We continue to inch along in the college football offseason with spring ball in the books and summer recruiting and conditioning now taking focus. But ESPN’s Bill Connelly is always evaluating, utilizing his advanced analytics metrics, SP+, to help predict who might be near the top of the sport by season’s end.
Connelly released his too-early SP+ rankings earlier this year, but now that spring ball is done and the transfer window has closed, he has a better idea of what to expect this upcoming season.
Last year at this time, Georgia was No. 1, Ohio State was No. 2, and eventual national champion Michigan was No. 3. Alabama was No. 4, Texas was No. 9, and Washington was No. 17 — so while it’s a solid predictor, it isn’t the end-all, be-all.
With his post-spring update (subscription required), the 18 Big Ten teams saw a little movement. Here is how they now rank against each other as well as overall.
18
Indiana Hoosiers
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Overall: 85 (pvs: 90)
Offense: 95 (pvs: 102)
Defense: 62 (pvs: 66)
Special teams: 63
17
Michigan State Spartans
Photo: Isaiah Hole
Overall: 82 (pvs: 79)
Offense: 125 (pvs: 126)
Defense: 30 (pvs: 29)
Special teams: 16
MSU was rated 16th against other Big Ten teams in the previous ranking but has moved down to 17th.
16
Northwestern Wildcats
Jaylynn Nash-USA TODAY Sports
Overall: 74 (pvs: 55)
Offense: 119 (pvs: 116)
Defense: 29 (pvs: 14)
Special teams: 105
Northwestern was ranked 14th but moved down to 16th.
15
Purdue Boilermakers
Photo: Isaiah Hole
Overall: 72 (pvs: 86)
Offense: 74 (pvs: 87)
Defense: 68 (pvs: 71)
Special teams: 128
Purdue moved up from 17th.
14
Illinois Fighting Illini
Photo: Isaiah…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football | WolverinesWire…