Today’s blog continues my in-depth look at my NCAA Experience Chart. For nine years I had listed an experience chart, which broke down the number of seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen each team had in the two deep and rated the teams experience level with a formula I devised. In 2009, I made the experience chart FIVE TIMES better by adding new categories like Career Starts on Offensive line, % of Offensive Yards returning, % of Defensive Yards returning and % of lettermen returning.

Dont forget that the 2018 College Football Preview is up and available right now on iTunes, Google Play and also we now offer a browser version (see bottom of page).

Today I will look at the % of yards returning. I took all of the yards each QB threw for as well as all of the individual rushing yards and receiving yards for each team. I then took all of the returning yards from 2017 and divided it into those for the percentage.

At the top of the chart is San Jose St. They return 8 starters from last year’s offense including their QB, top 5 rushers and top 6 receivers. They have 97.6% of their total yards returning from last year. They are followed by UAB, who returns 9 starters on offense, their QB, top 3 rushers and top 3 receivers and 93.9% of their yards back. Other schools at the top of the list include: Mississippi St (92.5%), South Carolina (91.8%) and BYU (91.6%).

Last year the teams at the top of this chart were Troy (10-3 to 11-2), Florida Atlantic (3-9 to 11-3), Wake Forest (7-6 to 8-5), SMU (5-7 to 7-6) and Vanderbilt (6-7 to 5-7). Four of the top five improved their record.

At the bottom of the list is Hawaii and LSU. Both  at 17.1% yards returning. USF is next with 20.9%, Colorado St (21.8%) and UTSA (25.5%).

I will be back Monday to take a look at another factor in my experience chart (% of tackles returning).

Available now: The digital copy of the Phil Steele 2018 College Football Preview is now available on Android devices through the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Just search for “Phil Steele” on their app store, download the app and purchase the 2018 College Magazine there for just $12.99. Also we have a digital browser version here. The Apple App Store and Amazon Kindle versions are awaiting approval and should be out shortly.

**Also a bonus for those of you that purchase the magazine on the browser version you will be able to use your login credentials on any of the platforms listed above.

It will save you wear and tear on your printed magazine. If you get both you can use it as your mobile version of the magazine and that will keep your actual magazine from getting dog eared and torn up early in the year.

Any questions or problems with the Phil Steele browser version or Apps please contact Todd at todd@philsteele.com.