ESPN releases updated SP+ Top-25 ahead of 2023 college football season

Stephen Samraby:Steve Samra•06/04/23•

SamraSource

ESPN has released their updated SP+ Top 25 ahead of the 2023 college football season.

The projections are based on three factors: returning production, recent recruiting and recent history. Utilizing the data at their disposal, ESPN comes up with a SP+ score for each team, and subsequently ranks them from the top to the bottom.

With the NCAA Transfer Portal cooling off and the hype for the season heating up, ESPN figured now to be the perfect time to update their rankings.

“The transfer portal is slowing down, media days are around the corner and with all due respect to Week 0 — I love it dearly, just as much as all the other weeks — we’re officially 100 days from Sept. 2, the first real Saturday of the 2023 college football season,” wrote Bill Connelly of ESPN.

“It seems like a pretty good time, then, to get up to date on the numbers. Since February’s initial 2023 SP+ release, we’ve seen a number of transfers and big moves, and I’ve been able to better update returning production figures to account for teams’ official roster releases. (Not many had released full rosters in early February.) We haven’t seen much movement at the very top of the rankings, but there’s plenty to talk about.”

At the top of the list there’s no surprise, as the Georgia Bulldogs take the reign as the top team in ESPN SP+ Top 25. While looking at the three factors ESPN ranks teams with, the Bulldogs are arguably at the top or near the top of any list. It’s no surprise the algorithm went with Kirby Smart’s squad.

But what about the rest of the list? There are some familiar names and some unexpected choices, as there always are with preseason rankings. Check out the updated ESPN SP+ Top 25 rankings below.

Updated ESPN SP+ Top 25 Rankings ahead of 2023 CFB Season:

  1. Georgia Bulldogs (29.9)
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes (29.6)
  3. Michigan Wolverines (29.2)
  4. Alabama Crimson Tide (27.9)
  5. LSU Tigers (25.2)
  6. Tennessee Volunteers (23.9)
  7. USC Trojans (23.6)
  8. Penn State Nittany Lions (23.5)
  9. Texas Longhorns (23.3)
  10. Florida State Seminoles (21.6)
  11. Oregon Ducks (21.5)
  12. Clemson Tigers (21.3)
  13. Oklahoma Sooners (19.7)
  14. Utah Utes (19.4)
  15. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (19.3)
  16. Texas A&M Aggies (18.8)
  17. Washington Huskies (18.3)
  18. Ole Miss Rebels (17.5)
  19. Wisconsin Badgers (15.8)
  20. TCU Horned Frogs (15.8)
  21. Florida Gators (14.8)
  22. Kentucky Wildcats (14.5)
  23. Kansas State Wildcats (14.3)
  24. UCLA Bruins (14.3)
  25. Mississippi State Bulldogs (14.1)