ESPN Football Power Index – Syndication Server

Could Oklahoma be better in 2024 and finish with a worse record?

The Tennessean’s Blake Toppmeyer likes what Brent Venables is building in Norman but isn’t sure they’ll win as many games as they did in 2023.

The Oklahoma Sooners are wading into new territory with their move to the SEC. The schedule is full of teams projected to be in the top 15 when the initial polls come out in August.

It’s a brave new world.

[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] has his squad ready to go into the SEC and compete. There’s no doubt that they’re a better team than they were a year ago this time. Oklahoma added to a unit that showed big improvement last season. And with arguably an upgrade at quarterback, the Sooners look poised to show off their improved roster in 2024.

But even if they’re improved, The Tennessean’s Blake Toppmeyer believes they may not live up to their No. 8 spot in the ESPN Football Power Index. As Toppmeyer goes through the SEC, he looked to project how each SEC team would perform relative to the ESPN FPI. For Oklahoma, he believes they could be better but end up with a worse record.

Oklahoma must face Texas, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Missouri, Alabama and LSU. Talk about a rude welcome to the SEC. The Sooners could have a better team than last season (when they went 10-3) and still finish with a worse record. – Toppmeyer, The Tennessean

Oklahoma will face as many as six teams that will be ranked in the top 25, and four to five of those could be top 15.

The Sooners defense will be good enough to give Oklahoma’s offense an opportunity to find their sea legs in 2024. For the first time in a long time, Oklahoma’s offense won’t have to be perfect all four quarters and for 12 or more games for the Sooners to win.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

Are the Oklahoma Sooners overvalued in the ESPN Football Power Index?

One ESPN analyst believes the Oklahoma Sooners are overvalued in the updated ESPN Football Power Index.

The Oklahoma Sooners are one of the more intriguing teams heading into the 2024 college football season. They have a talented roster, led by a defense that has a lot of experience coming back for Oklahoma’s first foray into the SEC.

[autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag], [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag], [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag], and [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag] lead the way for a defense that made substantial improvement in year two under [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag].

Offensively, there’s a lot of talent too. But at arguably the most critical positions, quarterback and offensive line, the Sooners are facing turnover. [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] is as talented a quarterback as you’ll find in the country, but he has only one start under his belt.

Oklahoma generally has its offensive line together, so that typically isn’t a long-term concern, but they are replacing the five guys who started the most games for them in 2023. However, [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag] did a fantastic job bringing in experience to supplement his young blue chippers along the offensive line. But they haven’t worked together in a game situation. So there’s reason to be skeptical.

Throw in a schedule that will give Oklahoma all it can handle in 2024 and it’s understandable why Adam Rittenberg of ESPN might be a bit skeptical of the Oklahoma Sooners No. 8 ranking in the updated ESPN Football Power Index for the 2024 season. Rittenberg believes the Sooners are one of the overvalued teams at this point in 2024.

Oklahoma at No. 8 wouldn’t concern me as much if the Sooners were staying in the Big 12, rather than moving to the SEC. The combination of a young quarterback ([autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag]), two new primary coordinators (Seth Littrell and [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag]), a defense that hasn’t really found its way under coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and a schedule that features Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, Tennessee and Missouri, in addition to rival Texas, sets off a few alarm bells. Oklahoma has done well in the portal and returns some star power on defense, but I don’t see a top-10 finish this year in Norman. – Rittenberg, ESPN

Turnover hit Oklahoma in a big way this offseason. But it’s the University of Oklahoma and the depth chart has improved drastically since Venables took over in Norman. They have a defense that is set up to help them win games in 2024 and an offense that will continue to score a ton of points.

The offensive line will come together and Oklahoma features arguably the best collection of wide receivers in the nation. Time will tell if Rittenberg is right, but there’s reason to be optimistic that the Sooners are one of the 10 best teams in the nation for 2024.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

Where Oregon Ducks rank in final ESPN FPI of 2023 season

Where the Oregon Ducks ended up in the final ESPN Football Power Index rankings of the 2023 season.

The Oregon Ducks had a successful 2023 college football season. While it fell short of the ultimate goal of making the College Football Playoffs, a 12-win season and a victory in the Fiesta Bowl is never something a fan base should turn down.

Throughout the year, we’ve kept track of the Ducks’ place in the ESPN Football Power Index, a ranking that measures a team’s success based on expected point margins vs. average opponents on a neutral field. It is a ranking that offers a different look at the power balance in the nation, contrary to the College Football Playoff rankings, the Associated Press Poll, or the Coaches Poll.

The Ducks have fared well in the ESPN FPI, routinely ranking near the top of the list. So how do they fare with only one game left to play? Here’s a look:

ESPN FPI Update: Ducks’ odds to make CFP take big jump after win over ASU

The Oregon Ducks’ odds to make it to the College Football Playoff went up after their win over ASU on Saturday.

As we get into the final two weeks of the college football season, there is a lot of chaos that can potentially take place. So far, we haven’t seen much of that chaos, other than a devastating injury to Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis that could potentially derail the Seminoles’ undefeated season. However, there are numerous ranked matchups between College Football Playoff contenders over the next couple of weeks, so we will undoubtedly see a lot of moving pieces.

That means that there are a lot of possibilities for the Oregon Ducks. With a win over Oregon State this weekend, they will secure their spot in the Pac-12 Championship game, getting the rematch with the Washington Huskies that everyone has been hoping for. Whichever team wins that game will almost undoubtedly have a spot in the playoff.

So what are the chances of all that happening? ESPN’s football power index breaks it all down for us going forward:

ESPN FPI Update: Oregon’s CFP odds go up after big win over USC

The Oregon Ducks’ odds to make it to the College Football Playoff went up after their win over USC on Saturday.

We’re getting down to it in the 2023 college football season, with just two regular-season games left on the schedule for the Oregon Ducks, and a potential Pac-12 Championship Game should they win both of those games.

That means fewer and fewer predictions about the upcoming games.

Next week against the Arizona State Sun Devils, the Ducks are heavy favorites early on. After that, they’ve got a highly-intense game against the Oregon State Beavers at home, potentially standing between them and a rematch with the Washington Huskies.

How likely is that to happen? Not very, if you ask the ESPN Football Power Index. As we do each and every week, let’s take a look at the FPI numbers, seeing win probability for the remaining two games on the schedule, and the likelihood that Oregon can stay alive throughout the month of December and into January as well:

ESPN FPI Update: Ducks jump to No. 3 in nation after win over California

The Oregon Ducks once again moved up in the ESPN Football Power Index, where they’re now a top-3 team in the nation.

The Oregon Ducks continue to win, and they continue to do it in an incredibly impressive fashion.

While Saturday’s 63-19 blowout win over the California Golden Bears certainly looked great on the scoreboard and in the box score, the reality is Oregon played nowhere near as well as it could have, committing nine penalties for 99 yards and turning the ball over twice.

It’s not easy to leave a 44-point win and feel like you have a lot of places where you can improve, but that’s the mentality for Dan Lanning and this Oregon team.

Regardless of where they need to get better, it’s clear that there are few teams in the nation playing as well as the Ducks right now. That’s shown clearly with ESPN’s Football Power Index, which now has Oregon ranked as the No. 3 team in the nation based on their metrics.

Here’s an updated look at how ESPN expects the rest of the season to play out for the Ducks:

ESPN FPI Update: Ducks take massive jump into top 4; now heavy favorites to win Pac-12

It’s hard to make a bigger statement in a single game than the Oregon Ducks did in Week 9. Going on the road into a tough environment, Dan Lanning and the No. 6 Ducks took the fight to the No. 18 Utah Utes, winning 35-6 in a game that was largely over by the time the second quarter started.

It was a masterclass on offense and a demolition on defense. While Bo Nix will get much of the shine as he continues to vault up the odds board for the Heisman Trophy, there is a ton of credit to go around to the rest of the team.

After the victory, the Ducks moved up two spots in the Associated Press Top 25, and now sit just one place behind the Washington Huskies, who handed them their only loss of the season.

While the AP poll has Oregon behind Washington, there are numerous other rankings around the nation that see the Ducks as the better team between the two. One of those rankings is ESPN’s Football Power Index, where the Ducks catapulted themselves into the top 4 teams in the nation with the big win, and are now considered the heavy favorites to win the Pac-12 Championship.

Every week, ESPN’s FPI updates the odds for every game remaining on the schedule, and gives a probability for season-long outlooks. Here’s how the view Oregon after Week 9:

ESPN FPI Update: Ducks drop several spots despite big win over Washington State

By any measure, the Oregon Ducks took care of business on Saturday afternoon against the Washington State Cougars, and they did so decisively, with a 38-24 win that was really less competitive than the final score would suggest.

Dan Lanning and his team certainly looked better than a lot of other Pac-12 teams, and several other top-10 teams in the nation who managed to squeak out victories on Saturday by slim margins. Despite that, ESPN’s Football Power Index dropped the Ducks several spots in their overall rankings.

Oregon is still favored to win every game left on their schedule, though their win probability dropped in every game going forward. They will be put to the test this weekend when going to Salt Lake City to take on the No. 13 Utah Utes in a marquee matchup that will draw ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ to the Rocky Mountains.

Here’s how ESPN projects the rest of the season for the Ducks:

ESPN FPI Update: Ducks still top-ranked Pac-12 team despite loss to Washington

The Oregon Ducks may be down for the moment, but they aren’t out. After suffering their first loss of the 2023 season, the road forward got a little bit tougher, but all of the goals that Dan Lanning and his squad had for the 2023 season are still attainable.

Despite their loss to the Washington Huskies, ESPN’s Football Power Index still seems to think highly of the Ducks, keeping them at No. 1 in the Pac-12 rankings this week. Though Washington jumped into the top spot when it comes to conference championship probability, the Ducks are still the higher-rated team, according to the metrics.

Oregon will have no easy path forward to get to that conference championship game, but according to the FPI outlook, they are heavily favored in each of their remaining games. Here’s how ESPN projects the rest of the season for the Ducks:

Texas has fifth-best chance of reaching College Football Playoff

According to ESPN’s FPI, here are the 10 teams with the best chance of reaching the College Football Playoff.

While Texas suffered a heartbreaking loss to Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry this season, all of their goals are still achievable. Continue reading “Texas has fifth-best chance of reaching College Football Playoff”