FanBoardHQ

Michigan State

Michigan State University · 2025 · Big Ten

FanBoardHQ CFP
#86
Efficiency
-0.1
68th FBS
Record
4-8
Conf. record
1-8
Conf. finish
T-16th
of 18
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Michigan State went 4-8 and was ranked 86th in the FanBoardHQ CFP Rankings (blended resume and efficiency). Their 63rd-ranked offense was the engine, backed by a 74th-ranked defense. They ran the ball on 50% of offensive plays with a 79th-ranked rushing attack and passed the ball on the remaining 50% of plays with a 65th-ranked passing attack.

Quadrant record

By opponent strength, adjusted for where the game was played.

Q1
0-4
Q2
0-1
Q3
1-2
Q4
3-1

Projected wins

Per-game win probabilities combined across the full schedule.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Expected: 4.0 wins
Strength of Record
98th
-3.5 wins above a 25th-ranked team's expectation
Strength of Schedule
to date
34th
full season
34th
AP poll
Unranked
Conf. sched. difficulty
25th
a 25th-ranked team would win ~4.8 conference games on this schedule

The resume

Every game on the schedule. Click a row for the game breakdown (played) or the matchup projection (upcoming).

WkOpponentConfOpp rankResultExp. marginWin probGameScoreQuad
1vs Western MichiganMid-American#50W 236+3.0100%24.5Q4
2vs Boston CollegeACC#124W 4240+12.6100%-7.9Q4
3vs Youngstown StateMVFCW 4124+11.1100%4.8Q4
4@ USCBig Ten#17L 3145-21.00%3.4Q1
6@ NebraskaBig Ten#52L 2738-5.80%-6.6Q3
7vs UCLABig Ten#97L 1338+7.00%-35.2Q4
8@ IndianaBig Ten#1L 1338-34.50%-1.5Q1
9vs MichiganBig Ten#19L 2031-10.70%-1.3Q2
10@ MinnesotaBig Ten#48L 2023-2.10%1.0Q3
12vs Penn StateBig Ten#39L 1028-12.60%-5.9Q1
13@ IowaBig Ten#16L 1720-19.40%16.2Q1
14vs MarylandBig Ten#94W 3828+0.6100%5.0Q3

12 played · 4-8. Expected margin and gamescore use the latest ratings — a completed game shows what the model would say now, not that week.

The season

The model’s read on Michigan State, recomputed after every week. Toggle between overall, offensive, and defensive efficiency (each with a dot for that week’s game) or the FanBoardHQ CFP rank.

-30.5-5.4+19.724-853-7-35-1-11-6165Week 0Week 20
Line = the model's read each week; dots = that week's game (green above the line, red below).

Passing & rushing

Opponent-adjusted, FBS-only. The bar is the blended Eff rank — EPA/play (scoring value), success rate (staying on schedule), and yards/play (explosiveness), each standardized against the FBS field. The three ranks below each bar are those components, so you can see what's driving it.

Offense
PassingEff 65th
SR 64thYPP 88thEPA 53rd
RushingEff 79th
SR 59thYPP 73rdEPA 89th
Defense
Pass defenseEff 67th
SR 53rdYPP 78thEPA 72nd
Rush defenseEff 55th
SR 80thYPP 61stEPA 52nd
Dropback rate 50%Tempo +0.2 snaps/game vs. averageFaced pass defenses ranked 50th on average
Success rate by down

Their offense vs. what their defense allows.

1st · Offense: 46%1st · Defense allowed: 46%1st2nd · Offense: 43%2nd · Defense allowed: 45%2nd3rd/4th · Offense: 39%3rd/4th · Defense allowed: 43%3rd/4th
OffenseDefense allowed
Points by quarter

Scored vs. allowed, all regular-season games.

Q1 · Scored: 52.0Q1 · Allowed: 61.0Q1Q2 · Scored: 71.0Q2 · Allowed: 80.0Q2Q3 · Scored: 76.0Q3 · Allowed: 87.0Q3Q4 · Scored: 82.0Q4 · Allowed: 103.0Q4
ScoredAllowed

What kind of team is this?

Every team by offensive and defensive efficiency (points/game vs. an average team, higher is better on both). Click a dot for that team.

elite bothdefense-ledrebuildingoffense-ledMichigan StateOffenseDefense
Michigan State Offense vs Defense, 2025
Offensive EffRanked 63rd
+0.5
Field position: +0.2Finishing drives: +0.4
Field position +0.2Finishing drives +0.4= +0.5
Offensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 54th · Finishing 61st

Defensive EffRanked 74th
-1.1
Field position: +1.2Finishing drives: -2.3
Field position +1.2Finishing drives -2.3= -1.1
Defensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 32nd · Finishing 87th

1.87 points per drive on offense, 2.28 allowed — starting, on average, at their own 29.

Play-calling & efficiency

What the offense did, by quarter and by down — raw, not opponent-adjusted.

By quarter
Quarter (att.)Pass / rushSuccessYd/play
Q1(182)50% / 50%47%5.4
Q2(208)60% / 40%43%5.4
Q3(192)46% / 54%44%5.4
Q4(183)58% / 42%39%5.7
how play-calling and results shifted through games — (n) = plays, season total
Passing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(152)10.149%6.3
2nd(136)9.147%6.7
3rd(106)7.732%5.7
4th(15)5.927%1.4
All (410)43%6.1
Rushing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(175)9.643%4.8
2nd(113)6.938%4.5
3rd(53)6.649%5.7
4th(13)2.269%3.7
All (355)43%4.8

Michigan State, all games.