Last week we looked at the NCAA’s official Red Zone Efficiency Statistics and how completely absurd the method used to rank teams are. What other positive statistic would have a 1-11 team ranked 2nd nationally?
We gave you a different way to rank these teams (by points per red zone possession) that’s more logical and descriptive of a team’s success or failure in that area of the field.
So, now that we know which teams are the most effective once they get into the red zone lets take a look and see which teams score the most points from red zone possessions and what that means for their chances of winning. After all, Memphis proved that a high percentage of scores on red zone possessions really means little. What matters is getting into the red zone 5 or more times a game and scoring a high percentage of touchdowns on those possessions.
| Team | G | Drives | Drives/G | Points | % TD | % FG | Won | Loss | RZPPG |
| Wisconsin | 13 | 68 | 5.231 | 400 | .794 | .118 | 11 | 2 | 30.77 |
| TCU | 13 | 68 | 5.231 | 377 | .735 | .147 | 13 | 0 | 29.00 |
| Stanford | 13 | 70 | 5.385 | 376 | .686 | .200 | 12 | 1 | 28.92 |
| Boise State | 13 | 68 | 5.231 | 364 | .691 | .162 | 12 | 1 | 28.00 |
| Tulsa | 13 | 70 | 5.385 | 363 | .657 | .200 | 10 | 3 | 27.92 |
| Nevada | 14 | 75 | 5.357 | 382 | .667 | .147 | 13 | 1 | 27.29 |
| East Carolina | 13 | 63 | 4.846 | 353 | .730 | .175 | 6 | 7 | 27.15 |
| Oregon | 13 | 68 | 5.231 | 349 | .647 | .176 | 12 | 1 | 26.85 |
| Texas Tech | 13 | 65 | 5.000 | 338 | .692 | .123 | 8 | 5 | 26.00 |
| Oklahoma | 14 | 77 | 5.500 | 364 | .571 | .247 | 12 | 2 | 26.00 |
Notice the teams at the top of this list. Wisconsin, TCU, Stanford, Boise State, Tulsa and Nevada. Combined they were 71-8 (89.9%). Also, 2 of the 8 losses (Wisconsin to TCU and Boise State to Nevada) occurred to other teams in the top 6. Excluding these games means that when a top 6 team played a team outside of the top 6 the record was 69-6 (92.0%).
The number of points scored in the red zone has the highest correlation to winning of any statistic we have found. The top 10 teams have a combined record of 109-24 (82.0%). The elite teams in college football will average around 25 points (or more) a game from red zone possessions.
Only one of these 10 teams scored touchdowns at a rate lower than 60% and only one kicked FGs at a rate higher than 20% of the time.
The two teams with the worst records also had horrendous defenses (East Carolina ranked dead last in the nation in total defense and Texas Tech was 114th).
