Top Ten Big Central teams by OSI may surprise you (though No. 1 may not)

We’re not sure what to make of the rest of the rankings, but it’s little surprise that through Week 5, the top Big Central football team is Woodbridge.

The Barrons are one of only two teams with an OSI of 80 or higher, checking in at 85.27. The only other league team in the 80s is Phillipsburg, with an OSI of 81.38.

The numbers differ a bit from the latest “human” rankings. Three of the teams in the OSI Top Ten were unranked in the latest Big Central Media Poll: Hillside, Hillsborough and Delaware Valley.

However, they appear to show limitations of any numerical system.

Somerville, widely believed to be one of the top teams in the Big Central – and which even got a vote in the Media Poll for Number One – is 27th in the OSI standings. The Pioneers have beaten their five opponents this year by an average of 28.4 points per game.

Playoffs aren’t being held by the NJSIAA this year, so OSI and UPR aren’t being tracked officially. But according to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s calculations – based on results reported by Gridiron New Jersey, the official calculator of the state’s SI, OSI and UPR – the Barrons and Stateliners are the top two teams in OSI.

The OSI is the Opponent Strength Index. And in a typical year, a team’s OSI rank in its supersection is 60% of the UPR formula that determines playoff qualification and seeding.

A team’s OSI is made up of the average of the SI (Strength Index) of all its opponents, with full points awarded for a win and half that value given for a loss.

Below are the rankings for the full Big Central Conference, through Week 5 play. Teams in bold did not play in Week 5.

1	Woodbridge	85.27
2	Phillipsburg	81.38
3	Union	77.83
4	North Brunswick	77.03
5	Hillside	76.75
6	Hillsborough	76.29
7	Rahway	75.19
8	Ridge	74.92
9	Cranford	74.58
10	Delaware Valley	70.55
11	St. Joseph-Metuchen	69.26
12	South Brunswick	69.23
13	Bridgewater-Raritan	69.15
14	Watchung Hills	69.10
15	Montgomery	67.73
16	Brearley	67.58
17	Bernards	67.34
18	Edison	67.15
19	North Plainfield	66.69
20	Old Bridge	63.36
21	Sayreville	62.98
22	Summit	62.21
23	Bound Brook	61.69
24	Westfield	61.66
25	Monroe	61.01
26	New Brunswick	60.56
27	Somerville	59.44
28	Colonia	59.44
29	Gov. Livingston	58.24
30	South Hunterdon	57.80
31	Middlesex	57.22
32	St. Thomas Aquinas	56.88
33	New Providence	56.34
34	Linden	56.15
35	East Brunswick	54.92
36	Hunterdon Central	54.74
37	Belvidere	54.71
38	Franklin	53.89
39	Hunterdon Central	53.12
40	Elizabeth	52.98
41	Voorhees	50.86
42	North Hunterdon	50.77
43	South River	50.43
44	Scotch Plains-Fanwood	49.94
45	Johnson	49.35
46	Plainfield	45.08
47	Warren Hills	44.87
48	Dayton	42.71
49	South Plainfield	42.34
50	Manville	39.86
51	JFK	37.48
52	Perth Amboy	36.11
53	Roselle Park	35.87
54	Dunellen	30.76
55	Spotswood	30.75
56	JP Stevens	27.45
57	Roselle	24.06
58	Metuchen	23.95

Below, you can find a downloadable PDF file with the entire state ranked by OSI.

Woodbridge, the highest-ranked team in OSI through Week 5 in the Big Central, is 15th overall in the state. (St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City is No. 1 at 92.26, while Wall is the highest-ranked public school in 5th at 89.37.

The tenth best team in the Big Central in OSI – Delaware Valley – ranked 85th statewide.