Michigan’s unbeaten start ended with a last-second 20-19 loss to Iowa on Saturday, and the Wolverines fell one spot to No. 22 in ESPN’s SP+ rankings. Michigan’s rating dropped 0.8 points to 14.3.
SP+ combines a team’s offensive, defensive and special-teams efficiency to estimate its performance against an average college team on a neutral field. Iowa also fell one spot, to No. 19.
Michigan’s next game is a road trip to Minnesota, its first away game this season, at noon EST Saturday. Minnesota is 3-1 and ranked No. 52 with a 6.5 SP+ rating; the metric suggests Michigan would win by about eight points. Michigan also has four remaining games against higher-ranked teams: Ohio State (No. 2), Indiana (No. 4), Oregon (No. 8) and Penn State (No. 15).
