This week's picks

Big Al's CFB Lab

Data updated
Big Ten

Michigan

4–3 (1–3 Big Ten). 2026 season, games through Oct 24, 2026.

SP+ rating13.023rd of 138
SP+ offense26.275th of 138
SP+ defense13.23rd of 138
PRIME9.731st of 138
Elo173425th of 138
Week 9

Michigan at Rutgers

Sat, Oct 31, 12:30 PM ET. SP+ projection: Michigan 33, Rutgers 19. Big Al's pick: Michigan (87%).

Full head to head

Offense

StatValueRank
Points per game20.3118th
Yards per play5.23123rd
Success rate39.9%107th
Explosive play rate10.5%109th
Yards per carry4.39118th
Yards per pass attempt6.71109th
Sack rate allowed6.9%98th
3rd down conversion39.1%76th

Defense

StatValueRank
Points allowed15.715th
Yards per play allowed4.494th
Success rate allowed35.2%16th
Explosive plays allowed7.3%8th
Yards per carry allowed3.487th
Yards per attempt allowed6.0425th
Sack rate7.6%36th
3rd downs allowed32.3%23rd

Players

Andrew Marsh (WR), Bryce Underwood (QB), JJ Buchanan (WR), John Henry Daley (DE), Jordan Marshall (RB), Savion Hiter (RB).

Results

WeekOpponentResult
1vs. Western MichiganW 13–12
2vs. OklahomaW 17–10
3vs. UTEPW 52–17
4vs. IowaL 19–20
5at MinnesotaL 14–20
7vs. Penn StateW 21–18
8vs. IndianaL 6–13

Ranks are out of 138 FBS teams. Stats from play-by-play; scoring counts FBS opponents only. Compare Michigan with any team.

Site
Picks two teams at random. Any FBS team can come up.

How we picked it

Three ratings look at a team in three different ways. Big Al's pick is the team at least two of them favor.

Where the game is won

Each row puts one team's unit against the unit it faces, by national rank out of all FBS teams. An edge is a gap of 25 spots or more.

What these mean

  • SP+ Bill Connelly's opponent-adjusted efficiency rating. Points better than an average FBS team on a neutral field.
  • PRIME A second opponent-adjusted rating, built from possession efficiency, on the same points scale. SOS is schedule difficulty; SOR is wins above what an average team would get against that schedule.
  • Elo A results-only rating that moves after each game based on the score and the opponent. 1500 is average.
  • Success rate Share of plays that stay on schedule: 50% of the yards needed on 1st down, 70% on 2nd, all of it on 3rd and 4th.
  • Explosive rate Share of plays that are runs of 12+ yards or completions of 16+ yards.
  • Defense rows What opponents did against the team. Lower is better except sack rate and interception rate.
  • Projection Rating gap, plus 2.5 points for the home team, and games usually land within about 14 points of it. A coin flip is 50%.

Ratings: SP+ via CFB Update; PRIME via primecfb.com. Box and play stats computed from CollegeFootballData.com play data (via the public cfbfastR files), FBS games only for scoring. Rushing yards here exclude sacks, so they run higher than official totals. Ranks are out of 138 FBS teams.

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