Efficiency margin time!
With almost everyone in the conference between 2-4 and 4-2, it can be difficult to tell who the quality teams actually are in conference, which is something the efficiency margin helps with.
Now, usually I start posting these after 3 conference games, but, well, the numbers weren't really great to look at after 3 conference games this season:
Yes, Illinois was effectively in a 3 way dead heat for worst team in the conference (and lost to one of the others! all 3 of their losses were to bottom half teams!).
Since then, they've made some changes and started actually playing hard for the last 3 games. I posted the "after 3 games" EM so we can see the difference playing hard makes for this team. Numbers as of now (including today's game between IU and WIsconsin):
Some notes:
- Offense has come around across the league (today notwithstanding), after an initial slate of some really sorry offense overall, particularly from Illinois.
- Nobody is really terrible this season so far, not even Minnesota. Michigan's blowout win against Maryland still doing some pretty heavy lifting in these statistics so far, but Michigan has been good overall and Maryland has been bad overall.
- The difference in margin between Michigan and Rutgers is greater than the difference between #3 Rutgers and #9 Wisconsin. Lot of samey teams in the middle so far, with Purdue the real outlier at the top (though their schedule has been friendly with 3 games already against the bottom 3 teams in the conference), and Minnesota, Maryland and Nebraska at the bottom.
- Illinois has gone from the 12th best offense and 13th best defense to the 6th best offense and 4th best defense in a week. Continuing this current trajectory will go a long way towards showing they belong near the top of the league.
With almost everyone in the conference between 2-4 and 4-2, it can be difficult to tell who the quality teams actually are in conference, which is something the efficiency margin helps with.
Now, usually I start posting these after 3 conference games, but, well, the numbers weren't really great to look at after 3 conference games this season:
Yes, Illinois was effectively in a 3 way dead heat for worst team in the conference (and lost to one of the others! all 3 of their losses were to bottom half teams!).
Since then, they've made some changes and started actually playing hard for the last 3 games. I posted the "after 3 games" EM so we can see the difference playing hard makes for this team. Numbers as of now (including today's game between IU and WIsconsin):
Some notes:
- Offense has come around across the league (today notwithstanding), after an initial slate of some really sorry offense overall, particularly from Illinois.
- Nobody is really terrible this season so far, not even Minnesota. Michigan's blowout win against Maryland still doing some pretty heavy lifting in these statistics so far, but Michigan has been good overall and Maryland has been bad overall.
- The difference in margin between Michigan and Rutgers is greater than the difference between #3 Rutgers and #9 Wisconsin. Lot of samey teams in the middle so far, with Purdue the real outlier at the top (though their schedule has been friendly with 3 games already against the bottom 3 teams in the conference), and Minnesota, Maryland and Nebraska at the bottom.
- Illinois has gone from the 12th best offense and 13th best defense to the 6th best offense and 4th best defense in a week. Continuing this current trajectory will go a long way towards showing they belong near the top of the league.
Green Slime 
