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.

  1. Which college football conference wins the most games against other conferences?
  2. Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?

Chart 1 of 2 · College football

Which college football conference wins the most games against other conferences?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

In the season that ended in January 2026, the Big Ten won 74.1% of its games against FBS teams from other conferences, bowls included, ahead of the SEC at 72.9% and the Big 12 at 66.7%. The Mid-American won the fewest, 15.9%. Games against lower-division (FCS) teams don't count, independents such as Notre Dame aren't a conference, and conferences with fewer than 6 FBS teams that season, such as the Pac-12 in 2024 and 2025, are left out.

Questions to discuss

  1. In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
  2. Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
  3. 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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Chart 2 of 2 · Road safety

Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

In 2024 there were 1.19 deaths for every 100 million miles driven, down from 3.35 in 1980. The lowest rate was 1.08 in 2014; it jumped to 1.34 in 2020, when people drove less but deaths rose. Miles driven are the Federal Highway Administration's estimates.

How to read this chart

Each point is the number of people killed in traffic crashes for every 100 million miles Americans drove that year. Dividing by miles driven turns a count into a rate, so years when people drove more or less can be compared fairly.

Questions to discuss

  1. About what fraction of the 1980 rate is the rate in the latest year?
  2. In 2020 people drove less, but the rate went up. What could explain that?
  3. Why is deaths per mile a fairer way to compare years than the total number of deaths?

Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and FHWA Highway Statistics (table VM-2) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2024

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