Chart assignment
Charts to read and discuss
Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.
Chart 1 of 1 · College football
How many college football games are decided by one score?
The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.
36.6% of regular-season games between two FBS (top-division) teams in 2025 were decided by 8 points or fewer, what a touchdown and a two-point conversion can make up. About one game in three has been that close in most seasons since the 1940s; the closest seasons were the low-scoring 1930s, peaking at 49.4% in 1937. Ties count as close games. The chart starts in 1900; CollegeFootballData.com's records before then cover only a few dozen such games a season.
Questions to discuss
- In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
- Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
- Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?
Source: CollegeFootballData.com, college football games (CollegeFootballData.com terms of use (factual data, credited to CollegeFootballData.com)) · Data as of Jan 20, 2026
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