Football Power Index, whatever the hell that is, isn’t too big of a fan of Notre Dame in 2021.
Here is how ESPN defines their little gadget, FPI:
The Football Power Index (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.
Now that you have that in mind, I’ll tell you that the FPI currently ranks Notre Dame 11th nationally.
The top-10 is as follows:
- Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma
4. Iowa State
5. Ohio State
6. Texas A&M
7. Georgia
8. Mississippi State
9. Oklahoma State
10. Penn State
There are certainly some names that stick out in the top-10 that we could discuss and ponder but that’ll come in time. What I can’t help but notice is that even at 11, Notre Dame doesn’t have a 2021 opponent that’s ranked above them as North Carolina at 13 is the highest any Irish opponent ranks.
In fact, only Wisconsin at 15 also cracks the top-25 of this power index.
If that’s all to be believed (I’m not buying it, for your information), then you’ll be looking at a Notre Dame team that would theoretically be favored in all twelve games again this coming season.
It’s early and we’re not even sure what a depth chart is going to look like yet, but early on it at least appears the Fighting Irish will benefit from a bit of a break in the schedule.