In another good-not-great performance, the Michigan Wolverines defeated their in-state rival Michigan State by a final score of 31-20 on Saturday night in East Lansing. The style of victory wasn’t totally unexpected by the advanced metrics, and as such, Michigan retained its spot in the latest edition of Bill Connelly and ESPN’s SP+ rankings.

For those of you who might be new to SP+, Connelly describes the rankings as, “A tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency – SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking, so it does not automatically give credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling – If you’re lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you’re strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably ri

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