ESPNs FPI makes Absolutely zero sense

Madabs

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Let start off by saying the only rankings that matter are the CFP. AP, coaches, FPI and all others is for entertainment. But I can’t figure out how the FPI can come up with this ranking after week 8. Virginia Tech is 4-4, Penn State is 0-4, LSU 2-3 and they’re all still ranked above. How can a computer have VT lose both last and this week yet move up each time. The only part credit given to Miami is strength of record which has us listed at #5, that measures how hard it was to accomplish our record, the higher up the more impressive.

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It makes even less sense that you care enough to post. You need a life outside of this board
 
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He has us at 23 before this week, down from 21 the week before. FWIW, VT was 20th.

I read that earlier today actually. In his past two season preview articles he did with SBnation he said Miami was a quarterback away. Now the team has a QB.
 
Playing Devil's advocate

We won our last 3 games by less than 1 score each, against below .500 teams , by a combined 9 points. So maybe The ESPN scoring system looks at these games as toss-ups instead of wins.

We also beat Pitt w/o their #1 QB and were not competitive against Clemson.

Not a single impressive win on our schedule.
 
"The model ranks Miami's offense as the 20th best in the country while the defense ranks as the 34th best. The special teams ranks 51st in the country."

With our K & P playing so well I didn't expect to see special teams so low.
 
Let start off by saying the only rankings that matter are the CFP. AP, coaches, FPI and all others is for entertainment. But I can’t figure out how the FPI can come up with this ranking after week 8. Virginia Tech is 4-4, Penn State is 0-4, LSU 2-3 and they’re all still ranked above. How can a computer have VT lose both last and this week yet move up each time. The only part credit given to Miami is strength of record which has us listed at #5, that measures how hard it was to accomplish our record, the higher up the more impressive.

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Jeff Sagarin has 0-4 PSU power rated 21, and Action Network has them 12.

Same thing with S&P. Although the rankings haven’t been released yet, @espnBillC tweeted that Iowa is No 10 bc they lost 2 games by a total of 5 points, and won 2 others by a combined 70 points.

These computer models try to take subjectivity out of the mix. They look at total yards, yards per play, turnover (luck), efficiency, etc. They are totally different than RANKINGS, where wins and losses actually matter. Oh, you outgained them by 350 yards but turned it over in the red zone 3 times and lost at home to an unranked team? Too bad, you just dropped from No 9 to outside the Top 25.

At the end of the day, power rankings are what matter. But if you wanna know who the better team is, look to the power RATINGS. That’s exactly what Vegas does.
 
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Jeff Sagarin has 0-4 PSU power rated 21, and Action Network has them 12.

Same thing with S&P. Although the rankings haven’t been released yet, @espnBillC tweeted that Iowa is No 10 bc they lost 2 games by a total of 5 points, and won 2 others by a combined 70 points.

These computer models try to take subjectivity out of the mix. They look at total yards, yards per play, turnover (luck), efficiency, etc. They are totally different than RANKINGS, where wins and losses actually matter. Oh, you outgained them by 350 yards but turned it over in the red zone 3 times and lost at home to an unranked team? Too bad, you just dropped from No 9 to outside the Top 25.

At the end of the day, power rankings are what matter. But if you wanna know who the better team is, look to the power RATINGS. That’s exactly what Vegas does.
Thank you an actual comment with some information about how the FPI works
 
Thank you an actual comment with some information about how the FPI works

This is the article that basically started it all (well, that started S&P). It’s from 2014, so there are a lot more metrics that go into the formulas these days. But this will give you a basic idea, and is a must read for any cfb fan.
 
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