Michigan football launches up ESPN's FPI rankings
The Michigan Wolverines moved to 7-0 on the season with a blowout win against the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor and continue to increase their title contender case with each passing week.
ESPN’s Football Power Index has Michigan finishing with a 10.8-1.4 record on the season, ranking No. 4 in the country, moving up four spots from last week’s rankings. The Wolverines ranked sixth heading into the start of their 2023 season.
Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Michigan and Texas fill out the top five, while Oregon, Alabama, Georgia, Florida State and Washington.
So what exactly is FPI?
“FPI is a predictive rating system designed to measure team strength and project performance going forward,” ESPN explains. “The ultimate goal of FPI is not to rank teams 1 through 128; rather, it is to correctly predict games and season outcomes. If Vegas ever published the power rankings it uses to set its lines, they would likely look quite a lot like FPI.”
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After Sunday’s update, here’s the breakdown of the numbers and win percentages.
Michigan football’s updated FPI outlook and win projections
| Rank | Proj. W-L | Win Out% | 6+ Wins% | Win Division% | Win Conference% | Playoff% | Make NC% | Win NC% |
| 4 | 10.9-1.4 | 13.8% | 100% | 25.2% | 22.5% | 31.6% | 15.8% | 8.9% |
Sept. 2 vs. East Carolina (FPI rank: 102nd) – 30-3 W (1-0)
Sept. 9 vs. UNLV (85th) – 35-7 W (1-0)
Sept. 16 vs. Bowling Green (104th) – 31-6 W (3-0)
Sept. 23 vs. Rutgers (50th) – 31-7 W (4-0, 1-0 B1G)
Sept. 30 at Nebraska (65th) – 45-7 W (5-0, 2-0 B1G)
Oct. 7 at Minnesota (61st) – 52-10 W (6-0, 3-0 B1G)
Oct. 14 vs. Indiana (91st) – 52-7 W (7-0, 4-0 B1G)
Oct. 21 at Michigan State (59th) – 93.0% chance of victory
Oct. 28 – BYE
Nov. 4 vs. Purdue (60th) – 96.2% chance of victory
Nov. 11 at Penn State (3rd) – 42.4% chance of victory
Nov. 18 at Maryland (26th) – 82.3% chance of victory
Nov. 25 vs. Ohio State (1st) – 46.6% chance of victory
U-M prepares for rivalry showdown with MSU
Michigan will be looking for its first two-game win streak in the Michigan State rivalry since the 2018 and 2019 seasons against the Spartans. Michigan is 4-4 against its in-state rival since head coach Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2015 and won last season’s game in Ann Arbor by a score of 29-7. Other victories in the series came in 2016, 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Saturday’s game in East Lansing kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
