It seems like nobody really knows what to expect from the 2020 Mississippi State football team, and that’s for good reason. The Bulldogs are going to look drastically different from what they did in 2019.
And so, there’s a chance you’ll get different answers for how successful MSU is going to be from just about every single person you ask.
But what if we’re not asking a “person,” per se?
What if we wanted to ask a “predictive rating system designed to measure team strength and project performance going forward?” Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to do as we examine ESPN’s College Football Power Index’s ratings for Mississippi State in 2020.
Spoiler alert for those who didn’t read the headline: ESPN’s FPI doesn’t expect a ton of wins from the Mississippi State football team this season.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs are favored in just one game in 2020, according to the FPI, and that’s against the Vanderbilt Commodores. According to FPI, MSU has a 72.1% chance of beating the Commodores. That’s it.
There’s a few games that are almost coin flips, according to FPI, as Mississippi State has a 49.5% chance of beating Arkansas and a 46.7% chance of beating Mizzou, but that’s about it.
As for the Bulldogs’ season opener against LSU? FPI gives the Mississippi State Bulldogs an abysmal 5.6% chance of beating the Tigers. That’s, uh, not great, folks.
ESPN’s FPI projects State to win just 2.5 games this season (yes, I know, you can’t win half of a game, it has to do with how those percentages are added up).
That’s not great at all…
There’s always a chance that this math is wrong and ESPN certainly acknowledges that. You can read more about what all goes into those numbers and percentages by clicking here.
Get a look at Mississippi State’s 2020 schedule by clicking here. Check out ESPN’s FPI projections for State’s schedule this year by clicking here.
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