Pythagoras, NC State, and Vanderbilt

At the beginning of the season, the general consensus was that NC State could be a lot better in 2016 than 2015 but without said improvement showing up in the record due to a meteoric rise in schedule difficulty. Bill Connelly's five factors of college football, or S&P ratings for short, confirm this narrative. NC State finished just 6-6, but, according to Connelly's metrics, the Pack are the best 6-6 team in college football and the 28^th best team overall. Even with one less regular season win than last year, State's current ranking is a significant jump from 36^th in 2015 and the high-water mark under Dave Doeren.