Tag: Football Power Index

LSU takes a pretty big step back in ESPN’s Football Power Index despite Arkansas win

The Tigers dropped out of the top 10 despite pushing their win streak to three games on Saturday.

LSU moved to 2-0 in SEC play on Saturday with a 34-31 win over Arkansas, but it was a tougher game than many expected as the Tigers entered as a 17.5-point favorite.

The Tigers ranked in the top 10 of ESPN’s Football Power Index last week after a beatdown on the road against Mississippi State, but despite pushing their winning streak to three, they’re on the downswing in this week’s rankings.

As LSU prepares for what could be another tricky road game against a ranked opponent in Ole Miss, here’s where coach Brian Kelly’s team stands in ESPN’s FPI following Week 4 of the season.

Where Alabama ranks in ESPN’s Football Power Index after Week 4

After a solid performance in Week 4, Alabama slightly moves up in ESPN’s FPI

Week 4 of the college football season is now complete and [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Alabama football team are fresh off a rather impressive 24-10 victory over the Ole Miss Rebels.

Now, it is time to see where Alabama ranks in ESPN’s Football Power Index following the events of Week 4.

According to ESPN, FPI is defined as “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. Ratings and projections update daily. FPI data from seasons prior to 2019 may not be complete.”

Let’s take a look at where Alabama currently stands!

LSU cracks the top 10 of ESPN’s Football Power Index after big win over Mississippi State

The Tigers are back in the top 10 after dropping out following Week 1.

Much of the national media wrote LSU off as a College Football Playoff and even SEC contender after beginning the year with a disappointing 45-24 loss against Florida State.

However, some of the doubters are starting to buy back in, given the overall struggles the league has had and the fact that the Tigers are coming off an absolutely dominant performance on the road against Mississippi State to kick off SEC play.

LSU began the year as a top 10 team in ESPN’s Football Power Index, a computer-based metric. It fell out of the top 10 after the loss to the Seminoles, but the Tigers are back in after Saturday’s huge win.

Here’s how the full top 25 looks in this week’s FPI.

Where Alabama ranks in ESPN’s Football Power Index after Week 3

Look at where Alabama football stands in ESPN’s FPI following Week 3

Week 3 of the college football season is now complete and [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Alabama football team are fresh off its ugly road win over the South Florida Bulls, 17-3.

Now, it is time to see where Alabama ranks in ESPN’s Football Power Index following the events of Week 3.

According to ESPN, FPI is defined as “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. Ratings and projections update daily. FPI data from seasons prior to 2019 may not be complete.”

Let’s take a look at where Alabama currently stands!

LSU sees a bump in ESPN’s Football Power Index after Week 2 win over Grambling

The Tigers still sit outside the top 10, but they saw a bump in this week’s rankings.

It didn’t erase LSU’s disappointing performance in a Week 1 loss to Florida State, but Saturday’s 72-10 beatdown over Grambling marked a step in the right direction as the Tigers showed signs of improvement on both sides of the ball.

Winning a game against an FCS opponent isn’t going to move the needle much for the Tigers, who remained at No. 14 in both polls this week despite the win.

However, in ESPN’s Football Power Index, an analytics-based metric that takes the human element out of the equation, the Tigers saw a slight bump this week following the win.

Here’s how the FPI top 25 looks entering Week 3 when LSU will open SEC play on the road against Mississippi State.

How far did LSU fall in ESPN’s Football Power Index after loss to Florida State?

The Tigers fell quite a bit in both the polls and computer metrics this week.

The LSU Tigers began the season as a top-five team in both polls, and the metrics agreed.

Coach Brian Kelly’s squad was the preseason No. 5 team in the nation according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, but after falling 45-24 to Florida State in its season-opener, LSU took a tumble in all the polls.

That extends to computer-based rankings, and the Tigers no longer rank within the top 10, according to FPI.

LSU will look to bounce back against Grambling on Saturday before it begins SEC play against Mississippi State. For now, here’s how the updated FPI top 25 looks after the first weekend of play.

ESPN’s 2023 football power index not great for Seahawks

To find the Seattle Seahawks on their list, you have to scroll all the way down to No. 18 in the league.

[anyclip pubname=”2103″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8036″]

Earlier this week ESPN came out with their annual NFL Football Power Index for the 2023 season. At the top, they consider the Kansas City Chiefs to be the favorites to win the Super Bowl again this year. The Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphia Eagles are not far behind, followed by the Cincinnati Bengals and the San Francisco 49ers rounding out the top five.

To find the Seattle Seahawks on their list, you have to scroll all the way down to No. 18 in the league. That’s lower than the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots, New York Giants and the Denver Broncos, to name a few.

When it comes to FPI’s odds for winning the Super Bowl, Seattle didn’t even make the cut for teams with a 3% chance. Their implied odds are around 2.44%.

While it’s discouraging to see the numbers so unkind to the Seahawks, fans should take heart remembering that at this time last year many of these same rankings had Seattle at or near the bottom of the league. Once the 2022 season began it became clear pretty quick that this team was much better than their offseason projections. Hopefully we’ll get to see the same dynamic play out in 2023.

These 14 former Seahawks are still free agents

ESPN’s Football Power Index puts Dolphins in third in AFC East

Is that disrespectful?

[connatix div_id=”3f8b015acdd24c648befc5d5dac47469″ player_id=”afe1e038-d3c2-49c0-922d-6511a229f69c” cid=”7cbcea0d-4ce2-4c75-9a8d-fbe02a192c24″]

After finishing with a 9-8 record for the second year in a row in 2022 but making the playoffs for the first time since 2016, the Miami Dolphins entered this offseason with the goal of improving their roster and coaching staff for the upcoming season.

To do so, they fired defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, replacing him with Vic Fangio, who’s widely considered one of the best defensive minds in the game today. They also traded for cornerback Jalen Ramsey and signed some key free agents, including linebacker David Long, safety DeShon Elliott and wide receivers Robbie Chosen (formerly Robbie Anderson) and Braxton Berrios.

With that, ESPN recently updated their Football Power Index with projections for 2023, and they have the Dolphins with the third-best odds of winning their division at 22%. They’re currently behind the Buffalo Bills, who had the league’s second-highest FPI rating, at 44%, and the New York Jets at 25%.

Miami’s FPI rating is +3.0, which puts them tied for seventh in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys and the Dolphins’ Week 1 opponent – the Los Angeles Chargers.

When it comes to Super Bowl odds, Mike McDaniel’s squad is tied for ninth at just 3% along with the Chargers, Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Following all of the work that McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier have done this offseason, and may continue to do after June 1 when they get another $13.6 million in cap space due to Byron Jones’ release, Miami is probably around where they should be.

A few teams are above them, like the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions that probably won’t finish with better records than the Dolphins in 2023, but they’re both up-and-coming teams along with aqua and orange, so it shouldn’t be considered a huge slight.

On top of that, there are questions surrounding quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s durability after suffering at least two concussions during the 2022 season that knocked him out for the rest of the season from Christmas on.

Miami hopes that the addition of Mike White as the team’s backup should help ease any transition if one is necessary, but they’re hoping more that Tagovailoa plays a full, healthy season and picks up where he left off last year, as he was one of the league’s best at the position when healthy.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

ESPN’s Football Power Index puts Cowboys in top 10, with 6th-best chances to win Super Bowl

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys are behind Philadelphia and San Francisco in several key categories, but consistently rank third among NFC clubs for 2023.

The Worldwide Leader has released its initial set of Football Power Index (FPI) rankings, and the numbers put the Cowboys within striking distance of the top of the NFC heading into the 2023 season.

The predictive rating system uses win totals from Caesars Sportsbook and strength of schedule data, but also factors in past team performance and returning starters. What results is a crystal-ball projection of how each team stacks up against a statistically average team on a neutral field.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Eagles and 49ers are still considered the class of the conference, but if Dallas holds to the trajectory they seem to be on currently, they stand to be right in the mix of things come season’s end and perhaps primed to pull a one-game upset that catapults them deep into the playoffs.

Here’s how the Cowboys rank in the key categories.

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

Vikings have an average strength of schedule per ESPN’s FPI

Despite having a first place schedule, the Minnesota Vikings have the 15th-ranked schedule based on ESPN’s Football Power Index.

The 2023 Minnesota Vikings are an interesting enigma. Ranking 15th in the league and only a 29% chance to win the NFC North per ESPN’s Football Power Index, there isn’t a lot of confidence in a team that went 13-4 in 2022.

FPI also has rankings on strength of schedule on the basis of comparing their remaining schedule from the perspective of an average team. Based on that ranking, the Vikings have the 15th most difficult schedule per FPI.

One of the elements that the Vikings have going against them is a first place schedule that will have them play the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals as their opponents that differ from the rest of the NFC North.

For comparison, the Green Bay Packers rank with the 21st-toughest schedule, the Detroit Lions 23rd and the Chicago Bears 24th.