Michigan continues free fall on ESPN's FPI despite Week 3 win
Michigan is the defending national champions, but the Wolverines don’t appear to be quite the team they were last season. They were able to move to 2-1 with a 28-18 win against Arkansas State on Saturday, but that performance still left more questions than answers.
ESPN’s FPI was not impressed with the performance by Michigan, as the Wolverines actually dropped from last week’s ranking.
Last week, the Wolverines were 17th after being defeated at home by Texas, 31-12. This week, they are now sitting at 21st.
Making matters worse, the Wolverines currently have only a 6.4% chance to make the CFP, and a 1.8% chance to win the B1G according to the FPI.
The B1G is well represented, as Michigan is the 6th team from the conference within the top 21 slots. The Ohio State Buckeyes are the top-ranked team in the conference at 3rd, trailing only Texas and Alabama.
Penn State was on a bye this week and fell 2 spots from 7th to 9th. Oregon and USC are the next 2 teams in the FPI, ranked 11th and 12th respectively. It took a little more than 2 games, but the Ducks finally started to resemble the team people expected this year as they defeated in-state rival Oregon State, 49-14.
The surprising team from the B1G is Indiana, who is ranked 19th after dominating UCLA 42-13 on the road to move to 3-0 on the season.
Michigan has a big opportunity this week to show it can be a team contending for a College Football Playoff spot as the Wolverines host the USC Trojans on Saturday at the Big House.