ESPN shares initial 2023 FPI ranking for Iowa Hawkeyes
With the open spring practice set for Saturday, fans will get their first good look at what the 2023 season might have in store for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
There’s plenty to watch, especially offensively. What does Cade McNamara look like in the black and gold? Beyond Nico Ragaini and Diante Vines, who will be catching footballs from McNamara?
Defensively, how is linebacker coming together post-Butkus Award winner Jack Campbell and fellow mainstay Seth Benson? Has Xavier Nwankpa taken the next steps in his development at safety?
There’s so much to watch for and it all begins at 10:45 a.m. inside Kinnick Stadium.
In the meantime, as rosters begin to solidify, ESPN has released its first set of Football Power Index rankings for the 2023 college football season.
For those that are unfamiliar or have forgotten, here’s a little bit more on ESPN’s FPI.
The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. – ESPN
In other words, it ranks teams by their total team strength and is designed to be the best predictive model for performance.
The Iowa Hawkeyes ended the 2022 season ranked No. 34 in the FPI. Where are they heading into 2023? Let’s take a look at the key numbers for Iowa below as well as the top 25 nationally and every Big Ten team’s ranking.
Iowa's 2023 FPI, ranking nationally
Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK
Iowa’s FPI: 7.3
Hawkeyes’ rank nationally: No. 37
Other key Iowa FPI notes
Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK
Projected wins-losses: 7.4-4.8
6 wins %: 89.5%
Win division: 20.1%
Win Big Ten: 1.6%
ESPN's FPI gives Iowa 0% chance at...
Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK
There’s several key categories that ESPN’s FPI lists as a 0.0% chance of happening for the Iowa Hawkeyes. ESPN’s FPI isn’t entertaining the following possibilities for Iowa…
Winning out
Advancing to the College Football Playoffs
Capturing the national championship
How about the rest of the Big Ten?
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Here’s a look at the rest of the Big Ten’s FPI numbers and national ranking per ESPN:
Ohio State Buckeyes: 31.5 (No. 1 nationally)
Michigan Wolverines: 21.4 (No. 6)
Penn State Nittany Lions: 17.5 (No. 10)
Wisconsin Badgers: 12.3 (No. 20)
Michigan State Spartans: 8.7 (No. 31)
Minnesota Golden Gophers: 7.7 (No. 33)
Iowa Hawkeyes: 7.3 (No. 37)
Maryland Terrapins: 5.6 (No. 44)
Illinois Fighting Illini: 5.5 (No. 45)
Purdue Boilermakers: 4.4 (No. 50)
Nebraska Cornhuskers: 3.1 (No. 52)
Northwestern Wildcats: -1.1 (No. 67)
Indiana Hoosiers: -2.9 (No. 75)
Rutgers Scarlet Knights: -3.2 (No. 78)
Don't forget about us
(Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
The Big Ten is about one year away from officially adding two new members, the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins. Here’s where they stack up in ESPN’s FPI.
USC Trojans: 19.9 (No. 7)
UCLA Bruins: 6.4 (No. 41)
The full top 25 from ESPN's FPI
Joseph Scheller-The Columbus Dispatch
No. 1 Ohio State
No. 2 Alabama
No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs
No. 4 LSU Tigers
No. 5 Texas Longhorns
No. 6 Michigan Wolverines
No. 7 USC Trojans
No. 8 Clemson Tigers
No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions
No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners
No. 12 Tennessee Volunteers
No. 13 Oregon Ducks
No. 14 Florida State Seminoles
No. 15 Utah Utes
No. 16 Ole Miss Rebels
No. 17 TCU Horned Frogs
No. 18 Florida Gators
No. 19 Texas A&M Aggies
No. 20 Wisconsin Badgers
No. 21 Washington Huskies
No. 22 Texas Tech Red Raiders
No. 23 Baylor Bears
No. 24 Oregon State Beavers
No. 25 North Carolina Tar Heels
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