A look into football winning percentage for teams that moved conferecnes

By: KingJames

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on January 4, 2025, 8:12 PM | 11 comments

I compiled a list of teams that moved conferences and how they did in the new conference vs old conference.

A couple things:

I stopped counting after 1991, this only affected Maryland as most teams were from Big East (1991), Big 12 (1996), or MWC (1999)
Rutgers and UofL had one year of American which I counted with the Big East
If you see a .5 win, or loss, then that was a tie, that just made the percentages correct

Overall, no do not move conferences; Pitt and A&M are the only ones with real increase, but then only 6.5-7 point increase in win percentage. Missouri increased but that's 4 game improvement over 13 years which means they are winning 1 more game every 3 or so years vs when they were in the Big 12. That could have been luck of schedule or a number of other things (like not playing OU and Nebraska every year)

Miami and Nebraska were hit the hardest of the power teams at 21 point drop in winning percentage. TCU was the largest moving from mid majors to a Power Conference.

It is interesting that both teams that went to the SEC and did better than when in the Big 12. Texas is currently sitting at 18 point increase, but well that's only one season. However, A&M went from 7 wins a season to 8, now there are more games to get that extra win, though some how A&M played 14 games in 1998 so who really knows.

Team	Old Conference	Wins	Losses	Percentage	New Conference	Wins	Losses	Percentage	Difference
BC	Big East	95	72	56.9%	ACC	133	120	52.6%	-4.3%
Cuse	Big East	142.5	121.5	54.0%	ACC	66	82	44.6%	-9.4%
Miami	Big East	128	29	81.5%	ACC	158	106	59.8%	-21.7%
UofL	Big East	73	40	64.6%	ACC	81	60	57.4%	-7.2%
Pitt	Big East	128	135	48.7%	ACC	85	69	55.2%	6.5%
VT	Big East	108.5	48.5	69.1%	ACC	173	101	63.1%	-6.0%
A&M	Big 12	93	68	57.8%	SEC	106	58	64.6%	6.9%
Missouri	Big 12	112	84	57.1%	SEC	96	68	58.5%	1.4%
Maryland	ACC	125	147	46.0%	Big Ten	57	73	43.8%	-2.1%
Nebraska	Big 12	139	55	71.6%	Big Ten	87	85	50.6%	-21.1%
Rutgers	Big East	120.5	150.5	44.5%	Big Ten	47	86	35.3%	-9.1%
Colorado	Big 12	102	95	51.8%	Pac-12	52	102	33.8%	-18.0%
TCU	MWC	77	13	85.6%	Big 12	101	64	61.2%	-24.3%
Utah	MWC	105	42	71.4%	Pac-12	109	66	62.3%	-9.1%
WVU	Big East	167	89	65.2%	Big 12	88	74	54.3%	-10.9%