College football is wrapping up its spring practice season and preparing for the summer grind ahead of the upcoming 2023 season. While well over four months remain until the first kickoff of fall, ESPN released its Football Power Index — its season-long ratings and projections system — this week.
The preseason algorithm relies on past performance on offense and defense, returning and transfer production, and past recruiting data for players on each school’s respective roster to form a numerical rating. The resulting data was then used to simulate the season 20,000 times, which produced the final results.
Take a look below at the top 25 teams in ESPN’s preseason FPI along with the predictive data that fed into the rankings system.