One set of rankings has Penn State football back in the top 20.
Following the team’s 28-10 win against Michigan State Saturday, ESPN’s Football Power Index has Penn State at No. 20.
To be clear, this is not to say that Penn State is a top 25 team.
One could easily argue that Penn State is better than most 4-6 teams over the years in college football. But no 4-6 team belongs in the top 25 of the AP, Coaches or USA Today polls.
With that said, FPI isn’t a traditional set of rankings.
Therefore, at no point during Penn State’s six-game losing streak did it drop from the FPI rankings.
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.Last week, after losing to Indiana to drop to 3-6, Penn State still was No. 21 in the FPI rankings.
“They’re in the top 25 in the ESPN [College] Football Power Index,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said at his weekly press conference before the Penn State game. “Still the same guys they started the year with for the most part that was ranked No. 1 to No. 3 in the country. So a lot of good football players at all positions, playing really hard.”
THE GOAL AHEAD
With Penn State’s biggest preseason goals— national championship, Big Ten championship, College Football Playoff— all out of reach, the biggest thing to play for is making a bowl game.
How realistic is that?
Well, ESPN has Penn State with a 55.8 percent chance to win its last two regular-season games. Those are against Nebraska (home) and Rutgers (away).
Nebraska is 7-3, but playing without starting quarterback Dylan Riaola, who is out for the season. Rutgers is 5-5, and considering it plays at No. 1 Ohio State Saturday, it’s quite possible that Penn State and Rutgers will be fighting for bowl eligibility in Piscataway.
