Tuesday, December 26, 2017

2017 Walk On's Independence Bowl

On Wednesday the Walk On's Independence Bowl pits the Florida State Seminoles from the Atlantic Coast Conference against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles from Conference USA.  So here is my analysis of the Walk On's Independence Bowl based on the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.  The model uses data provided at www.cfbstats.com.

Prediction
Given the overall productivity of the two programs, the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model gives the edge to the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.  Below is a look at each of these two football programs during the 2017 regular season.

Florida State Seminoles
The Seminoles finished the regular season at 6-6 after re-scheduling Louisiana-Monroe to play at the end of the regular season for the chance to become bowl eligible.  Florida State played against a "tougher" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, meaning that Florida State's SOS was between one and two standard deviations lower than the "league's" average SOS.  This season the Seminoles' best victory was over #43 ranked Wake Forest by a score of  (26-19), and their only victory over a team currently ranked in the top 50% of the FBS.  Florida State's worst loss was to #57 ranked Boston College by a score of (3-35).  Florida State has the #75 ranked team in total production with the #103 ranked offense and the #32 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles
The Golden Eagles finished the regular season at 8-4, while playing against a "much easier" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, meaning that Southern Mississippi's SOS was more than two standard deviations higher than the "league" average SOS.  For this season the Golden Eagles' best victory was over #34 ranked UTSA by a score of (31-29).  The Golden Eagles' worst loss was to #112 ranked Tennessee by a score of (10-24).  Southern Mississippi has the #30 ranked team in total production with the #34 ranked offense and the #41 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2017 Bowl Games
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Cure Bowl
Las Vegas Bowl
Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
Cheribundi Tart Cherry Roca Baton Bowl
DXL Frisco Bowl
Bad Boy Mower Gasparilla Bowl
Bahamas Bowl
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Birmingham Bowl
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl 
Dollar General Bowl
Hawaii Bowl
Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl 
Quick Lane Bowl
Cactus Bowl