ESPN updated College Football Top 25: Major movement in new rankings

With less than two months remaining before the 2022 college football season kicks off, ESPN has updated the Football Power Index.

According to ESPN, the FPI is 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. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.”

ESPN provides FPI numbers for all 131 teams, from Alabama to New Mexico State, but these are the current top 25 programs.

ESPN FPI Top 25

*Team (FPI) | Projected Record

1. Alabama (29.0) | 11.4 – 1.5
2. Ohio State (28.3) | 11.8 – 1.0
3. Georgia (27.9) | 11.6 – 1.3
4. Clemson (22.8) | 11.1 – 1.7
5. Notre Dame (17.7) | 9.1 – 2.9
6. Michigan (16.8) | 9.5 – 2.6
7. Texas (16.7) | 9.3 – 3.3
8. Oklahoma (14.9) | 9.1 – 3.4
9. Miami (14.5) | 9.2 – 3.3
10. LSU (14.0) | 7.7 – 4.3
11. Auburn (13.6) | 7.4 – 4.7
12. Texas A&M (13.0) | 7.4 – 4.6
13. Utah (12.9) | 9.4 – 3.0
14. Oklahoma State (12.8) | 8.7 – 3.6
15. Michigan State (12.6) | 8.0 – 4.1
16. Penn State (12.6) | 8.0 – 4.1
17. Ole Miss (12.4) | 7.7 – 4.3
18. Kentucky (12.0) | 8.2 – 3.9
19. North Carolina (11.1) | 8.3 – 4.0
20. Pittsburgh (11.1) | 8.7 – 3.5
21. Wisconsin (11.1) | 8.2 – 4.1
22. Baylor (10.9) | 7.7 – 4.5
23. Oregon (10.6) | 8.6 – 3.8
24. Mississippi State (9.7) | 6.5 – 5.5
25. Tennessee (9.7) | 7.1 – 4.9

Latest Movement

Since mid-June, ESPN’s FPI rankings outside of the top five have changed dramatically. Most notably, the Miami Hurricanes leapfrogged the competition, going from No. 18 to No. 9, and are now projected to be the second-best team in the ACC. As Miami zipped up the rankings, the Pittsburgh Panthers tumbled down to No. 20.

After a down year and a coaching change for the LSU Tigers, the ESPN FPI is looking upon the team favorably in 2022 under Brian Kelly’s new leadership. The Tigers are No. 10 in the rankings and projected to win 7.7 games.

Only one team lost its previous top 25 spot between June and July – Florida. The Gators moved down five spots, making room for the Tennessee Volunteers at No. 25.

Interestingly enough, Texas is No. 7 overall and projected to win 9.3 games in Steve Sarkisian’s second year. The Longhorns haven’t won 10 regular season games since the Mack Brown days but the FPI predicts a major turnaround.