The 10-0 Oregon Ducks are atop the Big Ten Conference, but ESPN believes a new favorite has emerged.
Oregon now ranks behind Ohio State in ESPN’s FPI model for the Big Ten Championship. DucksWire noted the change even after yet another win for the Ducks his past weekend against Maryland.
“According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Oregon has the second-best odds in the Big Ten to win the conference title, sitting behind the Ohio State Buckeyes. While no team has clinched its spot in the conference title game yet, the game between Ohio State and Indiana next week will likely send the winner to Indianapolis,” DucksWire wrote.
The team’s probability of winning the Big Ten went down from 35.1 percent to 37.8 percent, but the Buckeyes’ probability increased to 43.5 percent.
ESPN’s FPI model helps predict what teams are going to do during the season based on past analyses and data points. Oregon and Ohio State previously met this season in an eventful game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. The Ducks won 32-31, edging the Buckeyes, in one of the best games of the season.
Since then, both teams have kept winning. The Ducks are 10-0 for the first time since the 2012 season. They can improve to 11-0 for the first time since 2010 this weekend if they defeat the Wisconsin Badgers.
Ohio State, meanwhile, has two remaining stiff tests ahead of them. They will play a Top 5-ranked Indiana team before they end the season against rival Michigan.
