The SP+ ranking, developed by ESPN’s Bill Connelly, is a ranking system that measures college football efficiency, adjusted for tempo and other factors like opponent adjustments. Bill Connelly just released his first SP+ rankings of the year and despite being ranked 3rd on defense, Michigan State is ranked at 26 overall, well below their #20 ranking in the Amway Coaches Poll.
It’s a little funny, and a little sad that the Spartans are ranked 3rd in SP+ ranking for defense and still managed to end up 26th overall. Their offensive ranking? 115th. Yikes. There are only 130 teams in Division I college football… That hurts.
Of course, the SP+ ranking isn’t meant to mirror something like a Coaches Poll, it’s meant to be predictive and it’s largely based on preseason projections at this point, so I wouldn’t get too fired up about Michigan State’s ranking.
Interestingly, Wisconsin jumped all the way to #5 from #14 on this list after their destruction of USF. We’ll continue to keep an eye on these rankings throughout the season.
