NC State is Ranked 39th According to ESPN’s SP+ Rankings After the Bowl Games

According to Bill Connelly’s SP+ Rankings over at ESPN, NC State ranks 39th after the Bowl Games.

ACC Teams in the SP+ Rankings After Bowl Games

9. FSU
23. Clemson
28. Miami
30. Duke
34. Louisville
39. NC State
40. UNC
46. Virginia Tech
80. Syracuse
83. Boston College
90. Pitt
96. Wake Forest
105. Virginia

How do the SP+ rankings work?

What is SP+? In a single sentence, it’s a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. SP+ is indeed intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling — no good predictive system is. It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you’re lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you’re strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise. (ESPN)

FBS Conference Rankings by SP+

1. SEC: 11.7 average rating (32.8 offense, 22.1 defense), up 1.0 points from before bowls
2. Pac-12: 6.4 average (32.5 offense, 26.0 defense), up 0.5
3. Big Ten: 6.0 average (22.8 offense, 17.4 defense), down 0.3
4. Big 12: 5.5 average (30.9 offense, 25.6 defense), up 0.3
5. ACC: 2.9 average (26.6 offense, 24.2 defense), down 1.3
6. Sun Belt: minus-3.3 average (28.1 offense, 31.0 defense), up 0.6
7. Mountain West: minus-6.4 average (24.8 offense, 31.3 defense), down 0.2
8. AAC: minus-7.8 average (24.8 offense, 32.0 defense), up 0.4
9. Conference USA: minus-7.9 average (22.8 offense, 30.1 defense), down 1.1
10. MAC: minus-11.3 average (16.5 offense, 27.0 defense), down 0.5

Listen, I’m a stat junky. I love analytics. I think they have their place. With that being said, at the end of the day, a win is a win. It might have not been pretty, but NC State finished the regular season as the 3rd best team in the ACC. In some ways, seeing these rankings is encouraging. This team played with grit and won despite things not going smoothly all the time.