Penn State moves up in updated ESPN FPI after Week 7 results
But Penn State may not have played a down of football this past weekend, but the Nittany Lions were still able to manage their way up in the updated Football Power Index from ESPN. Penn State moved up one spot to No. 11 in ESPN’s FPI ranking, moving ahead of the Texas Longhorns in the process.
There was a good amount of movement in the bottom half of the top 10 in the FPI this week. At 5-1, Penn State is still behind a handful of teams with more losses than they have at this point in the season, including No. 8 Florida (4-3), No. 9 Iowa State (4-2), and No. 10 Clemson (4-2). The projected record for Penn State is still trending toward a 9-3 finish with the FPI projecting a record of 8.9-3.2 for the Nittany Lions.
Ohio State remains the favorite to win the Big Ten East Division with a 54.9% projection to finish on top. Michigan continues to have the second-best odds of winning the East Division at 26.9%. Penn State’s projection is far less optimistic at 6%, which is half of what it was two weeks ago prior to losing to Iowa. Penn State currently has a 3.9% chance of winning the Big Ten championship according to the FPI numbers. Ohio State is the favorite there as well with a 33.9% chance of defending their conference crown.
Once again, the FPI numbers among Big Ten East teams will be greatly impacted by the results of the next few weeks. If Pen State, Ohio State, and Michigan all avoid a loss in Week 8, the Week 9 schedule could drastically impact the FPI rankings. Penn State visits Ohio State in Week 9, and Michigan makes the trip to Michigan State on the same day. All four teams still have to play each other in the second half of the season, providing plenty of opportunities to impact how the FPI shapes out in the division.
List
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