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A few folks from Rivals.com set out to figure out the fantastically named "Diversification Quotient" of each team in college football over the past decade. The result is one of the more intriguing things I've seen all offseason.They took the benchmark of an outstanding season at each skill position: 1,000-yard rushers and receivers and 3,000-yard passers, and tallied up the total for each program.
They then added up the total number of each and declared the highest score "college football's most diverse offense."
The winner: Oregon State.
Texas Tech and Hawaii were two of just three teams to surpass the 20s, but were removed from the running for not fielding a single 1,000-yard rusher.
What does it mean? Probably not a ton, but it's interesting to see data represented in a manner they did. I don't need a chart to tell me Baylor hasn't been very good on offense for the past decade (only two total points), or that Texas Tech likes to throw the ball.
Head over to Rivals.com to see the full breakdown, but here's how the DQ shook out for each team in the conference.
1. Texas Tech (20)
2. Texas (18)
3. Oklahoma (17)
4. Missouri (15)
5. Oklahoma State (14)
6. Kansas State (12)
T-7. Kansas (9)
T-7. Nebraska (9)
9. Iowa State (8)
10. Colorado (5)
T-11. Baylor (2)
T-11. Texas A&M (2)
A few more thoughts:
- Missouri and Texas Tech have been all about offense in recent history, but the company with them at the top makes you wonder how good they could be if they were better on the other side of the ball -- or how good they could become if they do improve. Missouri could have a solid defense with a more experienced secondary and a play-making front four, and Texas Tech has the right coach if they want to play defense. We'll see if the offense stays where it's been, but both offenses are clearly covering a lot of ground. Texas Tech was one of just five schools in the country without a 1,000-yard rusher.
- It's a little surprising to see Texas A&M down at the bottom with Baylor, but these numbers are probably a little skewed by the lack of success the Aggies have had in the past decade. No Top 25 finishes since 1999 and just five winning seasons in this decade? That's what will land you there. Although, the school record for receiving yards is just 885, set by Robert Ferguson in 2000. With Jerrod Johnson slinging it this season, that record could be in jeopardy. It wouldn't be shocking to see both Jeff Fuller and Uzoma Nwachukwu both break it this season.
- Baylor is the only school without a 3,000-yard passer, but only three schools (Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech) have more than five in the past decade. Quarterbacks league? Maybe not as much as people think, although that label has only really been applicable toward the latter end of the 2000s. Conversely, seven teams in the league had at least five 1,000-yard rushers, and six teams have had at least seven.
- Texas A&M and Nebraska are the only schools without 1,000-yard receivers. Niles Paul has a chance to end that this year at Nebraska, but I wouldn't bet on it.
- Texas Tech is the only school in the nation to have a 3,000-yard passer in each season. Hawaii was second, with nine.
- Though Texas Tech was disqualified from being the overall winner, with them included, the Big 12 has the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 most diverse offenses in college football, with Texas and Oklahoma coming in at No. 4 and No. 5.
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