Top 50 defenses for 2024

[AugustaSwarm]

Interesting list.

We play 7 teams on the list...

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Looks like the B1G is known for defense, according to this list.

Would love to see the rankings for offense next.

 

[Techster]

On our schedule:

#3 Notre Dame
#6 UGA
#15 FSU
#17 VT
#20 NC State
#24 Louisville
#35 Miami
#42 Syracuse (EDIT)


Good thing our offense will be VERY good this season.

 

[gtjackets930]

On our schedule:

#3 Notre Dame
#6 UGA
#15 FSU
#20 NC State
#24 Louisville
#35 Miami


Good thing our offense will be VERY good this season.

#42 Cuse as well

 

[Techster]

#42 Cuse as well

Yup, caught it...EIGHT teams total on our schedule.

 

[TampaBuzz]

We will be on that list when the season is over. I find it interesting that there does not seem to be much discussion about the addition of Van Den Berg to our DL. I expect him to be a huge difference maker no matter where he lines up. Coming from Penn State, nobody has to worry about his ability to play against the big boys.

 

[JacketOff]

Y’all realize this is just some dude on Twitter putting these lists together, right? He’s not a cfb writer, journalist, or even a pundit. He’s literally just some guy, equivalent to somebody on this board ranking things based on what they feel like. All pre-season rankings are made up, but anytime you see “BigGameBoomer” just know whatever list he’s got has zero merit or research behind it. Miami Ohio having the 14th best defense in the country? Give me a break.

 

[AugustaSwarm]

Y’all realize this is just some dude on Twitter putting these lists together, right? He’s not a cfb writer, journalist, or even a pundit. He’s literally just some guy, equivalent to somebody on this board ranking things based on what they feel like. All pre-season rankings are made up, but anytime you see “BigGameBoomer” just know whatever list he’s got has zero merit or research behind it. Miami Ohio having the 14th best defense in the country? Give me a break.

Air Force at #28 was a head scratcher too...

 

[iceeater1969]

Interesting list.

We play 7 teams on the list...

Thanks,for any list that we can use to discuss gt football and not legalities of the conference

 

[SimpleGT]

As the stock market guys say "Past performance is not indicative of future returns". You can't rate teams until they play

 

[Techster]

Air Force at #28 was a head scratcher too...

FWIW, Air Force finished at #66 DFEI last season. #28 prediction may be too high for them given their limitations.

 

[AUFC]

FWIW, Air Force finished at #66 DFEI last season. #28 prediction may be too high for them given their limitations.

If you don't look at efficiency-based metrics, Air Force probably looks good because their opponents get the ball about 15 minutes per game (hyperbole) due to the triple option. No kidding opponents only averaged 277ypg against them.

 

[slugboy]

Here are some numbers from last season

Raw “total defense”

NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com

Discover the current NCAA FBS Football leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.

www.ncaa.com

FEI Defense

BCF Toys - 2023 DFEI Ratings

www.bcftoys.com

There are others, of course

Last year, Michigan, Penn State, and Ohio State were the top three in total defense.

For Penn State, Ole Miss’s offense was in total control of their mutual bowl game. Penn State still ended the year ranked second in total defense. (If I’m not clear, Penn State’s offense was supposed to be a beast, but they got crushed against Ole Miss—which, among other results, makes me think they were overrated)

Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, and Penn State will probably be top 10 (or close) in total defense. They’ll probably look great in FEI and SP+ defense through most of the year, but not as good. One of the reasons is that there aren’t enough games between the conferences. Maybe Oregon and Washington shake that up a bit.

On the other hand, a lot of the top defensive teams recruit really well, are deep in positions across the defense, and have coaching continuity.

Short version: people oversell last year’s defenses repeating. There’s a lot of truth to it, but there are going to be some surprises during the season, and inter-conference play will raise some doubts about the rankings

 

[iceeater1969]

Just watched the gt DE and coach Pope talk after practice. They look like grown men.
Gt Defense is going to suprise people. A healthy defense PLUS 2 bye weeks in second half of season will make for fun at bds.

We will be top 50 defense this year.

 

[Techster]

Just watched the gt DE and coach Pope talk after practice. They look like grown men.
Gt Defense is going to suprise people. A healthy defense PLUS 2 bye weeks in second half of season will make for fun at bds.

We will be top 50 defense this year.

Believe it or not, GT finished #77 in DFEI last season.

If we can finish top 50 DFEI, plus Top 15-20 in OFEI, GT will win a lot of games.

I think a lot of teams that are ranked high on our schedule won't turn out as good as everyone thinks, and other teams will surprise people. That's just how it happens every season.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Believe it or not, GT finished #77 in DFEI last season.

If we can finish top 50 DFEI, plus Top 15-20 in OFEI, GT will win a lot of games.

I think a lot of teams that are ranked high on our schedule won't turn out as good as everyone thinks, and other teams will surprise people. That's just how it happens every season.

Same as it always was, same as it always was.

 

[slugboy]

Believe it or not, GT finished #77 in DFEI last season.

If we can finish top 50 DFEI, plus Top 15-20 in OFEI, GT will win a lot of games.

I think a lot of teams that are ranked high on our schedule won't turn out as good as everyone thinks, and other teams will surprise people. That's just how it happens every season.

FYI—Out of ACC teams or teams we played, the FEI defense rankings were

3. Clemson
5. Notre Dame
10. FSU
13. UGA
17. Louisville
20. NCST
27. Duke
29. Ole Miss
30. SMU
36. Pitt
37. Miami
39. Cal
49. Bowling Green
62. UVA
65. VT
67. Syracuse
69. Wake Forest
70. UCF
74. UNC
77. GT <— US
111. BC
115. Stanford

77th is terrible for a P4 team, unfortunately. Top 40 is probably the region of good defenses. Top 50 is a lot better, but 40-50 defense doesn’t win you much unless you have a weak schedule or an amazing offense

40​

Tulane​

11-3​

10-3​

.27​

69​

29​

1.93​

41​

5.38​

34​

.377​

39​

26​

85​

.087​

41​

Kentucky​

7-6​

6-6​

.26​

50​

44​

2.35​

37​

5.05​

16​

.449​

87​

61​

55​

.142​

42​

Oregon State​

8-5​

7-5​

.25​

17​

72​

2.26​

98​

5.66​

57​

.427​

72​

74​

124​

.109​

43​

Rutgers​

7-6​

6-6​

.24​

52​

45​

2.02​

40​

5.24​

28​

.373​

36​

50​

54​

.119​

44​

Arkansas​

4-8​

3-8​

.24​

43​

57​

2.29​

44​

5.98​

80​

.463​

94​

66​

64​

.116​

45​

Mississippi State​

5-7​

4-7​

.23​

25​

71​

2.38​

52​

5.57​

50​

.421​

69​

83​

35​

.149​

Rk​

Team

Rec​

FBS​

DFEI​

Rk​

Rk​

DPD​

Rk​

DPP​

Rk​

DSR​

Rk​

Rk​

Rk​

DBD​

46​

Ohio​

10-3​

9-3​

.23​

130​

7​

1.52​

17​

4.97​

13​

.325​

19​

12​

14​

.158​

47​

South Carolina​

5-7​

4-7​

.22​

23​

74​

2.25​

84​

5.82​

72​

.440​

77​

51​

93​

.072​

48​

Iowa State​

7-6​

6-6​

.22​

34​

67​

1.98​

62​

5.73​

63​

.386​

46​

45​

83​

.118​

49​

Bowling Green​

7-6​

6-6​

.22​

85​

24​

2.08​

35​

5.45​

41​

.388​

49​

59​

41​

.132​

50​

Jacksonville State​

9-4​

8-4​

.20​

113​

17​

1.59​

24​

5.16​

22​

.289​

7​

20​

52​

.114​

 

[stinger78]

FYI—Out of ACC teams or teams we played, the FEI defense rankings were

3. Clemson
5. Notre Dame
10. FSU
13. UGA
17. Louisville
20. NCST
27. Duke
29. Ole Miss
30. SMU
36. Pitt
37. Miami
39. Cal
49. Bowling Green
62. UVA
65. VT
67. Syracuse
69. Wake Forest
70. UCF
74. UNC
77. GT <— US
111. BC
115. Stanford

77th is terrible for a P4 team, unfortunately. Top 40 is probably the region of good defenses. Top 50 is a lot better, but 40-50 defense doesn’t win you much unless you have a weak schedule or an amazing offense

40​

Tulane​

11-3​

10-3​

.27​

69​

29​

1.93​

41​

5.38​

34​

.377​

39​

26​

85​

.087​

41​

Kentucky​

7-6​

6-6​

.26​

50​

44​

2.35​

37​

5.05​

16​

.449​

87​

61​

55​

.142​

42​

Oregon State​

8-5​

7-5​

.25​

17​

72​

2.26​

98​

5.66​

57​

.427​

72​

74​

124​

.109​

43​

Rutgers​

7-6​

6-6​

.24​

52​

45​

2.02​

40​

5.24​

28​

.373​

36​

50​

54​

.119​

44​

Arkansas​

4-8​

3-8​

.24​

43​

57​

2.29​

44​

5.98​

80​

.463​

94​

66​

64​

.116​

45​

Mississippi State​

5-7​

4-7​

.23​

25​

71​

2.38​

52​

5.57​

50​

.421​

69​

83​

35​

.149​

Rk​

Team

Rec​

FBS​

DFEI​

Rk​

Rk​

DPD​

Rk​

DPP​

Rk​

DSR​

Rk​

Rk​

Rk​

DBD​

46​

Ohio​

10-3​

9-3​

.23​

130​

7​

1.52​

17​

4.97​

13​

.325​

19​

12​

14​

.158​

47​

South Carolina​

5-7​

4-7​

.22​

23​

74​

2.25​

84​

5.82​

72​

.440​

77​

51​

93​

.072​

48​

Iowa State​

7-6​

6-6​

.22​

34​

67​

1.98​

62​

5.73​

63​

.386​

46​

45​

83​

.118​

49​

Bowling Green​

7-6​

6-6​

.22​

85​

24​

2.08​

35​

5.45​

41​

.388​

49​

59​

41​

.132​

50​

Jacksonville State​

9-4​

8-4​

.20​

113​

17​

1.59​

24​

5.16​

22​

.289​

7​

20​

52​

.114​

Agree. P4 includes 66 teams not including ND, Oregon St or Wash St, so 69. Round it to 70. The top half of those teams is 35. I'd say that somewhere between #40 and #30 is where your D can really start making a difference by its own quality.

 

[Southern psu fan]

We will be on that list when the season is over. I find it interesting that there does not seem to be much discussion about the addition of Van Den Berg to our DL. I expect him to be a huge difference maker no matter where he lines up. Coming from Penn State, nobody has to worry about his ability to play against the big boys.

He wasn’t our starter but when Van Den Berg was on the field he was a beast and there wasn’t much of a drop off in talent. He gets after the QB and makes the DE’s better. Huge get for the Jackets and a big loss for Penn St. just a rugged DT that’s strong as an ox.

 

[iceeater1969]

Wow, great info!
So 2 of our new ACC members, Cal and SMU had pretty salty D.

SINCE WE DONT PLAY THEM , it would be great to see both of drop a few upsets on teams projected above us.

I know SMU is supposed to have good qb and Cal has iirc a good RB . Them dropping a txxx in FSU s punch bowl too (!) would make me a fan.