Bison Bites: Dispatch #11

Data bites touching on: the last 15 years of Final Four efficiency, Indiana's 2024 red zone performance, A-gap success on defense, and comparing Kurtis Rourke to other 2025 QBs.

If you’re new enough to Bite-Sized Bison, you might not be familiar with Bison Bites. Each dispatch of Bison Bites is intended to be a quick-hitting list of approximately 3-5 statistics of interest between typical Bite-Sized Bison posts.

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All four Final Four teams in 2025 were in the top-10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency (via KenPom).

If you listen to CrimsonCast, Galen and Scott made a notable observation about this season’s Final Four teams – pointing to the fact that each of them are in the top-10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, as calculated by KenPom.com.

In the last 15 seasons (since 2010, given that 2020 did not have a Tournament), this is the first time that’s happened, leaving reason to believe that teams are beginning to become more efficient as a means to an end, and, of course, being assisted by the transfer portal and unprecedented player movement.

Below is a chart plotting KenPom offensive and defensive efficiency since 2010, with the 2025 Final Four highlighted among Final Four teams and each coaching era (Tom Crean, Archie Miller, and Mike Woodson) delineated as well.

Observations:

• Three of the 2025 Final Four teams are a few of the most offensively efficient teams of the last 15 seasons, let alone a few of the most offensively efficient Final Four teams.

• Tom Crean led the three most efficient teams of the last 15 seasons at Indiana, including one season (2013) where Indiana’s efficiency numbers signaled a Final Four-capable season. The other two (2012, 2016) had an outside chance. All three ended in the Sweet Sixteen.

• There was little variance during the tenures of Mike Woodson and Archie Miller. Indiana fans were seeing very similarly efficient basketball teams for those eight seasons.

• Out of the 60 teams to reach the Final Four since 2010, 32 were outside the top-20 in either offensive or defensive efficiency. Only 5 – NC State (2024), FAU (2023), VCU (2011), Butler (2011), Michigan State (2010) – were outside the top-20 in both.

• Every season prior to 2025 featured at least one team outside of the top-20 in offensive or defensive efficiency.

• Some extremes since 2010 included Alabama ranking 11th in defensive efficiency in 2024, Miami (FL) ranking 99th defensively in 2023 (sorry, Hoosiers), South Carolina ranking 91st offensively in 2017, and Louisville ranking 112th offensively in 2012. All of these teams were very efficient on the other side of the floor.

Indiana ranked 15th in the FBS (4th in Big Ten) in EPA/play allowed within the red zone.