Turnover scoreboard: Florida remains on top while Arkansas rises to second

There’s only one absolute statistic in college football, and that’s wins and losses. The importance of every other statistical measure can be argued, parsed and debated any number of ways.

Though not as black and white as wins and losses, turnover margin has always been a good indicator of success. Turn the ball over less than your opponent, and your odds of winning go up. This holds true in the SEC as well.

Florida has been perched atop the turnover margin rankings for most of the season, and the Gators’ plus-10 mark is good for a tie for 13th place nationally. A league-high 24 takeaways is the primary force behind that statistic.

Last week’s narrow loss to Mississippi State aside, Arkansas has played much better football in the second half of the year, and that rise is tied to its improving turnover margin (plus-7). While Florida does it through takeaways, the Razorbacks are among the best teams in the SEC at protecting the ball with only nine turnovers this season.

Only LSU, with eight giveaways, is better at hanging on to the football.

On the other side of the coin, Vanderbilt’s margin fell back to minus-7 after last week’s loss to Texas A&M.

Here’s a look at the SEC’s turnover scoreboard through Week 12:

Imagine what the Commodores’ turnover margin would be if they weren’t so effective at recovering fumbles. Those 11 recoveries lead the league and puts them into a tie for seventh nationally.

Only Arkansas, with a robust 63.6 percent recovery rate, nabs opponent fumbles at a higher clip than Vandy.

The national average for recovery rate this season is around 46.8 percent, and besides Arkansas and Vanderbilt, only Florida, Georgia and Kentucky recover fumbles at a better rate.

The football hasn’t bounced Mississippi State’s way this season, as the Bulldogs have only one recovery in 10 chances. Perhaps they’ll find one in the Egg Bowl this week. After all, Ole Miss is second in the SEC with 22 giveaways.

Here’s a look at the fumble scoreboard through 12 weeks, indicating a team’s fumble recoveries, its own fumbles, its opponents’ fumbles and the rate for recovering those opponent fumbles so far this season: