| 19 January 2011
2010's PIF Conference Winner
Now that all the bowl games are over, I've had the time to go and tabulate the Positive Impact Factor ranking for the FBS conferences. The Big Ten finishes with its quarterbacks ranked #1 in Positive Impact Factor. If you visited this page when the article was originally published, you would have seen that the Big XII was the top conference. There was an error in the Big Ten formula page that excluded the data from Illinois. We regret the error. After adding Illinois' numbers back in, the Big Ten edged out the Big XII. The three FBS Independents (Army, Navy and Notre Dame) do not constitute a conference or else they would have finished first with a combined PIF of 55.6.
If you're new to the PIF ratings, here's a quick primer (or, check out a podcast about the PIF): 100 point scale based on passing, rushing and receiving contribution (touches) to one's team. Total TD reflects passing+rushing+receiving (or maybe even fumble recovery) TD. Negative plays are defined as incompletions, fumbles and sacks taken. Extremelynegative plays are interceptions and fumbles lost. Extremely positive plays are touchdowns. The PIF rating is calculated using the following formula:
Negative plays (incompletions, fumbles, sacks) divided by total touches (pass attempts, rush attempts, catches)=negative play percentage (Neg Play). Extremely negative plays (INTs/incompletions plus fumbles lost/rush attempts) multiplied times 2=extremely negative play factor (XNeg Play). Total TD divided by total touches=extremely positive play factor (XPos Play). 100-Neg Play+XNeg Play(total negative number)+XPos Play=PIF.
Click on the Conference name to see the full data set for each team/division: ACC, Big XII, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Independents, MAC, Mountain West, PAC 10, SEC, Sun Belt, WAC.
| Rank | Conference | Touches | Total TD | Neg Play | XNeg Play | XPos Play | PIF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Big Ten | 5319 | 265 | 33.7 | 20 | 5 | 51.3 |
| 2. | Big XII | 6735 | 324 | 35.4 | 18.6 | 4.8 | 50.8 |
| 3. | SEC | 5840 | 321 | 36.1 | 19.8 | 5.5 | 49.6 |
| 4. | Conference USA | 6477 | 345 | 38.4 | 19.7 | 5.3 | 47.3 |
| 5. | Mountain West | 4048 | 194 | 38 | 21.1 | 4.8 | 45.6 |
| 6. | ACC | 6036 | 279 | 39 | 21.2 | 4.6 | 44.4 |
| 7. | WAC | 4808 | 248 | 38.2 | 22.7 | 5.2 | 44.3 |
| 8. | PAC 10 | 4856 | 254 | 38.8 | 22.3 | 5.2 | 44.2 |
| 9. | Sun Belt | 4609 | 200 | 38.1 | 22.6 | 4.3 | 43.6 |
| 10. | Big East | 3577 | 159 | 41.2 | 20.6 | 4.4 | 42.6 |
| 11. | MAC | 6345 | 283 | 39.1 | 26.6 | 4.5 | 38.8 |
The Big Ten was bolstered by having six teams which finished with a PIF higher than 50. The two highest finishing teams were Wisconsin with a team PIF of 58.5 and Illinois had a 57.8. Minnesota was the lowest rated Big Ten program with a 34.6 PIF.
The MAC was the lowest rated conference due to such low rated teams as Akron (28.4), Ball State (28.6) Bowling Green (12.7), and Temple (16.1).
The highest ranking division was the SEC West with a PIF of 52.8. Arkansas was the lowest ranked team in the division with a PIF of 43.2. Auburn's 70.9 PIF led both the SEC West and the FBS as a whole.
The average team PIF was 46.1. On average during the 2010 season, an FBS qb turned the ball over on 3.1% of his touches and produced a TD on 4.9% of his touches. Cam Newton, who finished the season as the QB with the highest PIF (70.4), committed a turnover on only 1.6% of his touches. Newton produced a TD on 9.3% of his touches.
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