Thanks to a Georgia Tech upset win over Florida State in Dublin this weekend, the Michigan Wolverines have moved up a spot in ESPN’s FPI rankings.
Week 0 lived up to the hype in college football, as we witnessed the Florida State Seminoles , an AP top-10 team, fall to Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland on a walk-off field goal. Florida State, the team many considered to be the favorite to repeat as the ACC champions, ranked No. 11 in ESPN’s preseason FPI rankings, just ahead of the Michigan Wolverines .
With the loss, the Seminoles went all the way back to No. 16, and the FPI model now suggests they’ll go 7.5-4.7, having just a 9.5 percent chance of winning the ACC. Despite the expanded playoff, that’s how quickly the tides can turn in college football. The Seminoles’ season is far from over, but it will be an uphill battle moving forward for them to achieve the same success as last season.
The Wolverines had a similar offseason in terms of player personnel. A new quarterback and a completely revamped offense have the FPI a little concerned about their prospects for 2024. However, with Florida State now sitting at 0-1, the Wolverines moved up a spot to No. 11 in the rankings in the middle of a cloud of SEC talents. Oklahoma, Tennessee and Missouri sit ahead of the Wolverines, while LSU and Texas A&M are right behind them.
The Wolverines also received a slight boost to their odds of making the College Football Playoff after the Week 0 games, going from a 28.6 percent chance to 29.5 percent. Still, the model suggests an 8.3-3.9 record and a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten behind Penn State, Ohio State and Oregon, which all claim spots in the top-six of the FPI.
Georgia Tech skyrocketed the rankings after the win in Dublin, jumping 17 spots to No. 37 overall, one place ahead of the Iowa Hawkeyes . The SMU Mustangs also opened the ACC season in Week 0 with a nail-biting 29-24 win over Nevada. They had ranked 25th in the preseason, but dropped five spots to 30th following that close contest.
There will be many more changes in the FPI following a Week 1 slate that includes powerhouses colliding like No. 14 Clemson vs. No. 1 Georgia, No. 19 Miami vs. Florida, No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 20 Texas A&M, and No. 23 USC vs. No. 13 LSU.