ESPN updates FPI Top 25 ahead of college football Week 1 finale tonight
ESPN updated its Top 25 FPI rankings after the Sunday slate of games and the main event in the evening changed the rankings with massive movement.
Upon Florida State’s domination of LSU, the rankings were affected immediately with the Tigers dropping out of the top 10 and FSU soaring up the board. With just one game left in Week 1, we now have a clearer look at the top teams in the country, at least early on.
Below is the latest ESPN FPI update ahead of Monday’s Week 1 finale featuring Clemson and Duke.
1. Alabama
The Crimson Tide got off to a 1-0 start and regained the top spot in college football, at least according to the FPI. It was a dominant win over Middle Tennessee, 56-7, to get the season started.
Jalen Milroe got the start and made it count, going 13-of-18 passing for 194 yards and three touchdowns. The other quarterbacks didn’t get much opportunity passing the football, so this could be the Milroe show.
2. Ohio State
The Buckeyes won their opener over Big Ten foe Indiana, 23-3, but it wasn’t too pretty. Kyle McCord got his first start, but he wasn’t too pleased with himself.
He threw for 239 yards but tossed an interception and no touchdowns. At least Ohio State held Indiana to just three points to extend the winning streak over the program.
3. Georgia
The Bulldogs didn’t move after their Week 1 win over UT Martin and ESPN’s FPI didn’t feel the need to penalize or reward Georgia. It was your standard opening game for Georgia and SEC play doesn’t open until September 16 against South Carolina.
What did we learn from Georgia in the first game? Well, not much except that the team is still really good, if not great. The same argument can be made with the first two teams too.
4. Oklahoma
How about this big jump from the Sooners? Oklahoma trounced Arkansas State 73-0. That’s right, that score is correct. The Sooners initially moved up seven spots in the FPI prior to Sunday’s set of games and remained in the spot going into Monday.
It wasn’t a win over a Power Five opponent, but at a certain point, you have to give credit for scoring 73 points. No question. Dillon Gabriel was nearly perfect throwing the football: 19-of-22 passing for 308 yards and two touchdowns. Next: SMU.
5. USC (+1)
Another blowout win from USC was pretty much expected, this time, 66-14 over Nevada to improve to 2-0 on the young season. What did we learn? We’ll be a little repetitive here and say not much other than USC has a high powered offense.
Some analysts brought up concerns about the defense after giving up 28 points against San Jose State, but there was improvement in Game 2. Stanford is the Pac-12 opener and the real season begins for USC next weekend.
6. Notre Dame (+1)
A dominant win over Navy and then an even more dominant win over Tennessee State. It’s coming up roses in South Bend, or something like that.
Sam Hartman had to do even less in this game. He threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns as the Fighting Irish cruised. They’ll get a Power Five opponent in NC State next weekend and are a few weeks away from playing Ohio State at home.
7. Michigan (+1)
Michigan rolled to a 30-3 win over East Carolina without Jim Harbaugh and did move up to No. 7 following the conclusion of the Sunday slate. Harbaugh has to miss the next two games before making his return against Rutgers.
But overall, Michigan did what Michigan does. JJ McCarthy was 26-of-30 passing for 280 yards and three touchdowns and Blake Corum looked like his old self on 10 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. If it weren’t for a late field goal in the fourth quarter, the Wolverines defense would’ve had a shutout.
8. Clemson (+1)
Clemson plays Monday against Duke so we have yet to see how the 2023 Tigers will look. ESPN’s FPI still respects them as a top 10 team in the country to this point.
ACC games can be tricky and Mike Elko turned the Blue Devils into a respectable football program in a basketball dominant school. That should be a fascinating watch on Labor Day.
9. Florida State (+8)
Here’s one of the biggest jumps you’ll see in ESPN’s FPI Top 25. The Seminoles were deadlocked with LSU 17-17 in the third quarter before an explosion and a 45-24 win. It was quite the statement.
We don’t know exactly what happened to the Tigers, but Florida State was ready to show the world it could be for real. Jordan Travis scored five total touchdowns and transfer wideout Keon Coleman caught three scores from Travis. This team is dangerous.
10. Texas
Win by 27 points, drop five spots in the FPI Sunday morning. Texas, to be fair, was already pegged as a top five team according to ESPN’s metrics. But the Longhorns remained in the top 10. As of Monday, Texas remained No. 10 in the top 25 with Week 2 against Alabama looming.
Quinn Ewers tossed three touchdowns and 260 yards during an efficient day. But all eyes were on the backup quarterback in the waning stages. Maalik Murphy got the call over Arch Manning and completed three-of-five passes. The bigger story is if Texas can keep this up all year long, but we appreciated the B-plot in Week 1.
Rest of ESPN’s Top 25 FPI
11. Penn State
12. Oregon
13. Tennessee
14. Ole Miss
15. LSU (-10)
16. Utah (-1)
17. Washington (-1)
18. Texas A&M
19. UCF
20. Miami
21. North Carolina
22. Auburn
23. Wisconsin
24. Oregon State (+6)
25. Kansas State (-1)
Week 1 is almost in the books with just one game remaining, but one thing’s for sure, these top 25 rankings are going to be wild all season long. If we can see a big jump like Florida State in just one game, imagine what we’ll see all year long.