College Basketball: Texas, Alabama Great on Defense, Wisconsin Great on Offense

Welcome to the February 10th, 2011 edition of the Offensive Stats Leaders & Losers report. This article showcases the five best and five worst NCAA college basketball teams (as of yesterday morning) across a variety of performance measures.

This Week's Highlights

Wisconsin has the nation's highest offensive efficiency, but the fewest possessions per game. So while they don't score tons of points due to their slow pace, they do have an amazing offense.

Those smart fellows at Harvard do the little things right. They're 4th in free throw percentage.

As seems to be the case every year, Pittsburgh is the best offensive rebounding team in the country.

Poor Centenary. They get blocked on nearly 10% of their shots.

Texas is getting rave defensive reviews, but Alabama's raw defensive efficiency is even better. They're ranked first in the nation.

Teams travel to Denver and expect to be worn out for two reasons: the altitude and the crazy number of times they get hacked by the Denver defense.

Ohio State, ranked #1 in fewest free throw attempts per field goal attempt, allows about 20% fewer than #2 Creighton. Remarkable.

You like to shoot threes? Play against Nebraska. Of major conference teams, they have the highest proportion of opponent field goal attempts from three point range.

Don't come inside against Syracuse. They're #2 in block percentage, at 11.7%.

[One note: Since raw statistics can be influenced by opponent strength, we include the current strength of schedule power ranking (SoS) of each team along with each statistical value.]

OFFENSIVE STATS

Points Per Game

The traditional indicator of offensive prowess. However, this stat can be misleading since teams that play at a faster pace are likely to rate higher. Leaders score the most points per game; losers score the least.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 VA Military 85.7 #263 2 Washington 84.8 #32 3 Duke 84.4 #42 4 Kansas 83.7 #28 5 BYU 83.2 #29

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 W Illinois 55.6 #297 344 Savannah St 56.0 #181 343 Southern 56.1 #344 342 Toledo 56.4 #191 341 Dartmouth 57.0 #182

Points Per Game for all teams »

Possessions Per Game

The approximate number of offensive possessions per game indicates the relative pace at which a team tends to play. Leaders tend to love to run the fast break; losers like to slow the game down to a crawl.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 VA Military 80.2 #263 2 Alcorn State 78.8 #343 3 NW State 78.5 #324 4 Chicago St 77.7 #336 5 Texas State 77.5 #316

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 Wisconsin 59.3 #17 344 N Iowa 60.6 #104 343 Denver 61.2 #258 342 Delaware St 61.7 #300 341 Pacific 61.8 #124

Possessions Per Game for all teams »

Offensive Efficiency

The number of points scored per offensive possession is a more refined measure of offensive ability. Leaders make the most of converting each possession into points; losers need the most possessions to score.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 Wisconsin 1.171 #17 2 Ohio State 1.161 #23 3 Pittsburgh 1.160 #11 4 St Marys 1.160 #71 5 Kansas 1.158 #28

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 Grambling St 0.786 #345 344 Southern 0.808 #344 343 Alcorn State 0.812 #343 342 Centenary 0.812 #248 341 Ark Pine Bl 0.822 #334

Offensive Efficiency for all teams »

Free Throw Accuracy Percentage

This measures free throw shooting success on a percentage basis, but does not consider how many free throws a team tends to shoot. Leaders would destroy you in a game of 21; losers are the Shaquille O'Neals of college hoops.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 Wisconsin 82.9% #17 2 Bucknell 78.9% #125 3 Colorado 78.8% #49 4 Harvard 78.5% #80 5 IPFW 78.0% #246

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 Prairie View 57.0% #337 344 Grambling St 57.4% #345 343 Alabama St 58.0% #341 342 Alab A&M 60.7% #342 341 Youngs St 60.8% #148

Free Throw Accuracy Percentage for all teams »

Offensive Rebound Percentage

This refers to the percentage of its missed shots that a team subsequently rebounds. Leaders crash the boards and dominate the offensive glass; losers apparently never learned how to box out your man in sixth grade.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 Pittsburgh 44.2% #11 2 Old Dominion 43.8% #70 3 Kansas St 42.3% #24 4 Morehead St 40.5% #214 5 W Virginia 39.4% #1

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 Denver 16.2% #258 344 Samford 16.6% #310 343 Navy 18.2% #276 342 Brown 18.9% #219 341 SIU Edward 19.4% #309

Offensive Rebound Percentage for all teams »

Get Blocked Percentage

The percentage of a team's shots that end up getting blocked by the opposing defense. Leaders take smart shots, protect the ball or simply tower over the competition; losers constantly have the refrain "Get that weak @#$% out of here!" ringing in their ears.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 Col Charlestn 2.9% #115 2 S Methodist 3.5% #236 3 Louisville 3.8% #25 4 Wisconsin 3.9% #17 5 Texas State 4.0% #316

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 Centenary 9.3% #248 344 Fairfield 9.1% #195 343 Drexel 8.9% #92 342 Houston Bap 8.9% #339 341 Prairie View 8.8% #337

Get Blocked Percentage for all teams »

• Since raw statistics can be influenced by opponent strength, we include the current strength of schedule power ranking (SoS) of each team along with each statistical value.

DEFENSIVE STATS

Points Allowed Per Game

This is the traditional indicator of defensive prowess. However, this stat can be misleading since teams that face slow-paced opponents often will tend to rate higher. Leaders allow the least points per game; losers allow the most.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 Ste F Austin 55.4 #301 2 Wisconsin 56.3 #17 3 Alabama 57.1 #90 4 Fairfield 57.5 #195 5 Ohio State 57.8 #23

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 Chicago St 89.6 #336 344 VA Military 85.9 #263 343 Longwood 85.8 #326 342 NC-Grnsboro 82.3 #260 341 Centenary 82.1 #248

Points Allowed Per Game for all teams »

Defensive Efficiency

The number of points allowed per opponent possession, which is a more refined measure of defensive ability. Leaders force their opponents into needing the most number of possessions to score; losers give up an alarming number of points each time their opponent gets the ball.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 Alabama 0.830 #90 2 Texas 0.839 #14 3 Florida St 0.858 #37 4 Fairfield 0.860 #195 5 Ohio State 0.862 #23

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 Longwood 1.164 #326 344 Chicago St 1.153 #336 343 Centenary 1.140 #248 342 Maryland ES 1.123 #318 341 Towson 1.120 #157

Defensive Efficiency for all teams »

Opponent Free Throws Attempted per Field Goal Attempted

A rough (and far from perfect) approximation of how effective a team is at not committing shooting fouls, which could be a proxy for good defense if the opponent shooting percentage is also low. Leaders send opponents to the charity stripe the least frequently; losers aren't afraid to drop the hammer on opposing shooters.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 Ohio State 0.201 #23 2 Creighton 0.249 #135 3 N Carolina 0.255 #12 4 Iowa 0.255 #46 5 Notre Dame 0.256 #8

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 Denver 0.621 #258 344 Wagner 0.603 #193 343 Middle Tenn 0.585 #244 342 Central Mich 0.566 #204 341 Ark Pine Bl 0.558 #334

Opponent Free Throws Attempted per Field Goal Attempted for all teams »

Personal Foul Percentage

The percentage of time that a team commits a personal foul during an opponent's offensive possession. Leaders keep their hands to themselves (or at least where the refs can't see them); losers are the ultimate hacking machines.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 Florida 18.6% #35 2 Miss State 18.9% #123 3 Col Charlestn 19.0% #115 4 Ohio State 19.2% #23 5 Iowa State 19.3% #88

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 Denver 31.7% #258 344 Wagner 30.8% #193 343 Middle Tenn 30.3% #244 342 Rob Morris 29.7% #152 341 Central Mich 29.4% #204

Personal Foul Percentage for all teams »

Opponent Three Point Shooting Rate

The percentage of offensive possessions by a team's opponent that include a three point shot. Leaders either do poorly defending three point shots or tend to play against long ball dependent teams; losers either shut down the three or play teams that like to go inside on offense.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 Saint Louis 20.3% #103 2 Loyola-MD 23.7% #174 3 DePaul 24.0% #89 4 Denver 24.4% #258 5 Duke 24.7% #42

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 Chattanooga 45.7% #278 344 Air Force 45.4% #85 343 N Colorado 42.8% #164 342 Nebraska 42.6% #66 341 Hartford 42.5% #240

Opponent Three Point Shooting Rate for all teams »

Block Percentage

The percentage of opponent possessions during which a team blocks its opponent's shot. Leaders are the Dikembe Mutombos of college hoops; losers can't seem to get a hand on opponents' shots, although that doesn't necessarily mean they're bad at defending shots.

Leaders   Rank Team Value SoS 1 NW State 11.8% #324 2 Syracuse 11.7% #15 3 S Carolina 11.4% #84 4 Central FL 11.4% #126 5 Kentucky 11.3% #19

Losers   Rank Team Value SoS 345 Ste F Austin 2.0% #301 344 Chattanooga 2.0% #278 343 Toledo 2.2% #191 342 Wright State 2.3% #120 341 Maryland ES 2.3% #318

Block Percentage for all teams »