ESPN FPI ranks Pac 12, predicts final record for every team in 2023 college football season

On3 imageby:Steve Samra•05/22/23•

SamraSource

The ESPN Football Power Index (FPI) has ranked all the teams ahead of the 2023 college football season, providing final record predictions as well.

The Pac-12 features some fascinating storylines for this upcoming season, and the FPI only exasperated that point. With a bevy of changes coming and an uncertain future for the conference, 2023 could be the final season of the Pac-12 as we know it, so it should be as hectic as it is memorable.

The ESPN FPI took everything pertaining to these teams on the field and provided some projections for the year. Here’s what the algorithm came up with for 2023.

ESPN FPI Pac 12 rankings, final record predictions for 2023 CFB season:

  1. USC Trojans — FPI: 19.9 (No. 7 Overall) | Record: 10.3-2.4
  2. Oregon Ducks — FPI: 15.0 (No. 13 Overall) | Record: 9.1-3.3
  3. Utah Utes — FPI: 14.9 (No. 15 Overall) | Record: 8.7-3.7
  4. Washington Huskies — FPI: 11.8 (No. 21 Overall) | Record: 7.8-4.4
  5. Oregon State Beavers — FPI: 10.5 (No. 24 Overall) | Record: 8.7-3.5
  6. UCLA Bruins — FPI: 6.4 (No. 41 Overall) | Record: 7.6-4.4
  7. California Golden Bears — FPI: 3.3 (No. 51 Overall) | Record: 5.6-6.4
  8. Arizona Wildcats — FPI: 1.1 (No. 59 Overall) | Record: 5.5-6.5
  9. Washington State Cougars — FPI: -0.2 (No. 62 Overall) | Record: 5.5-6.5
  10. Arizona State Sun Devils — FPI: -0.4 (No. 64 Overall) | Record: 4.8-7.2
  11. Stanford Cardinal — FPI: -2.6 (No. 71 Overall) | Record: 4.2-7.8
  12. Colorado Buffaloes — FPI: -7.1 (No. 95 Overall) | Record: 2.6-9.4

Evidently, the ESPN FPI believes in two of the Heisman favorites in Caleb Williams and Bo Nix, as the Trojans and the Ducks are projected to be the top two teams in the Pac-12.

Still, both USC and Oregon have been foiled by the Utah Utes over the last couple of seasons, but the ESPN FPI is projecting them to finish third at the moment. That’ll certainly be used as motivation for them in 2023.

Conversely, the team with the most hype in the Pac-12 is ironically the team the ESPN FPI is projecting to finish in last, as Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes are bringing up the bottom at the moment. An exodus of transfers has many wondering what’s going on in Boulder, and if Sanders can keep the team together enough to win some games in 2023.

Time will tell, but it seems as if the Pac-12 will be exciting in 2023, whether the product on the field is above average or not.