Huskers land at No. 40 in ESPN Football Power Index

Despite their season-opening loss to Northwestern, Nebraska is still ranked highly in ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI).

The metric, according to ESPN, “measures team’s true strength on a net points scale; expected point margin vs. average opponent on neutral field.” The FPI also projects teams’ record, chances to win out, chances of winning out the rest of the season, including conference championship games, winning their conference, making the College Football Playoff, and winning the National Championship.

The FPI has been a popular analytical source for rankings since 2013 and ranks all 131 FBS football teams.

Here are Nebraska’s metrics, along with FPI data for each team in the Big Ten:

Ohio State

Ohio State Buckeyes helmets (Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports)

FPI Ranking: 2

Projected W-L: 11.8-1.0

Chances of winning 6 games: 100%

Chances of winning the division: 80.3%

Chances of winning the Big Ten: 74.0%

Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 81.7%

Chances of winning the National Championship: 21.6%

Michigan

Michigan Wolverines football helmet (Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)

FPI Ranking: 6

Projected W-L: 9.5-2.6

Chances of winning 6 games: 99.9%

Chances of winning the division: 10.7%

Chances of winning the Big Ten: 7.9%

Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 16.2%

Chances of winning the National Championship: 1.3%

Michigan State

Michigan State Spartans (Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports)

FPI Ranking: 15

Projected W-L: 7.9-4.2

Chances of winning 6 games: 95.4%

Chances of winning the division: 3.4%

Chances of winning the Big Ten: 2.2%

Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 1.7%

Chances of winning the National Championship: 0.1%

Penn State

Penn State Helmet (Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports)

FPI Ranking: 16

Projected W-L: 7.9-4.1

Chances of winning 6 games: 95.4%

Chances of…