ESPN FPI: Illinois surges, Nebraska plummets in latest rankings

Saturday’s outcome in Champaign resulted in some major changes in ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI). As you might’ve guessed, the biggest changes involved the two B1G teams that took the field.

Illinois registered a 30-22 victory in Week 0, starting the Bret Bielema era off at 1-0. Nebraska, on the other hand, is now just 12-21 under head coach Scott Frost.

Thanks to the win, the Fighting Illini saw quite a surge in the latest FPI rankings from ESPN. They climbed nine spots up to No. 71 in a system that ranks all 130 FBS programs. The Huskers fell down 10 spots to No. 53.

Yes, there’s still an 18-spot gap in favor of Nebraska despite the outcome.

Here’s a look at where every B1G team ranks in ESPN’s updated FPI now that we’ve seen a handful of teams competing in Week 0:

• No. 4: Ohio State
• No. 14: Penn State
• No. 15: Wisconsin
• No. 23: Indiana
• No. 24: Iowa
• No. 28: Michigan
• No. 34: Northwestern
• No. 38: Michigan State
• No. 41: Minnesota
• No. 53: Nebraska
• No. 57: Purdue
• No. 64: Maryland
• No. 71: Illinois
• No. 77: Rutgers

You can view ESPN’s complete FPI rankings here.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB