On May 1 ESPN FPI rankings gave the Badgers the No. 4-highest chance of reaching the college football playoff at 34 percent.
Since then a lot has changed across the college football landscape with conferences moving to conference-only schedules, a likely fan-less atmosphere and players beginning to opt out of the 2020 season.
I’ve written a lot about how the schedule changes have helped the Badgers’ chances at winning the Big Ten and making the college football playoff. Well, ESPN updated their FPI rankings and they are tending to agree.
Specifically, in their updated rankings the Badgers still stand at No. 4 in the country with an FPI rating of 23.7 but now have a projected record of 9.0-1.9, an 8.3 percent chance to win out, an 87.1 percent chance to win the Big Ten West, a 33.5 percent chance to win the conference, a 33.2 percent chance to make the playoff, a 14.3 percent chance to make the National Championship game and a 5.1 chance to win it all.
The only teams ranked ahead of the Paul Chryst’s team? Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama. That’s some pretty impressive company.
Other Big Ten teams high in the rankings are Penn State at No. 7, Michigan at No. 19, Iowa at No. 22, Indiana at No. 23, Northwestern at No. 25 and Minnesota at No. 30.
Football is obviously about a lot more than just the math and probabilities entering the season, but seeing the Badgers ranked in the top-4 is a welcome sight after the team has fallen short in recent years and is still seeking their first Big Ten title since 2012.