One rankings system has Penn State down two spots and out of the top five, while Oregon is No. 1.
Penn State is No. 2 in the “real” rankings but ESPN has it at No. 7.
The Week 2 FPI rankings have Penn State behind Oregon, Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, USC and Georgia, in that order.
You can probably see that this is messed up.
Texas is ahead of Ohio State despite losing in Columbus Week 1. Alabama is No. 4 despite losing its opener at then-unranked Florida State.
USC is ranked in the top five here and ranked nowhere in any other poll.
As silly as it may seem, there’s a specific explanation.
HOW FPI WORKS
Here is how ESPN’s FPI ratings work.
By definition, FPI is a “predictive rating system developed by ESPN that measures team strength and uses it to forecast game and season results in American football. Each team’s FPI rating is composed of predictive offensive, defensive, and special teams value, as measured by a function of expected points added (EPA). That rating is the basis for FPI’s game-level and season-level projections.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.To add to the confusion, Penn State is now ahead of Ole Miss despite Ole Miss being ahead in last week’s rankings. Ole Miss got a conference win at Kentucky and Penn State beat, well, FIU.
Again, its weird.
WHITE OUT SHOWDOWN
Jalen Kimber with a tackle of Oregon’s Jordan James.
Although Oregon won’t be No. 1 in the real rankings, it should be in the top five after this week’s 69-3 win over Oklahoma State. If these rankings hold for a few more weeks, Penn State-Oregon will be a top-five matchup. Such as matchup has never happened in the 20-year history of the White Out.
It would also be a chance for revenge on Penn State’s end.
After all, Oregon was the team that cost Penn State a Big Ten Championship last season, and many players from that PSU team are back with the goal to win a national title. Before Penn State can worry about Oregon, it must take care of Villanova.
PSU-Villanova is scheduled for 3:30 on FS1 at Beaver Stadium this coming Saturday.
