How crazy is the league this year? Stats...

In the absence of the much (well, a bit) missed Paul.D, I've just been doing some research on the number of points that teams normally have at this time of year. Basically because I can't believe how tight it is at the bottom, and I can't for the life of me figure out the kind of points tally we might need to stay up.

So, below is the table at approximately the same point every year since we got back to the Championship. I've included in each case all of the teams that had 44 or fewer points at this stage (plus us if we're not one of them).

To be honest, I expected it to be even more 'dramatic' than this, but a few things:
1) With the same number of points, this is the lowest league position we would have occupied in any of these seasons.
2) Bristol City's 39 points is the highest for the bottom club in any year, and would be enough to keep them out of the bottom 3 at this stage in most years.
3) The year when it was closest at the bottom was 2006/7, out first year back. The bottom group are 4-6 points better off each this year than they were that year.

Could it really take 54-56 points to stay up? if so, could the likes of Burnley, Derby, or even Middlebrough and Leeds still be in trouble?

Mad League! (apologies for formatting, can't seem to make it work)

Pos 2011/12 Pld Pts

17 Peterborough United 37 44
18 Barnsley 38 43
19 Millwall 38 40
20 Nottingham Forest 37 38
21 Bristol City 38 35
22 Coventry City 38 32
23 Doncaster Rovers 37 31
24 Portsmouth 37 30

2010/11

16 Barnsley 38 47

17 Derby County 38 44
18 Middlesbrough 37 44
19 Doncaster Rovers 38 44
20 Coventry City 38 42
21 Crystal Palace 38 39
22 Sheffield United 38 35
23 S****horpe United 38 34
24 Preston North End 37 31

2009/10

12 Barnsley 37 49

18 Derby County 38 44
19 Watford 36 42
20 S****horpe United 37 41
21 Sheffield Wednesday 38 40
22 Crystal Palace 37 39
23 Plymouth Argyle 37 34
24 Peterborough United 38 30

2008/9

18 Plymouth Argyle 38 43
19 Blackpool 38 43
20 Nottingham Forest 38 41
21 Barnsley 35 40
22 Norwich City 38 39
23 Southampton 37 38
24 Charlton Athletic 37 28

2007/8

17 Barnsley 37 46

20 Coventry City 37 43
21 Sheffield Wednesday 36 42
22 Leicester City 38 41
23 S****horpe United 37 38
24 Colchester United 37 32

2006/7

18 Burnley 36 41
19 Hull City 38 41
20 Southend United 38 38
21 Barnsley 37 38
22 Queens Park Rangers 37 37
23 Luton Town 38 36
24 Leeds United 38 35