

18 SUN BELT (A) = 58.46 57.62 ( 19)

19 MAC-EAST (A) = 58.27 58.05 ( 17)

20 CONFERENCE USA-EAST (A) = 57.65 56.59 ( 20)

21 OHIO VALLEY (AA)= 52.73 52.25 ( 21)

22 SOUTHLAND (AA)= 51.43 51.69 ( 22)

23 IVY LEAGUE (AA)= 49.86 48.14 ( 23)

24 SOUTHERN (AA)= 48.44 47.88 ( 24)

25 BIG SOUTH (AA)= 47.31 47.66 ( 25)

26 BIG SKY (AA)= 47.02

27 PATRIOT (AA)= 45.61 45.34 ( 27)

28 I-AA INDEPENDENTS (AA)= 41.84 41.18 ( 28)

29 NORTHEAST (AA)= 40.81 40.86 ( 29)

30 MID-EASTERN (AA)= 39.29 39.94 ( 30)

31 SWAC-EAST (AA)= 34.32 33.40 ( 31)

32 SWAC-WEST (AA)= 27.34 27.42 ( 32)

33 PIONEER (AA)= 26.86 25.98 ( 33)

34 ***UNRATED*** (__)= -90.00 -90.00 ( 34)

Yeah that's what 9 wins from your bottom 4 teams gets you, takes you right down the toilet. Doesn't hurt having NDSU at a lofty 82+ either, that helps offset weaker teams.

[UNDColorado]

Heads or tails?

[JohnboyND7]

So the only win besides NDSU was one win by EWU without injuries involved? Doesn't really help your case. It was proven on the field that neither conference was that good this year past the conference winners, beating up on weaklings looks good in the standings until you start playing for real.

Hence why I said year to year.

[Hammersmith]

Yeah that's what 9 wins from your bottom 4 teams gets you, takes you right down the toilet. Doesn't hurt having NDSU at a lofty 82+ either, that helps offset weaker teams.

Do you know what the term 'central mean' means?

[jodcon]

Do you know what the term 'central mean' means?

Yeah I understand how the ratings work and how they're weighted, I'm just saying when you have 4 teams at the bottom of your league with a total of 9 wins and they're all between themselves and bad FCS or DII teams it's going to kill your conferences ratings because not only are they bad, it brings down the better teams SOS when they play them too. BSC had 4 teams with a rating of 35.52 or less, that is awful considering the last place team in the MVFC was 1-11 and had a rating over 40...you can't overcome that regardless of how good your top teams are.

[Herd]

26 BIG SKY (AA)= 47.02 47.11 ( 26) TEAMS= 13 47.15 ( 26)

College Football 2013 through games of December 14 Saturday the BCS uses the PURE_ELO

RATING W L SCHEDL(RANK) VS top 10 | VS top 30 | DIMIN_CURVE | PREDICTOR | PURE_ELO

HOME ADVANTAGE=[ 3.54] [ 3.16] [ 3.44] [ 3.70]

74 Eastern Washington AA = 66.19 12 2 54.34( 152) 0 0 | 0 0 | 66.06 79 | 66.11 77 | 67.37 79

109 Montana AA = 60.29 10 3 50.19( 182) 0 0 | 0 0 | 58.23 125 | 62.20 99 | 55.70 121

138 Cal Poly-SLO AA = 55.65 6 6 50.85( 173) 0 0 | 0 0 | 52.21 151 | 58.84 119 | 46.89 176

151 Northern Arizona AA = 52.69 9 3 50.22( 180) 0 0 | 0 1 | 54.29 142 | 50.85 159 | 55.97 120

157 Montana State AA = 52.02 7 5 46.26( 204) 0 0 | 0 0 | 50.43 164 | 53.37 147 | 44.75 184

161 Portland State AA = 49.82 6 6 48.97( 187) 0 0 | 0 0 | 48.51 169 | 50.89 158 | 37.18 216

172 Southern Utah AA = 47.45 8 5 51.24( 170) 0 0 | 0 1 | 48.74 168 | 45.93 172 | 50.99 144

181 UC Davis AA = 45.39 5 7 48.87( 188) 0 0 | 0 0 | 45.88 177 | 44.68 178 | 36.67 217

182 Sacramento State AA = 45.36 5 7 49.87( 184) 0 1 | 0 1 | 45.84 178 | 44.67 179 | 39.97 200

228 North Dakota AA = 35.52 3 8 48.23( 193) 0 0 | 0 0 | 34.68 231 | 36.11 216 | 30.65 230

229 Idaho State AA = 35.06 3 9 51.29( 169) 0 0 | 0 2 | 32.70 235 | 36.89 213 | 21.76 247

230 Weber State AA = 35.00 2 10 55.59( 147) 0 0 | 0 0 | 36.04 227 | 33.72 229 | 30.62 231

234 Northern Colorado AA = 31.94 1 11 48.67( 190) 0 0 | 0 0 | 30.36 237 | 33.14 230 | 17.23 250

[Herd]

16 MISSOURI VALLEY (AA)= 59.04 58.99 ( 16) TEAMS= 10 58.79 ( 17)

College Football 2013 through games of December 14 Saturday the BCS uses the PURE_ELO

RATING W L SCHEDL(RANK) VS top 10 | VS top 30 | DIMIN_CURVE | PREDICTOR | PURE_ELO

HOME ADVANTAGE=[ 3.54] [ 3.16] [ 3.44] [ 3.70]

23 North Dakota State AA = 82.24 13 0 56.88( 138) 0 0 | 1 0 | 83.00 21 | 81.30 24 | 80.98 26

93 Northern Iowa AA = 63.15 7 5 56.77( 139) 0 0 | 0 1 | 62.24 100 | 63.87 87 | 53.85 131

94 South Dakota State AA = 63.11 9 5 58.42( 127) 0 0 | 0 1 | 62.95 96 | 63.08 93 | 62.02 99

98 Southern Illinois AA = 62.49 7 5 60.17( 109) 0 0 | 0 1 | 62.45 98 | 62.33 98 | 52.26 135

111 Youngstown State AA = 60.14 8 4 53.90( 155) 0 1 | 0 2 | 60.85 105 | 59.23 116 | 56.66 118

115 Missouri State AA = 59.86 5 7 57.21( 135) 0 0 | 0 2 | 57.60 132 | 61.97 101 | 44.56 185

125 Illinois State AA = 57.75 5 6 60.82( 103) 0 0 | 0 1 | 57.69 131 | 57.61 123 | 48.74 162

159 Western Illinois AA = 50.71 4 8 58.74( 122) 0 0 | 0 0 | 50.66 162 | 50.56 160 | 39.43 203

162 South Dakota AA = 49.71 4 8 57.54( 132) 0 0 | 0 1 | 50.95 161 | 48.24 166 | 41.38 195

199 Indiana State AA = 40.72 1 11 59.95( 111) 0 0 | 0 1 | 41.59 199 | 39.63 200 | 23.03 244

[darell1976]

Both the MVFC and the BSC have tough teams and weak ones. I know Bison fans love the ratings that puts them close to Alabama, and the MVFC near the top of the football world, but who cares...nobody on this board cares how good NDSU or the MVFC is. Wait until NDSU sinks back down to 2008 or 2009 level and the MVFC drops in the ratings then let's see how many pump their chests at these ratings.

[choyt3]

Does the NCAA send out banners to the conference that is the subjective "best"? Wtf?

Yet NDSU doesn't care and has moved on from UND. It's funny how the same posters that sing that mantra are here quite often with something to say.