This week's picks

Big Al's CFB Lab

Data updated
Conference USA

Missouri State

2–5 (1–2 Conference USA). 2026 season, games through Oct 24, 2026.

SP+ rating-16.6126th of 138
SP+ offense17.8116th of 138
SP+ defense34.0124th of 138
PRIME-14.0126th of 138
Elo1187123rd of 138
Week 9

Sam Houston at Missouri State

Tue, Oct 27, 8:00 PM ET. SP+ projection: Missouri State 24, Sam Houston 21. Big Al's pick: Missouri State (61%).

Full head to head

Offense

StatValueRank
Points per game24.498th
Yards per play6.2064th
Success rate42.0%84th
Explosive play rate11.8%82nd
Yards per carry4.8293rd
Yards per pass attempt7.8063rd
Sack rate allowed5.6%72nd
3rd down conversion34.8%106th

Defense

StatValueRank
Points allowed34.9130th
Yards per play allowed6.34101st
Success rate allowed50.2%135th
Explosive plays allowed13.0%104th
Yards per carry allowed5.1691st
Yards per attempt allowed8.0593rd
Sack rate4.3%112th
3rd downs allowed46.8%125th

Players

Henry Belin IV (QB), Isaiah Horton (WR), Isaiah Myers (WR), Jmariyae Robinson (WR), Marcel Reed (QB), Ramone Green Jr. (RB), Skyler Locklear (QB).

Results

WeekOpponentResult
1at Texas A&ML 0–50
2vs. LindenwoodW 48–14
3vs. MarshallL 24–30
4at SMUL 24–34
6at Western KentuckyL 13–34
7vs. Kennesaw StateW 24–21
8at DelawareL 38–61

Ranks are out of 138 FBS teams. Stats from play-by-play; scoring counts FBS opponents only. Compare Missouri State with any team.

Site
Picks two teams at random. Any FBS team can come up.

How we picked it

Three ratings look at a team in three different ways. Big Al's pick is the team at least two of them favor.

Where the game is won

Each row puts one team's unit against the unit it faces, by national rank out of all FBS teams. An edge is a gap of 25 spots or more.

What these mean

  • SP+ Bill Connelly's opponent-adjusted efficiency rating. Points better than an average FBS team on a neutral field.
  • PRIME A second opponent-adjusted rating, built from possession efficiency, on the same points scale. SOS is schedule difficulty; SOR is wins above what an average team would get against that schedule.
  • Elo A results-only rating that moves after each game based on the score and the opponent. 1500 is average.
  • Success rate Share of plays that stay on schedule: 50% of the yards needed on 1st down, 70% on 2nd, all of it on 3rd and 4th.
  • Explosive rate Share of plays that are runs of 12+ yards or completions of 16+ yards.
  • Defense rows What opponents did against the team. Lower is better except sack rate and interception rate.
  • Projection Rating gap, plus 2.5 points for the home team, and games usually land within about 14 points of it. A coin flip is 50%.

Ratings: SP+ via CFB Update; PRIME via primecfb.com. Box and play stats computed from CollegeFootballData.com play data (via the public cfbfastR files), FBS games only for scoring. Rushing yards here exclude sacks, so they run higher than official totals. Ranks are out of 138 FBS teams.

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