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ESPN’s Football Power Index ranks every college football team, and the top 25 has notably differed from the human polls throughout the season. The post-Championship Weekend rankings are no exception.
If the ESPN Analytics computers were used to select the top 4 teams, 3 teams from the Big Ten and Oregon would be battling for the national championship. The FPI, though, does not factor into the College Football Playoff selection committee rankings. Not only does the FPI have multiple contenders outside the top 4, but a pair of undefeated conference champions are outside the top 10.
ESPN explains the FPI as a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season. A team’s FPI rating represents how many points above or below average a team is, according to ESPN. FPI projected outcomes are based on 20,000 simulations.
Here’s how the FPI rankings heading into bowl season:
- Michigan
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Oregon
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- LSU
- Notre Dame
- Florida State
- Kansas State
- Washington
- Texas A&M
- Ole Miss
- Missouri
- Tennessee
- Oregon State
- Clemson
- SMU
- USC
- Arizona
- Louisville
- Miami
- Utah
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
