Say what you wish about various metrics used in college football, but ESPN’s Football Power Index seems to really like Penn State’s chances at home this weekend in the regular-season finale against Michigan State. Even though Penn State will be playing without star wide receiver Parker Washington, the ESPN numbers are still giving the Nittany Lions a very good chance of ending the year with a win at home in the battle for the Land Grant Trophy.
According to the latest ESPN FPI figures, Penn State has an 88.1% chance of winning this weekend’s game against the Spartans. Penn State is a considerable favorite in the game as well, so this figure is far from surprising.
Penn State may be battling some late-season injury concerns, and it remains to be seen if a few notable players will be available, but that pales in comparison to the depth concerns Michigan State is battling at this stage in the season. In addition to injury issues, Michigan State is also hit hard on the depth chart by a substantial number of players serving indefinite suspensions for their involvement in an incident at Michigan earlier this season.
Michigan State won last year’s meeting in East Lansing, 30-27. Penn State won the last meeting in Beaver Stadium in 2020, 39-24.
Penn State hosts Michigan State at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 26 on FS1.
[listicle id=26460]
[vertical-gallery id=26336]
[lawrence-related id=26472,26453,26451,26444,26386]
[mm-video type=playlist id=01ey902ehrs6e9bvhw player_id=none image=https://nittanylionswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
Follow Kevin McGuire on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion. Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.