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Michigan football is ranked sixth overall in the updated ESPN FPI (Football Power Index) which uses advanced analytics to attempt to predict how teams will fare. While the Wolverines’ opponent may not have been top tier this week, what the maize and blue did to the NIU Huskies was enough for ESPN FPI to change the outlook for the team in Ann Arbor.
In a really, really, really big way.
Though ESPN FPI still insists that Michigan has a low chance of winning out (2.5%) it wasn’t from zero to something. The Wolverines also aren’t the highest-rated Big Ten team, of course, but something big did happen overnight: the predictions now have them winning every game but one, with the single holdout being a complete toss-up. Still, however, the predicted won-loss, though it went up, has Michigan winning 9.6 and losing 2.7, meaning either a 9-3 or 10-2 season is likely.
Compared against what ESPN FPI said last week, the numbers went up in Michigan’s favor big time. See the game-by-game predictions below.
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