Bewilderment in Big Ten’s FPI rankings after Week 6

ESPN’s Football Power Index left some Big Ten fanbases in confusion –some pleasant and some frustrated– after Week 6 of the college football season.

A few weeks ago, it seemed unlikely that Nebraska would be .500 and Illinois would be ranked in the AP Top 25 at 5-1 but the Cornhuskers eked out their third victory of the season in a 14-13 defeat of Rutgers in Piscataway and the Fighting Illini won in a 9-6 dogfight against Iowa. Both performances weren’t good enough for either team to move up in the FPI rankings, while both the Scarlet Knights and the Hawkeyes moved up.

Maryland fell 31-29 to Purdue at home and Indiana lost 31-10 to Michigan, however both losing teams also trended upwards in the FPI as well.

In the Big Ten, six teams moved up, five teams moved down, and three teams held serve at their previous week’s ranking. Read below to see where each squad stacked up, which includes 10 conference teams are ranked in the top 45.

Ohio State

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

FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 2 (2)

Projected W-L: 12.0-0.7

Chances of winning 6 games: 100%

Chances of winning the division: 71.7%

Chances of winning the Big Ten: 64.6%

Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 80.9%

Chances of winning the National Championship: 27.3%

Michigan

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

FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 5 (4)

Projected W-L: 10.8-1.4

Chances of winning 6 games: 100%

Chances of winning the division: 21.9%

Chances of winning the Big Ten: 17.3%

Chances of making the College Football Playoff: 37.9%

Chances of winning the National Championship: 5.6%

Penn State

Penn State Helmet (Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports)

FPI Ranking (Previous week’s ranking): 12 (12)

Projected W-L: 9.3-2.8

Chances of winning 6 games: 100%

Chances of winning the division: 6.3%

Chances of…