The SportsWire

Minnesota at #4Indiana

Prediction · week 9, 2026 · Sat Oct 31, 2:30 PM CT · Memorial Stadium (Bloomington, IN)

Updated Sun Oct 25, 5:13 PM CT

Minnesota4-2
Upcoming
#4Indiana7-1

Sat Oct 31, 2:30 PM CT · Memorial Stadium (Bloomington, IN)

MINNMinnesota · 4-2 Sat Oct 31, 2:30 PM CT IUIndiana · 7-1

6%Our win chance94%

Our win chance: Indiana 94% · Minnesota 6% · experimental, see how it is tested

Model comparison

9 of 9 models favor Indiana

ModelSaysWin chance
SP+
Minnesota +3.1 vs Indiana +23.6 · week 8 ratings
Indiana by 23Indiana 95%
Elo
Minnesota 1434 vs Indiana 2076
Indiana by 28.2Indiana 98%
Our model · experimental
no snapshot for this game
n/a–
ESPN FPI
Minnesota -0.2 vs Indiana +25.4
Indiana by 28.1Indiana 98%
SRS
Minnesota -1.1 vs Indiana +20.5
Indiana by 24.1Indiana 96%
Sagarin
Minnesota +74.4 vs Indiana +91.3
Indiana by 20.7Indiana 93%
Sonny Moore
Minnesota +71.5 vs Indiana +89.2
Indiana by 21.8Indiana 94%
The Margin
The Margin's model
Indiana by 23.4Indiana 95%
Record
Indiana 7-1, Minnesota 4-2
Indiana (better record)–
Market
the market's pregame margin
Indiana by 19.5Indiana 92%

Each margin is from the same weekly ratings the team pages use: SP+ and Elo from their rating gap, the home team given 2.5 points (none at a neutral site); Our model is this site's experimental rating; Market is the margin the market expected before kickoff; ESPN FPI, SRS, Sagarin and Sonny Moore are rating gaps like SP+'s (each with its own home field), The Margin is that site's own model, and Record names the team with the better record (the home team on equal records). How these work ›

Matchup efficiency

Efficiency matchup · season to date · Indiana 8 games, Minnesota 6 games

Edge: Indiana wins 3 of 5

Indiana moves the ball better, stops plays better and has the edge on big plays. Minnesota is more disruptive and allows fewer big plays.

Indianalonger bar = betterMinnesota
  • 45%✓ Moves the ballsuccessful plays 39%
  • 35%✓ Stops playssuccessful plays allowed 40%
  • 20% Disruptionsacks, TFLs, turnovers ✓22%
  • 1.38✓ Big playson offense 1.14
  • 1.33 Big plays allowedon defense ✓1.18

Run game, head to head · season to date

Indiana's runs work 43% of the time; Minnesota's run defense allows 45%. Minnesota's runs work 36% of the time; Indiana's run defense allows 32%.

More numbers
MeasureIndianaMinnesotaEdge
Off. success rate45.3%39.3%Indiana
Off. explosiveness1.381.14Indiana
Def. success rate allowed34.9%40.1%Indiana
Def. explosiveness allowed1.331.18Minnesota
Havoc created19.6%21.7%Minnesota
  • Run game, success rate: Indiana offense 42.7% · Minnesota defense allows 44.8% · edge: even
  • Run game, success rate: Minnesota offense 36.4% · Indiana defense allows 31.7% · edge: Indiana
  • Run game, PPA per play: Indiana offense +0.12 · Minnesota defense allows +0.10 · edge: Indiana
  • Run game, PPA per play: Minnesota offense -0.15 · Indiana defense allows -0.12 · edge: Indiana
  • Success rate: how often a play does its job, gaining enough yards to keep the offense on schedule.
  • Explosiveness: how big a team's successful plays are on average; a higher number means more big gains.
  • Havoc: how often the defense blows up a play with a sack, a tackle for loss, a takeaway or a pass broken up.
  • PPA (predicted points added): how many points an average play is worth to the offense; above zero is good for the offense, below zero good for the defense.

How to read this

  • Each row compares the two teams on one measure of how well they have played this season, offense and defense, using every game so far with garbage time (plays late in a decided game) left out.
  • The run game rows pair one team's rushing offense with the other's run defense. The row goes to whichever side is further from the FBS baseline this season, the offense by how far it runs above it, the defense by how much less it allows (baseline: run success rate 43%, PPA per play +0.08, the midpoint of what FBS offenses gain and FBS defenses allow, since both also play FCS teams), so two strong sides or two weak ones are judged by which is the more so. Edges within 3 points of success rate or 0.05 PPA are even. A strong run offense against a weak run defense is where a team can control the game on the ground.
  • In the five rows at the top the longer bar is the better number: bars are scaled within each row, and in the two "allowed" rows the lower number gets the longer bar.
  • Success rate is the share of plays that kept the offense on schedule (half the yards needed on first down, most of them on second, all of them on third or fourth). Explosiveness is how big the successful plays were, on average, in points. Havoc is the share of the opponent's snaps the defense wrecked: a tackle for loss, a sack, a takeaway or a pass broken up.
  • "Allowed" rows are what each defense gave up, so the lower value wins.
  • These are not adjusted for who each team has played, so a light schedule flatters a team, and early in the season they rest on very few games.
  • Metrics explained: success rate, explosiveness and havoc ›

The prediction

All 9 models favor Indiana (SP+ from the week 8 snapshot).

Our call posts Monday when this week's ratings are set.

SP+ has Indiana by 23.0, Elo has Indiana by 28.2, ESPN FPI has Indiana by 28.1, SRS has Indiana by 24.1, Sagarin has Indiana by 20.7, Sonny Moore has Indiana by 21.8, The Margin has Indiana by 23.4, and Market has Indiana by 19.5. They are within 8.7 points of each other.

Team pages