With the first round of the College Football Playoff having come and gone, there has been nothing but controversy in the ensuing days.
Debates over which teams deserved to be in or not have run rampant after the average margin of victory was 19.25 points across the first four games. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish made a statement on Friday with a 27-17 win over the Indiana Hoosiers in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as indicated by the final score. The Penn State Nittany Lions then throttled the ACC runner-up SMU Mustangs by a score of 38-10, before the Texas Longhorns knocked off the Clemson Tigers 38-24.
The first round finished with the ugliest game of them all, as Ohio State blew out Tennessee by a score of 42-17. So, with all of these results behind us, ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI), was officially updated on Monday. The FPI measures a team’s strength by using 20,000 simulations and other data points, such as previous results, to project the best teams in college football.
Of the remaining eight teams, three moved up in the rankings, four remained where they previously were and one fell down a spot. However, when it came to the best team left in the playoff, the FPI viewed the No. 5 Texas Longhorns as the best team remaining. The top spot isn’t unfamiliar for Texas, as they were there prior to the playoff as well and didn’t budge after the win. The FPI gives them the best chance of being the last team standing, posting a 27.2% chance of winning the title. The No. 2 and No. 3 spots saw Ohio State jump Notre Dame, although the FPI gives the Fighting Irish a better chance at winning it all (20%) than the Buckeyes (17.3%) The No. 2 seed Georgia Bulldogs stayed as the No. 5 team in the FPI, one spot above the No. 1 seed Oregon Ducks. Penn State, who is seeded as the No. 6 team, ranked as the No. 8 team after moving up one spot. The No. 4 seed Arizona State Sun Devils remained at the No. 22 spot, while the No. 3 seed Boise State Broncos got a bit more respect from the FPI. The Broncos moved up one spot to No. 24 in the country in the latest update.
Regardless of what fans, coaches active on social media or major analysts have to say about the teams who made it, fans are hoping for another entertaining round of playoff football. The quarterfinal round kicks off on Dec. 31 at 7:30 ET on ESPN, as Penn State will be taking on Boise State in the VRBO Fiesta Bowl.
Leave a Reply