Michigan
Big Ten · 4-3
at
Rutgers
Big Ten · 2-5
Sat 31 Oct · 12:30 PM ET · BTN · SHI Stadium
Rest MICH 7 days, RUTG 7 days · Travel MICH 496 mi
Market
MICH −15.5
total 45.5 · spread opened MICH −14.0, moved −1.5 toward MICH
Atlas projectsAtlas
32.2–18.9
MICH–RUTG · total 51.1
Difference
+2.2
on the spread · total +5.6
C79/100
Mixed record.

A moderate disagreement of 2.2 points.

Across five seasons, cards this far from the market claimed 57% accuracy and delivered 49%. That gap is where this grade comes from.

How much weight this card's information deserves — not a recommendation.

Why

what the model is reading

Be careful about

  • One book is quoting this game, so the market number has no depth behind it and may move sharply.
  • Atlas and the market have moved opposite ways on the total since it opened.

Projection built Oct 29, 2026 4:14 AM ETMarket updated Oct 29, 2026 4:14 AM ETData status

New to Atlas? What a card is, and what a grade means

Market detail where the line opened, where it is now, and the prices
SpreadOpenCurrentMove
Michigan−14.0−15.5−1.5
Rutgers+14.0+15.5+1.5
Price−110−112—

The spread has moved 1.5 toward Michigan and the total has moved 2.0 down since the open.

TotalOpenCurrentMove
Game total47.545.5−2.0
Price (over)−110−105—
Moneyline · Michigan −625 → −650 Moneyline · Rutgers +455 → +470 De-vigged, the market gives Rutgers a 16.8% chance. Books quoting: 1.

DraftKings · 1 book quoting

Projection detail the projected score, the chance of winning, the total's range and the most likely exact score
Projected score
32.2 – 18.9
Michigan – Rutgers
Projected spread
MICH −13.3
market −15.5
Projected total
51.1
market 45.5 · 80% range 31–72
Michigan win probability
79.2%
from the score grid
Over probability
54.9%
at the current total of 45.5
Most likely score
31–24
0.9% of the grid — one cell of 6,400
How this number is made. Every FBS team starts the season at a preseason expectation built from last season's ratings, roster talent, recruiting, returning production and the coaching situation. After every game a filter updates each team's offense and defense, opponent-adjusted, and the two teams' numbers meet here with the home advantage. The total adds the teams' pace and the wind. The market is never an input; it is shown so you can see where Atlas differs and read why.

Atlas difference

MeasureAtlas modelMarketDifference
SpreadMICH −13.3MICH −15.5+2.2
Total51.145.5+5.6
Rutgers win probability20.8%16.8%+4.0 pts
A difference is not an edge. Atlas has measured what happens at every size of disagreement, and the gap between what the model claims and what it delivers widens as the disagreement grows. This game sits in the 2-4 band, where cards have claimed 57% accuracy and delivered 49% across 1,123 games.
Matchup how each offense compares with the defense it faces, season to date, ranked among 138 FBS teams

Season to date through 24 October: Michigan 7 games, Rutgers 7 games. Ranks are among 138 FBS teams, 1st the best; the crest marks which side ranks better on each line.

Michigan offensevs Rutgers defense
20.3118th
Points per gameedge Michigan
33.3127th
5.10127th
Yards per playedge Michigan
6.92132nd
133.7104th
Rushing yards per gameedge Michigan
201.4127th
168.9127th
Passing yards per gameedge Rutgers
219.975th
2.6136th
20+ yard plays per gameedge Rutgers
4.798th
1.967th
Sacks per gameedge Michigan
1.4109th
40%79th
Third-down conversion rateedge Michigan
42%105th
43%125th
Red-zone touchdown rateedge Rutgers
60%90th
Rutgers offensevs Michigan defense
28.768th
Points per gameedge Michigan
15.715th
6.3050th
Yards per playedge Michigan
4.545th
155.171st
Rushing yards per gameedge Michigan
100.617th
263.139th
Passing yards per gameedge Michigan
174.412th
4.476th
20+ yard plays per gameedge Michigan
2.79th
2.6116th
Sacks per gameedge Michigan
2.157th
40%74th
Third-down conversion rateedge Michigan
35%33rd
63%53rd
Red-zone touchdown rateedge Michigan
39%14th
Michiganvs Rutgers
Situational
−0.2993rd
Turnover margin per gameedge Michigan
−1.14133rd
59.3125th most
Plays per game
66.467th most

Figures come from completed games only, so every one was known before kickoff. They are raw, not adjusted for opponents - All drivers has Atlas's adjusted view. College counts sack yardage as rushing, as the NCAA does.

Other models what FPI, SP+ and Elo say about this game, beside Atlas and the market
ModelMarginWinAs of
FPI (ESPN)MICH by 13.984%Oct 28
SP+MICH by 13.9—Oct 29
EloMICH by 13.2—Oct 29
AtlasMICH by 13.379%live
MarketMICH by 15.5—live

Each model's number for this game as its source published it before kickoff; Win is the favored side's chance to win, where the model gives one. FPI's margin and chance are ESPN's own. SP+ is the difference in the two teams' ratings, plus 2.5 for a home side; Elo is the difference in ratings at 24 points a point, plus 2.6 for a home side, as Atlas measured it on past seasons. None of these is an input to Atlas's number, and none is here to settle anything: they show where Atlas sits among other models.

How this grade was computed the four things that set the letter, out of a hundred
C79

Mixed card

The disagreement is wide enough that the model's historical claim runs well ahead of what it delivered.

Calibration 33/45
Market agreement 20/25
Card conditions 10/15
Data completeness 15/15

Atlas sits 2.2 points from the market. The calibration curve, fitted to every completed season out of sample, expects cards at that distance to fall 9.5% short of what they claim — which is where the calibration component above comes from.

The total has moved 1.5 points since it opened. Cards on a market that has moved have calibrated worse in five of six seasons.

The grade describes how much weight the information deserves. It says nothing about which side of a market anyone should take, and Atlas does not publish that. How grades are computed.

All drivers all 4 things the model is reading, and how each team ranks against the rest of the country
Defense, in points MICH +15.6 pts

Atlas rates Michigan's defense at +10.8 points a game against FBS average and Rutgers' at -4.8, opponent-adjusted, after 7 games this season.

MichiganRutgers
Pace and possessions 112 plays · 62nd percentile

A combined 112 plays per game — the 62nd percentile of this season's games. A fast game, which lifts the projected total.

fewer playsmore plays
Home advantage RUTG +2.6 pts

Playing at home is worth 2.6 points in this season's model, fitted, not assumed.

MichiganRutgers
Offense, in points MICH +1.0 pts

Atlas rates Michigan's offense at +1.6 points a game against FBS average and Rutgers' at +0.7, opponent-adjusted, after 7 games this season.

MichiganRutgers
Market movement how far the market has moved since the number opened, and which way

Total, open to current

48.0 46.5 45.0 Atlas 51.1 — beyond this range open 47.5 now 45.5
MeasureValue
Opening number47.5
Current number45.5
Market directiondown 2.0
Atlas directionup

Atlas and the market point opposite ways on this total. That is information, not a verdict.

Two findings that are not in conflict

Atlas has measured disagreement twice, against two different reference points, and they say different things.

Measured againstWhat it predicts
The closing numberthe model's own failure — so a large difference lowers the grade
The opening numberwhich way the line moves — tracked publicly, not graded

A model far from the close is wrong; a model far from the open is early. The second finding is tracked in the open closing-line record and is deliberately kept out of the grade.

Reliability record what Atlas claimed and what it delivered, across the seasons it never saw while being built

Calibration by disagreement band

82% 64% 45% this card0-110+ claimed realized

Two series, labeled directly. The widening gap is why Atlas grades large disagreements down.

This band, five seasons

MeasureThis bandAll cards
Realized accuracy48.6%49.2%
Claimed accuracy57.1%58.0%
Calibration gap−8.5 pts−8.8 pts
Seasons above 50%1 of 5—
Games measured1,1233,864
Read the gap, not the claim. Atlas's raw confidence numbers run high — a claimed 57% has historically delivered 49%. The grade already corrects for this. The claim is shown so the correction is visible rather than hidden.
What this card is. Research, analytics and market context. Atlas does not publish selections, does not size anything and does not project returns. Every figure is computed out of sample from a point-in-time database: nothing attached to a game uses information that did not exist before kickoff.