Michigan drops 2 spots to #7 in S&P+
Last week Michigan was #5 overall, 4th in defense, 24th in offense and 42nd in special teams.
This week Michigan is #7 overall, 4th in defense, 27th in offense and 9th in special teams.
Overall S&P had a relatively favorable view of our offensive performance since we remained fairly stagnant despite only scoring 20 points. This probably has to do with the fact that we gained almost 400 yards on over 4 YPC rushing and 8 YPA passing against the S&P+ #31 defense in Northwestern.
OSU actually dropped a spot from #2 to #3 overall. Their offense is #3 but their defense is down to #23 and their special teams down to #50. PSU also dropped 2 spots down to #8. MSU is 21st overall with the 47th offense and the 17th defense.
Maryland is currently ranked 56th with the 76th offense, 50th defense and 12th overall special teams.
September 30th, 2018 at 4:21 PM ^
And it’s a predictive measure (with grains of salt). We’re favored (presently) in every game left, except for OSU. Pretty sure this was not the case last year. I believe we were not favored vs PSU, Wisky last year in S&P+.
September 30th, 2018 at 5:23 PM ^
3-1 Appalachian St is ranked one spot ahead of 5-0 LSU.
Appy St's opponents: PSU, Charlotte, Southern Miss (postponed), Gardner-Webb, South Alabama
LSU's opponents: Miami FL, SW La, Auburn, La Tech, Ole Miss
And I'm supposed to take this metric seriously.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:35 PM ^
It's a directional tool. It isn't gospel.
I look at LSU's S&P+ ranking and my primary take-aways are:
(1) Their offense is ranked 38th per S&P+, whereas last year it was 42nd.
(2) Their defense is 15th per S&P+, whereas last year it was 18th.
(3) So, S&P+ thinks they are basically like last year's team. And last year's team lost 4 games (including, since you mention App State, a home game to a team from App State's own conference!!!!), and finished ranked #18 (AP Poll).
(4) This model is telling me to be cautious in expecting LSU to remain a top 10 team (AP Poll) as we progress into October & November.