I decided to take a look at the conference champions of the P5 conferences plus the best G5 team over the past decade to see where they landed in relation to NU, and whether Fitz's famed "complementary football" is what will continue to bring us back to relevancy.
So we have 61 data points here from champions. Of these 61, there are 33 top-10 finishes, 31 teams that averaged 40 pts/game or higher, only 5 teams that finished outside the top 40, and exactly 3 teams (5%) that averaged less than 30 pts/game (two of which were Dantonio MSU teams).
Fitz's offenses have never finished in the top 40 for scoring, and they have averaged over 30 points per game once (2012). The data shows that if we truly want to win championships, we need to score points. Fitz needs a mentality shift very quickly to turn this thing around.
| Year | B1G | SEC | ACC | B12 | Pac 12 | G5 | NU | B1G West #2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | #7 Mich 39.8 | #12 UGA 38.3 | #27 Clemson 34.3 | #4 TCU 41.3 | #3 USC 42.5 | #26 Tulane 34.4 | #128 NU 13.8 | #66 Purdue 28.6 |
| 2021 | #16 Michigan 35.8 | #6 Bama 39.9 | #3 Pitt 41.4 | #40 Baylor 31.6 | #14 Utah 36.1 | #1 Cinci 36.9 | #125 NU 16.6 | #99 Iowa 23.4 |
| 2020 | #11 OSU 41.0 | #2 Bama 48.5 | #4 Clemson 43.5 | #6 Oklahoma 43.0 | #42 Oregon 31.3 | #17 Cinci 37.5 | #93 NU 24.7 | #40 Iowa 31.8 |
| 2019 | #3 OSU 46.9 | #1 LSU 48.4 | #4 Clemson 43.9 | #6 Oklahoma 42.1 | #16 Oregon 35.4 | #8 Memphis 40.4 | #126 NU 16.3 | #23 Wisconsin 34.1 |
| 2018 | #8 OSU 42.4 | #3 Bama 45.6 | #4 Clemson 44.3 | #1 Oklahoma 48.4 | #89 UW 26.4 | #6 UCF 43.2 | #101 NU 24.2 | #62 Wisconsin 29.7 |
| 2017 | #6 OSU 41.1 | #20 UGA 35.4 | #32 Clemson 33.3 | #3 Oklahoma 45.1 | #35 USC 32.6 | #1 UCF 48.2 | #57 NU 29.2 | #28 Wisconsin 33.8 |
| 2016 | #21 PSU 37.6 | #15 Bama 38.8 | #14 Clemson 39.2 | #3 Oklahoma 43.9 | #8 UW 41.8 | #9 W Mich 41.6 | #87 NU 26.0 | #67 Wisconsin 28.4 |
| 2015 | #60 MSU 29.8 | #30 Bama 35.1 | #16 Clemson 38.5 | #4 Oklahoma 43.5 | #18 Stanford 37.8 | #10 Houston 40.4 | #114 NU 19.5 | #54 Iowa 30.9 |
| 2014 | #5 OSU 44.8 | #15 Bama 36.9 | #35 FSU 33.7 | #1 Baylor 48.2/ #2 TCU 46.5 | #4 Oregon 45.4 | #9 Boise St 39.7 | #101 NU 23.0 | #29 Wisconsin 34.6 |
| 2013 | #62 MSU 29.4 | #12 Auburn 39.5 | #2 FSU 51.6 | #1 Baylor 52.4 | #45 Stanford 32.3 | #30 UCF 34.6 | #83 NU 26.2 | #3 OSU 45.5 |
So we have 61 data points here from champions. Of these 61, there are 33 top-10 finishes, 31 teams that averaged 40 pts/game or higher, only 5 teams that finished outside the top 40, and exactly 3 teams (5%) that averaged less than 30 pts/game (two of which were Dantonio MSU teams).
Fitz's offenses have never finished in the top 40 for scoring, and they have averaged over 30 points per game once (2012). The data shows that if we truly want to win championships, we need to score points. Fitz needs a mentality shift very quickly to turn this thing around.
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