Putting Up Numbers· college football

Missouri’s third-down conversion rate vs a ranked opponent and vs an unranked opponent

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Missouri was 14.3 percentage points under vs a ranked opponent and 8.3 percentage points over vs an unranked opponent over its last 25 games, 8 games against 15. The plain averages are 23.9% and 51.9%, a difference of 28.0%. All 6 games while unranked were vs an unranked opponent.

Missouri’s −22.6% vs a ranked opponent and vs an unranked opponent over expected ranks 76th of the 76 teams with 4 games on each side over their last 25 games through Sep 11, 2026.

third-down conversion rate a game over expected

A −22.6% difference in third-down conversion rate over expected vs a ranked opponent and vs an unranked opponent is rare: shuffle which games were vs a ranked opponent and it comes up less than once in 100.

A −28.0% difference in third-down conversion rate vs a ranked opponent and vs an unranked opponent is rare: shuffle which games were vs a ranked opponent and it comes up less than once in 100.

The games

vs a ranked opponentvs an unranked opponent
Missouri’s games, last 25 games, each marked vs a ranked opponent or vs an unranked opponent
SideDateGameResult3rd downsExpected
Sep 21, 2024vsVanderbiltW41.2%46.6%
Oct 5, 2024@Texas A&ML33.3%37.4%
Oct 12, 2024@UMassW50.0%46.8%
Oct 19, 2024vsAuburnW41.2%41.6%
Oct 26, 2024@AlabamaL23.1%38.1%
Nov 9, 2024vsOklahomaW57.9%37.4%
Nov 16, 2024@South CarolinaL11.1%40.5%
Nov 23, 2024@Mississippi StateW61.1%42.8%
Nov 30, 2024vsArkansasW40.0%39.5%
Dec 30, 2024vsIowa (neutral)W38.5%40.4%
Aug 28, 2025vsCCentral ArkansasW69.2%—
Sep 6, 2025vsKansasW52.6%42.7%
Sep 13, 2025vsLouisianaW69.2%44.0%
Sep 20, 2025vsSouth CarolinaW53.8%39.2%
Sep 27, 2025vsUMassW66.7%50.2%
Oct 11, 2025vsAlabamaL9.1%42.3%
Oct 18, 2025@AuburnW47.1%35.2%
Oct 25, 2025@VanderbiltL31.3%45.6%
Nov 8, 2025vsTexas A&ML38.5%30.8%
Nov 15, 2025vsMississippi StateW50.0%41.8%
Nov 22, 2025@OklahomaL20.0%36.1%
Nov 29, 2025@ArkansasW40.0%45.0%
Dec 27, 2025vsVirginia (neutral)L25.0%35.0%
Sep 3, 2026vsAArkansas-Pine BluffW60.0%—
Sep 11, 2026@KansasW43.8%35.6%

Method

Read against .

  • Expected is an offense and a defense a team, fit over every game of its season between two teams in the table with the game being read left out, plus 0.6% in 2024, plus 0.7% in 2025, plus 1.4% in 2026 for the home team (the edge the fit finds once strength is in), nothing at a neutral site.
  • Each expected number is then fit to the season’s games: a game bears out about 50% in 2024, 56% in 2025, 40% in 2026 of the difference the model predicts.
  • The shuffle keeps the season’s shape: the games are cut in two where one date leaves the least variance, each game is read against its stretch, and the sides are shuffled only inside each stretch.
  • Central Arkansas, Arkansas-Pine Bluff have no other game in the table, so those games have no expected number and sit out the second figure.
  • Read against the season’s ratings as of Oct 31, 2026; the games are the ones through Sep 11.