Michigan State Spartans

Big Ten · East Lansing, MI

As ofWeek 6
Rank#75
Rating1489.63
Vs preseason-1.81

2026 weekly history

Rank and rating after each published week. New rows appear automatically as weekly snapshots are published.

Preseason721491.440.00—
Week 1681497.99+6.55+6.55
Week 2631509.45+18.01+11.46
Week 3551518.52+27.08+9.07
Week 4641505.55+14.11-12.97
Week 5751489.03-2.41-16.52
Week 6751489.63-1.81+0.60

Why this preseason rating?

Every team starts at 1500 (national average), then gains or loses points from four measurable categories. See how the formula works →

1500.00
-8.89
+5.27
-8.18
+3.24
1491.44

Underlying data

Raw inputs from CFDB used to build the preseason rating. Each metric is standardized nationally before contributing to the score. Read the full methodology →

Prior strength (2025)

1409
-0.3
-3.4

Roster quality (2026)

685.02
213.73

Returning production

30.4%

Transfer portal

28 (avg 0.856)
40 (avg 0.853)
-12.00

Game-by-game audit

Each completed game updates this team's rating using opponent strength, home-field advantage, and how the result compared to expectation. For every game below you can see the rating at kickoff, the opponent's rating, the model's expected margin, the actual scoreboard margin, the gap between those two, and the exact rating points gained or lost. Ratings and game-audit tables for each published week are linked above that week's results.

vs Toledo — 30-20home
Poll rank before
#72
Rating before
1491.44
Opponent rating
1502.59
Expected margin
+2.11
Actual margin
+10.00
vs expectation
+7.89
Rating change
+6.56
Poll rank after
#68
vs Eastern Michigan — 35-7home
Poll rank before
#68
Rating before
1497.99
Opponent rating
1428.64
Expected margin
+14.22
Actual margin
+28.00
vs expectation
+13.78
Rating change
+11.45
Poll rank after
#63
vs Notre Dame — 10-27away
Poll rank before
#59
Rating before
1509.45
Opponent rating
1669.91
Expected margin
-27.92
Actual margin
-17.00
vs expectation
+10.92
Rating change
+9.08
Poll rank after
#55
vs Nebraska — 13-31home
Poll rank before
#56
Rating before
1518.52
Opponent rating
1559.63
Expected margin
-2.39
Actual margin
-18.00
vs expectation
-15.61
Rating change
-12.97
Poll rank after
#64
vs Wisconsin — 3-31away
Poll rank before
#67
Rating before
1505.55
Opponent rating
1534.37
Expected margin
-8.12
Actual margin
-28.00
vs expectation
-19.88
Rating change
-16.52
Poll rank after
#75
vs Illinois — 37-38home
Poll rank before
#75
Rating before
1489.03
Opponent rating
1525.62
Expected margin
-1.71
Actual margin
-1.00
vs expectation
+0.71
Rating change
+0.59
Poll rank after
#75