ESPN released their pre season FPI rankings for 2023 and it’s a bit surprising to see how big of a favorite OSU is. OSU is #1 with a power rating of 31.5 and a 36.7% chance to win the title. FPI is an analytic power rating similar to SP+ or Vegas ratings. Some random observations:
- At 31.5 OSU is the best team since 2020 Bama. Some recent teams 2022 UGA(29.9) 2022 OSU(25.8) 2021 UGA(30.0) 2021 Bama(25.4)
- FPI is a little different from most of the other ratings which gets it a lot of criticism but it’s still fairly accurate. it puts VERY heavy emphasis on QB production compared to other ratings. So OSU having this high of a number without a QB means this team is loaded around McCord.
- Title contenders-Very clearly a 3 team race with OSU, Bama, and UGA. Bama is 2nd at 28.2 and UGA is at 27.4. A field goal gap is pretty significant, OSU is never seen as this big of a favorite.
- Teams OSU plays-Michigan(21.4) PSU(17.5) Notre Dame(18.4) Wisconsin(12.3) pretty shocking to see a 10 point gap between OSU and Michigan. Two touchdowns over PSU seems bigger than the hype would suggest for PSU. No way do I view ND as a better team than PSU but QB production is a huge factor. Wisconsin as the 4th best team on the schedule seems fair
- Teams that seem in a weird ranking-Texas(5th and ahead of Michigan at 6th) FSU(14th seems low compared to hype) TCU(17th after a runner up season) Oklahoma(11th after a terrible season) Clemson(8th they are really starting to fall, starting to drop from the 1% and look like a middle class program)
