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I've been reading this book called Moneyball. It is a great read. The Oakland As have scientifically broken down baseball in very unconventional ways. They have found that on base percentage is the most important offensive statistic. It is far more significant than anything else. Slugging percentage is a distant second.

What is the most important stat in collge football? Yards per rush? Yards per pass? Time of possesion? Is there some obscure stat that outweighs all others that the avergae fan doesn't even think about? Has some study been done?

If you haven't read this book I would definitely recommend it. It will make you think about what is going on during a game in a whole new way.

[This message has been edited by Nacho (edited 07-14-2003).]

OK Nacho - What is that one stat for Football? Average salary per player, PROS
Average SAT score - NCAA - Ha HA

Good one BUS.

BTW they also found that winning is the most important thing regarding attendance.

I'd say the most important stats would be (1) average yards per play and (2) turnover ratio.

(1) It doesn't matter if a team is an option team like Nebraska in its heyday or a passing team like the Spurrier-coached Florida teams - if you can move the ball at will, you basically can outscore everyone, and therefore, win.

(2) Every coach talks about eliminating mistakes - especially turnovers. How often do we see a team that has superior talent shoot itself in the foot with turnovers? Likewise, a team with inferior talent (like San Jose State last year) can win more games than its talent dictates it should by thwarting opponents' drives with key takeaways.