Huskers among six Big Ten squads rising in FPI
After Nebraska’s 35-21 win over Indiana in Week 5, the Huskers moved to 2-3 overall on the year and picked up their first FBS win of the 2022 season. As such, they saw their ranking in ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) rise a few spots.
Although the FPI model still has a bleak outlook for Nebraska’s chance at a bowl bid, the Big Ten West has not shown that they have a true powerhouse and there are a wide range of possibilities of how the rest of the Huskers’ season can go.
Illinois destroyed Wisconsin and head coach Paul Chryst’s job there, Purdue took down Minnesota, Northwestern kept it close in a 17-7 loss to No. 11 Penn State and Iowa is still 3-2, despite having one of the least effective offenses in the country. Nebraska has certainly thrown themselves into the mix, at least for the moment.
Overall, the Big Ten had six teams rise in the rankings, five teams drop, and three teams holding steady compared to last week’s ranking. Find out where they all stack up in the big picture of college football below:
Ohio State
Ohio State Buckeyes helmets (Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports)
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 2 (2)
Projected W-L: 11.8-0.9
Chances of winning 6 games: 100%
Chances of winning the division: 68.6%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 61.2%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 78.3%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 24.8%
Michigan
Michigan Wolverines football helmet (Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 4 (4)
Projected W-L: 10.6-1.6
Chances of winning 6 games: 100%
Chances of winning the division: 22.9%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 17.6%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 39.8%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 5.1%
Penn State
Penn State Helmet (Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports)
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 12 (13)
Projected W-L: 9.3-2.8
Chances of winning 6 games: 100%
Chances of winning the division: 7.4%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 4.8%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 7.7%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.4%
Minnesota
Minnesota Golden Gophers helmet (Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports)
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 14 (14)
Projected W-L: 9.1-3.3
Chances of winning 6 games: 99.9%
Chances of winning the division: 41.8%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 8.2%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 1.1%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.1%
Maryland
Maryland Helmet (Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports)
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 21 (24)
Projected W-L: 8.4-3.6
Chances of winning 6 games: 99.7%
Chances of winning the division: 1.1%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 0.7%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 0.4%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.0%
Purdue
Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 29 (35)
Projected W-L: 7.5-4.9
Chances of winning 6 games: 95.2%
Chances of winning the division: 31.8%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 4.6%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 0.0%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.0%
Michigan State
Michigan State Spartans (Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports)
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 32 (29)
Projected W-L: 5.3-6.7
Chances of winning 6 games: 40.7%
Chances of winning the division: 0.0%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 0.0%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 0.0%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.0%
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Badgers helmet (Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports)
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 37 (23)
Projected W-L: 5.7-6.4
Chances of winning 6 games: 55.0%
Chances of winning the division: 4.2%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 0.5%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 0.0%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.0%
Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini helmet (Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports)
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 38 (49)
Projected W-L: 7.6-4.5
Chances of winning 6 games: 96.2%
Chances of winning the division: 15.0%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 1.8%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 0.0%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.0%
Iowa
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 42 (41)
Projected W-L: 6.2-5.8
Chances of winning 6 games: 74.4%
Chances of winning the division: 6.4%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 0.7%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 0.0%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.0%
Nebraska
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 74 (77)
Projected W-L: 3.8-8.2
Chances of winning 6 games: 6.5%
Chances of winning the division: 0.8%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 0.0%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 0.0%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.0%
Indiana
Indiana Hoosiers helmet (Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports)
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 79 (75)
Projected W-L: 4.3-7.7
Chances of winning 6 games: 11.4%
Chances of winning the division: 0.0%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 0.0%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 0.0%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.0%
Rutgers
Rutgers Helmet (Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports)
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 84 (79)
Projected W-L: 4.7-7.3
Chances of winning 6 games: 19.4%
Chances of winning the division: 0.0%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 0.0%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 0.0%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.0%
Northwestern
Northwestern Wildcats helmet (David Banks-USA TODAY Sports)
FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 97 (103)
Projected W-L: 1.8-10.2
Chances of winning 6 games: 0.0%
Chances of winning the division: 0.1%
Chances of winning the Big Ten: 0.0%
Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 0.0%
Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.0%
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