Michigan moves up to No. 5 in the S&P rankings

The AP and Coaches Polls are somewhat a tease until the real one that matters — the College Football Playoff rankings.

A ranking that is more of a predictive and forward-looking approach for the future is the S&P Rankings by SB Nation’s Bill Connelly.

This method is expanded with a detailed explanation as, “Good predictive ratings are not résumé ratings, and they don’t give you bonus points for wins and losses. They simply compare expected output to actual output and adjust accordingly. That’s how a given team can win but plummet or lose and move up.” More about his ranking can be found here.

After the Week 6 win over Maryland, Michigan moved to No. 5

The top-10 after Week 6:

1. Alabama — remains on top
2. Clemson — no change from last week
3. Georgia — moves up 1 spot
4. Ohio State — fell 1 spot
5. Michigan — up 2 spots
6. Oklahoma — stays at No. 6 after a loss by Texas
7. Penn State — up 1 spot
8. Notre Dame — fell 1 spot
9. UCF — up 1 spot
10. Washington — fell 5 spots

What else has become very consistent, or improving, through the first half of the season is the rankings on both sides of the ball.

The Wolverines are beginning to produce consistently on offense, which is what they’ve been waiting for and hope will continue. The S&P ranking is designed to track overall team efficiency, and this shows how Michigan is certainly moving in the right direction.

The latest AP Poll has Michigan in the No. 12 slot, moving up three spots after the Maryland win. The Wisconsin Badgers are at No. 15 and go on the road next Saturday night to play Michigan.