Teams with 1st Loss Week 16:
Buffalo
Southern California
Notre Dame
Teams with 2nd Loss Week 16:
Marshall
Northwestern
Tulsa
Boise State
Teams with 1st Win Week 16:
none
Final Number of Undefeated Teams at the End of the Regular Season:
5: Coastal Carolina, Alabama, Cincinnati, Ohio State, and San Jose State
-We lost USC, Buffalo, and Notre Dame in their championships.
Maximum number of Undefeated Teams at the End of the Bowl Season:
4: Coastal Carolina, Cincinnati, San Jose State and Alabama/Ohio State
Percent of Undefeateds with 1st Loss:
Week 1: 6.5% (5 of 77)
Week 2: 18.1% (13 of 72)
Week 3: 13.6% (8 of 59)
Week 4: 33.33% (17 of 51)
Week 5: 35.3% (12 of 34)
Week 6: 22.7% (5 of 22)
Week 7: 7.5% (5 of 67) -Added 50 teams to list.
Week 8: 24.2% (15 of 62)
Week 9: 12.8% (6 of 47)
Week 10: 31.7% (13 of 41)
Week 11: 21.4% (6 of 28)
Week 12: 22.7% (5 of 22)
Week 13: 23.5% (4 of 17)
Week 14: 30.8% (4 of 13)
Week 15: 11.1% (1 of 9)
Week 16: 37.5% (3 of 8)
-First time this list has ever gone a week with a new team losing every week and that is with extra weeks (although it is also with a lot of undefeated teams starting fresh in the middle).
Week 16 Thoughts:
-Biggest loss of the week was probably not having the Sun Belt Championship Game. Biggest ever for the conference and certainly at least possible that the champ would have bumped Iowa State (and Indiana) for final NY6 spot.
-After beating USC, Oregon will be the lowest NY6 representative ever. They are barely in the final top 25 (without checking, I'd guess the next closest would be a 2-loss Boise State team the first year of the CFP).
-Our final one loss list is a little big, but our undefeated list isn't something that would have been that unexpected under a regular season. Three Group of 5 champs undefeated is unusual and non-conference play would have likely taken another 1 or 2 out, but the undefeated list wouldn't have been shocking even without COVID.
-I don't have much to add on the playoff bowls that others aren't talking about, but do wish the committee took some consideration in for traditions of the bowls rather than just putting number 1 in what is their slight favorite. I know the Rose Bowl is not in Pasadena and I know Alabama is #1, but when you have an SEC team #1 and a Big Ten #3, you should have the SEC team in the Sugar and the Big Ten in the Rose. The whole point of using the existing bowls is their strong traditional element. You can't make it work most the time, but when you actually can, do it.
-Oklahoma did what it usually seems to. It lost early and came back with no margin and won the Big 12. If it had only been one loss instead of 2 to start the year, the Sooners would once again be in a CFP bowl.
Random things that stand out for the regular season:
1. Very good year for teams outside the power 5 conferences. Next couple years will be telling if that was based on schedules this year or that is better maintained. American position as top G5 conference cemented. Despite a fantastic year in the Sun Belt, and an undefeated Mountain West champ, there was no real debate about who was put on top it appears.
2. Good year for traditional independents, with BYU, Notre Dame, Army, and Liberty all excelling.
3. Bowl season will have to tell us a lot. We had so little nonconference play we have a lot less sense than normal on how everyone compares to teams outside their conference (and it is not like we usually get a ton of info out of conference).
4. Biggest issues conference for the year was the PAC-12. Big 12 had some rough out of conference play to start, but PAC-12 couldn't get an undefeated out of a very reduced schedule and has a barely ranked Oregon team that did not win the north declared PAC-12 champs.
Bowl Thoughts:
Cure Bowl: 1-loss Liberty vs. undefeated Coastal Carolina: This game was supposed to take place earlier but Liberty had to cancel and BYU took their spot. Who would have guessed these two would have 1-loss between them going into a bowl.
Gasparilla Bowl: South Carolina vs. UAB: After just a few years back from the dead, Conference USA champ, UAB is favored in a bowl game vs. an SEC opponent.
Cotton Bowl: Florida vs. Oklahoma: Highest collective ranked bowl outside the CFP. Chance for the Big 12 to show its top is stronger than looked early.
Arizona Bowl: 1-loss Ball State vs. undefeated Fresno State: MAC vs. Mountain West champs.
Peach Bowl: Undefeated Cincinnati vs. Georgia: Georgia has been hot and Cincinnati has had an amazing season. Cincinnati made 2 BCS bowls in the past and lost. Would be very big for the program to win this.
Rose Bowl: Undefeated Alabama vs. 1-loss Notre Dame: Weird to these opponents in a Rose Bowl in Texas. Alabama is the heavy favorite. Notre Dame has big chance to show they belong here. It's a big deal to win, but even just being close will mean a lot.
Sugar Bowl: Undefeated Ohio State vs. 1-loss Clemson: Buckeyes felt like the better team, but lost last time these two played. This time, Clemson feels like the better team. Can Ohio State win a CFP bowl for first time since first year of the CFP (it was the Sugar Bowl that year too)?
Outback Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Indiana: Indiana was one spot away from a NY6, but falls down to the Outback. Fantastic season for them despite that setback. Will have a lot to prove in this game.
Fiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. Iowa State: Is Oregon back? The recruiting has been good and they are PAC-12 champs. On the other side, Iowa State has had its best season in decades. Winning this game would cement it as an all timer for Iowa State fans.
Orange Bowl: Texas A&M vs. North Carolina: Big step for North Carolina this year for the 2nd year under Mac Brown. They are playing an Aggie team that is disappointed to be here. Will it overcome that?
