ESPN updates FPI Top 25 rankings following Week 2 of college football

ESPN updated its Football Power Index (FPI) Top 25 after a loaded Week 2 Saturday of college football.

Obviously, teams like Texas and Miami (FL) made big leaps after they made mincemeat of their SEC opponents. Meanwhile, several other teams participated in quality matchups but most squads on the list simply eased past another lower-conference opponent to begin the year.

So below, you can check out the full FPI top 25 as we round the corner and head towards Week 3.

(Movement in rankings vs. last week)

1. Alabama

For just the second time in their last 54 home games, the Crimson Tide lost in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. Now, Quinn Ewers joins the likes of the new richest man in football, Joe Burrow, as the only QBs in the last several years to go into Bryant-Denny Stadium and come out clean on the other side.

However, the Tide remain atop the FPI thanks to their long track record of high-level success and the immense batch of talent that is still on that football roster. After 15+ years of Nick Saban’s Alabama, the nation would be foolish to count this group out for the year already.

2. Ohio State

Ohio State again got out to a rather slow start on Saturday as they triumphed over local lower-conference rival Youngstown State. The Penguins allowed a touchdown on the first possession but battled back to tie it at 7-7 before the end of the first quarter.

That was their last highlight, as the Buckeyes stormed away to a 35-7 victory. And while neither win so far was as dominant as OSU would have liked, they are still 2-0 with wins by a combined 58-10 score.

3. Georgia

The Bulldogs did not move up or down this week despite hammering Ball State 45-3 in Athens over the weekend. Week 1 featured a similar contest as UGA handled UT-Martin 48-7, putting them in the same boat with Ohio State as a contender who’s taken care of business but not been tested quite yet.

That could change this week as their SEC East rival South Carolina comes town. But if you’re using recent history to predict this game, well, then expect a similar score to those wins over Ball State and UT-Martin.

4. USC (+2)

How about that Trojan offense? This USC unit may be even stronger than last year’s, which featured a Heisman winner and a former Biletnikoff winner. So far, USC has scored 56 points, 66 points and 56 points again Saturday against Stanford.

Sure, the Cardinal aren’t much of a contender in Pac-12 play, but USC still put on their best defensive performance of the season. After allowing four touchdowns to San Jose State, then half as many points to Nevada, USC again made a leap and held a Pac-12 foe to just 10 points.

5. Florida State (+12)

This week’s biggest riser is none other than these Seminoles, who earned this big boost thanks to a Sunday evening beatdown against LSU last weekend, plus a dominant win over Southern Miss. With nine touchdowns and a field goal, FSU breezed past the Golden Eagles 66-13 to advance to 2-0.

This week, it was the running game that stole the show. Starting running back Trey Benson took nine carries for 79 yards and three touchdowns — and he accounted for roughly 25% of the production on the ground. As a team, the ‘Noles racked up 306 rushing yards with nine different ball carriers.

6. Texas (+4)

They said it was impossible — going into Tuscaloosa and beating a team coached by Nick Saban — but the Longhorns pulled it off. After he went down during last year’s contest, which Texas absolutely could have won, Quinn Ewers remained upright and torched the Tide in the return game.

With him under center from start to finish, the Longhorns completely controlled the game, winning 34-24. Ewers was absolutely fantastic with 349 passing yards and three touchdowns, with his favorite target being Ja’Tavion Sanders, who racked up more than 100 receiving yards on the day. Xavier Worthy also had a couple of great grabs as well.

7. Penn State (+4)

From a distance, fans may not have known the difference between Delaware and Michigan, as the Blue Hens wore helmets that were nearly carbon copies of the ones the Wolverines don. Unlike Michigan, though, Delaware had its doors blown off by Penn State in landslide fashion.

Following a terrific debut performance from new QB Drew Allar in Week 1 vs. West Virginia, the Nittany Lions pivoted to a ground-base attack this past Saturday that featured superstar sophomore RB tandem Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton. Allen led the way with 109 yards and a score while Singleton contributed 47 yards of his own.

8. Oklahoma (-4)

Oklahoma boomed in Week 1 with a gluttonous offensive performance that resulted in a 73-0 domination of Arkansas State. Week No. 2 did not feature the same obscene offensive performance against SMU in a 28-11 win, but it was arguably a more impressive win because of how the defense played.

11 total points is a solid mark to hold any decent team to, which the Mustangs are. But their program is particularly strong on offense, as they’ve averaged north of 37 points a game each of the last three seasons and returned eight starters off the 2022 unit. Yet, the Sooners mostly shut them down.

9. Notre Dame (-2)

NC State and Notre Dame could hardly fit their game in between all the lightning strikes and pouring rain in the South Atlantic. Nonetheless, the Fighting Irish took care of business on the road against a solid NC State program and are now one of the rare 3-0 teams in the country, also possessing a quality win after this weekend.

Once again, Sixth-Year Sam was tremendous, zipping passes straight through the downpour for 286 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Don’t look now, but Hartman is building a pretty strong Heisman case in the early going this season.

10. Michigan (-2)

The Wolverines followed up a 30-3 opening day win over East Carolina with a similar 35-7 win over UNLV. With a 65-10 combined score against their two opponents, it’s fair to say the Michigan defense is stout once again while the offense hasn’t quite hit its full stride.

In 2022, against a schedule full of Big Ten clubs and national contenders, the Wolverines averaged north of 40 points a game. They also surpassed 50 points in all three of their early-season wins over lower-conference clubs. So, the offense just isn’t producing like it did a year ago. Perhaps that’s cause for concern, or perhaps the worry is overblown since UM is still taking care of business.

FPI rankings 11-25

11. Oregon (+1)
12. Ole Miss (+2)
13. LSU (-8)
14. Washington (+2)
15. Miami FL (+5)
16. Utah (-1)
17. Oregon State
18. Syracuse
19. Texas A&M (-1)
20. Clemson (-11)
21. Kansas State (+3)
22. Tennessee (-9)
23. UCF (-4)
24. Cincinnati
25. Auburn

There you have it. The biggest movers this week negatively were a pair of recent national title winners in LSU and Clemson. Both of these Tigers were punished more so for the eggs they laid in their Week 1 games last Sunday and Monday evening. Meanwhile, Miami got a huge boost for the A&M victory and Ole Miss also climbed a little bit for beating a ranked Tulane team on the road.