ON3 Top 25 (ESPN FPI)

[toddc 13,194]

ESPN updates FPI Top 25 following loaded Week 1 Saturday of College Football

Nick Kosko

ESPN updated its FPI Top 25 after a loaded Week 1 Saturday of college football and with games remaining to conclude the weekend.

Some of the top dogs rolled to blowout victories Saturday while other teams dropped, surprisingly, despite wins this weekend. Heck, we even saw a huge jump from a certain team in the Big 12 and we’re talking into the top five.

Below are the top 25 teams according to ESPN’s FPI metrics following the Saturday slate.

1. Alabama (+1)

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

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 (-1)

(Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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

(Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

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 (+7)

(Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)

How about this big jump from the Sooners? Oklahoma trounced Arkansas State 73-0. That’s right, that score is correct.

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. LSU (-1)

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

The Tigers dropped one spot but didn’t even play Saturday. LSU is the main event Sunday night against Florida State, which is one of the best games on paper early in the season.

We could learn a lot about LSU after the first game. In the case of ESPN’s FPI, LSU is a big favorite over Florida State, as in, No. 5 vs. No. 17 in these ratings.

6. USC (+2)

(Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

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.

7. Notre Dame (+3)

(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

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.

8. Michigan (-2)

(Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

Michigan rolled to a 30-3 win over East Carolina without Jim Harbaugh but dropped two spots in the FPI after Saturday. 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.

9. Clemson (-2)

CLEMSON, SC – APRIL 15: Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney during the Clemson Tigers Orange and White annual inner squad college football game played on April 15, 2023 at Clemson Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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 Elkoturned the Blue Devils into a respectable football program in a basketball dominant school. That should be a fascinating watch on Labor Day.

10. Texas (-5)

(Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

Win by 27 points, drop five spots in the FPI. 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.

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 FPI Top 25

11. Penn State (-2)
12. Oregon (+1)
13. Tennessee (+2)
14. Ole Miss (+2)
15. Utah (-2)
16. Washington (+7)
17. Florida State (-3)
18. Texas A&M (-1)
19. UCF (+16)
20. Miami (+1)
21. North Carolina (+1)
22. Auburn (+10)
23. Wisconsin (-5)
24. Kansas State (+2)
25. Kentucky (-1)

Amid massive movement in ESPN’s FPI rankings, Week 1 of college football has yet to conclude as there are games Sunday and Monday. But with the season back in full swing, expect wild changes all year long.

[toddc 13,194]

 

[toddc 13,194]

LSU will obviously drop a lot and FSU rise. The main thing was seeing Auburn in it at all at 22#

Edited September 4, 2023 by toddc

[AUGoo 2,666]

16 minutes ago, toddc said:

LSU will obviously drop a lot and FSU rise. The main thing was seeing Auburn in it at all at 22#

Surprised to see that.

Haven't earned that yet.

[aubiefifty 17,240]

i think we looked so well coached it helped us with the minutemen since they are a cupcake. i do realize maybe they are better than we thought because they murdered the first team we played and looked good.

[toddc 13,194]

I’ll take it I guess. 

Definitely need our crowd to help us win some big games at home.

[AUloggerhead 2,271]

13 minutes ago, toddc said:

I’ll take it I guess. 

Definitely need our crowd to help us win some big games at home.

Best coach??

[AUGoo 2,666]

3 minutes ago, AUloggerhead said:

Best coach??

Well, he didn't step on his crank and lose to App St again.

[AUloggerhead 2,271]

Just now, AUGoo said:

Well, he didn't step on his crank and lose to App St again.

[LPTiger 5,204]

47 minutes ago, AUGoo said:

Well, he didn't step on his crank and lose to App St again.

Kelly at LSU stepped on his after saying earlier this week they were going to beat the crap out of FSU.

[Dom1ni0n 51]

7 hours ago, toddc said:

LSU will obviously drop a lot and FSU rise. The main thing was seeing Auburn in it at all at 22#

ESPN's data mojo machine is confusing as all get out.

Their so-called analytics predictor gives Cal the edge at 54%.  I know that's probably the homefield advantage factor, but if they don't believe AU wins then why waste a ranking on them.

[toddc 13,194]

1 minute ago, Dom1ni0n said:

ESPN's data mojo machine is confusing as all get out.

Their so-called analytics predictor gives Cal the edge at 54%.  I know that's probably the homefield advantage factor, but if they don't believe AU wins then why waste a ranking on them.

They might believe AU wins but the analysis says different. I don’t disagree with that win percentage myself.

Edited September 4, 2023 by toddc

[W.E.D 11,070]

8 minutes ago, Dom1ni0n said:

ESPN's data mojo machine is confusing as all get out.

Their predictor, FPI, QBR, are all awful algorithms.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,826]

Yeah this doesn’t mean a ton but in looking at the lower half of that list, this is a really really weird (and flawed) set of “contenders”. Not a lot of obvious great teams 

[Old fan 47 775]

48 minutes ago, toddc said:

They might believe AU wins but the analysis says different. I don’t disagree with that win percentage myself.

Me neither. Not convinced with our D stopping the run yet. 

[GoAU 1,625]

14 hours ago, toddc said:

I’ll take it I guess. 

Definitely need our crowd to help us win some big games at home.

Completely agree with their assessment of Best Crowd.  
 

Not sure I agree with bama getting Best Performance though.  I only had that game on the background TV, but they sure seemed to start out a little slow in the first quarter and a half against a significantly outmanned MTSU team, no?