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Winning Percentages

It seems as though something as simple as wins and losses should be fairly straightforward and easy to calculate. However, that is not really the case. These sites all have different interpretations of the sorts of information that should go into winning percentages calculations, and it seems that most all of them differ from the official NCAA records.

The reasons for these discrepancies are many and varied. Chris Stassen provides an excellent description of just a few of the problems in the FAQ on the Stassen Database, as well as his reasons for dealing with them in his own way.

The winning percentages shown in the following sites will differ from one another, and all of them differ from the NCAA's numbers. So it is a good idea to look at all of the sites and compare their different numbers and their different methods for determining winning percentages just to get some different opinions.

Also, this site now has its own:

College Football All-Time Winning Percentage

A list of current Division I-FBS teams in order of winning percentage.

Chris Stassen's All-Time Winning Percentages
An excellent site that provides a complete, queryable list of year-by-year records for Division I-A schools. His numbers are different than the NCAA records, particularly involving former members of I-AA. He also has an excellent collection of Year-by-Year Results for each team, as well as an explanation of some of his discrepancies. 		College Football Data Warehouse All Time Winning Percentages
Their list is similar to the official NCAA statistics and the Stassen statistics, though there are some variations for reasons that I'm not entirely clear on. Either way, the results can also be sorted by a few different criteria, but it is not queryable. This list also includes information about total points scored, points against, and total point differential.
James Howell's Rankings
This queryable list does not show complete won-loss records, but instead shows the results for schools when they were considered "major". Furthermore, this site ranks teams by winning percentage for home, away, and neutral site games. There is also an Advanced Form that includes all the teams that have ever been considered "major". 		mcubed.net:NCAA Football:Series records
This site is designed around displaying head-to-head records between teams, so it shows winning percentages for teams that are currently playing major college football. Includes points-for-per-game and points-against-per-game information.

Columns

It Was Nice to Know You

I shall miss the rest of the SEC. They were a lot of fun. Maybe, someday, we can do it again sometime. I'll look forward to it. Until then, I will cherish memories of you.

Post-Season Thoughts on 2011

A few final thoughts on what was just an absolutely lousy season. I wonder if even Alabama fans are feeling kind of weird about things right now.

BCS Title Game Precap

An attempt to make a prediction for the BCS title game. It's about time to bring a close to a very weird year.

Bowl Precap, Part 2

Games go on, and I am running late. But here we are and here we will be, and here's some more picks that I am trying to shove out the door.

Bowl Precap, Part 1

Oh college football, I missed you so. Thank you to the bowls for bringing you back.

BCS Bowl Issues

Rumblings about the BCS bowl selections. Here we go again.