College Football Stat Leaders

2023 Conference USA Defensive PPA Leaders

Source-provided CFBD Predicted Points Added allowed per defensive play.

Seasons Covered

2004-2025

Current Leader

Jacksonville State (0.046)

Best Season

Louisville 2004 (-0.137)

Scope

Conference USA • 2023

Browse Metrics

Crawl sibling stat pages without leaving the shared leaderboard template.

Total Yards Per GamePassing Yards Per GameRushing Yards Per GamePoints Per GameOffensive PPADefensive PPATurnover MarginHavoc Rate

What The Numbers Say

Route-specific context pulled from the current leaderboard, winner trend, and historical baseline.

How Defensive PPA Reads

Defensive PPA is CFBD's source-provided scoring-value metric allowed by a defense, so lower numbers are better because they indicate opponents created less value per play. On this 2023 leaderboard, the visible range runs 0.046 to 0.166, with Jacksonville State setting the pace.

Conference USA Context

Conference USA teams have claimed 100% of the yearly leaderboard wins in this filtered dataset, and Louisiana Tech is the latest winner at 0.045.

Spread At The Top

The gap from No. 1 Jacksonville State to No. 5 Sam Houston is 0.120, which shows how tightly packed the top of this leaderboard is.

Recent Trend And Baseline

The yearly winning mark improved from 0.089 in 2024 to 0.045 in 2025, a swing of 0.044. Jacksonville State's current mark of 0.046 sits below the all-time average leader benchmark of -0.137 held by Louisville.

Leaderboard

Top 9 rows for the current route scope.

1Jacksonville StateConference USA20230.046
2Middle TennesseeConference USA20230.150
3LibertyConference USA20230.162
4Florida InternationalConference USA20230.163
5Sam HoustonConference USA20230.166
6Western KentuckyConference USA20230.192
7New Mexico StateConference USA20230.194
8Louisiana TechConference USA20230.212
9UTEPConference USA20230.233

Trend Chart

Yearly winning values for the current filter scope.

Yearly Winners

SeasonTeamConference at timeValue
2025Louisiana TechConference USA0.045
2024Louisiana TechConference USA0.089
2023Jacksonville StateConference USA0.046
2022Middle TennesseeConference USA0.080
2021UTEPConference USA0.114
2020MarshallConference USA0.038
2019UABConference USA0.018
2018UABConference USA-0.009
2017Middle TennesseeConference USA0.053
2016Southern MissConference USA0.109
2015MarshallConference USA0.002
2014Louisiana TechConference USA0.040
2013Florida AtlanticConference USA-0.007
2012TulsaConference USA-0.012
2011Southern MissConference USA-0.021
2010Southern MissConference USA-0.007
2009TulsaConference USA0.008
2008East CarolinaConference USA-0.032
2007UCFConference USA0.000
2006TulsaConference USA0.004
2005HoustonConference USA-0.010
2004LouisvilleConference USA-0.137

Historical Leaderboard

Average across seasons for each team in the current filter scope.

RankTeamSeasonsAverageBest Season
1Louisville2004-0.1372004 (-0.137)
2Cincinnati2004-0.0972004 (-0.097)
3TCU2004-0.0152004 (-0.015)
4Tulsa2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 20050.0242012 (-0.012)
5UCF2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 20050.0402008 (-0.031)
6East Carolina2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0572008 (-0.032)
7SMU2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 20050.0672012 (0.025)
8Houston2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0692005 (-0.010)
9Tulane2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0702013 (0.025)
10Army20040.0722004 (0.072)
11Marshall2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 20050.0762015 (0.002)
12Memphis2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0792004 (0.028)
13Southern Miss2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0812004 (-0.065)
14UAB2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0882004 (-0.106)
15Jacksonville State2025, 2024, 20230.1142023 (0.046)
16South Florida20040.1192004 (0.119)
17Louisiana Tech2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 20130.1332014 (0.040)
18Western Kentucky2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 20140.1522022 (0.087)
19UTEP2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 20050.1532005 (0.021)
20Liberty2025, 2024, 20230.1552024 (0.099)
21Florida Atlantic2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 20130.1552013 (-0.007)
22Middle Tennessee2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 20130.1562017 (0.053)
23Sam Houston2025, 2024, 20230.1662024 (0.094)
24Florida International2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 20130.1782014 (0.040)
25Rice2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 20050.1852011 (0.035)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who leads the Conference USA defensive ppa leaderboard in 2023?

Jacksonville State ranks first at 0.046 in 2023.

Which Conference USA program has the best long-term defensive ppa profile?

Louisville owns the strongest all-time average at -0.137 across 1 tracked seasons in this conference scope.

How does the Conference USA race compare with the recent trend?

Louisiana Tech is the most recent yearly winner in this conference scope, so the route combines the current leaderboard with a recent trend line instead of showing only one season snapshot.