ESPN FPI Continues to Disrespect the Miami Hurricanes

The Coaches and AP Polls continue to highlight the Miami Hurricanes as one of the best teams in the country, but ESPN FPI doesn't view the team in the same light.

Sep 13, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald (13) intercepts the football against the South Florida Bulls during the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Miami Hurricanes are starting to find themselves in an old but familiar light. The AP and Coaches Polls are taking notice of how good this team is, but the ESPN FPI system continues to view the Hurricanes as less than.

ESPN FPI has the Hurricanes ranked as the No. 11 team in the country behind SEC and Big 10 teams that have not looked as good as the Hurricanes have.

Alabama was dominated at the beginning of the year against Florida State and is ranked as the No. 3 team in the rating system, while the Seminoles are still on the outside looking in.

NEW: Updated ESPN FPI after week 3 of the College Football season📈📉 https://t.co/FIPzuMREZM pic.twitter.com/14nCqmPq1O

— On3 (@On3sports) September 14, 2025

The Hurricanes are the only ACC team in the mix behind other teams that either have questionable quarterback play or haven't played a single team worth noting. The Hurricanes have an argument to be the best team in the country, but there is still so much time to go for the season. Only three games down and nine guaranteed more to go.

Here's the explanation of what FPI is, courtesy of ESPN:

"FPI is a predictive rating system designed to measure team strength and project performance going forward. The ultimate goal of FPI is not to rank teams 1 through 128; rather, it is to correctly predict games and season outcomes...

Correctly predicting game outcomes can’t be done by evaluating teams’ records because some teams are stronger than their records indicate (lots of close losses), and others have favorable schedules. Both of these situations are reflected in the game- and season-level projections...

Each team’s FPI rating is composed of a predicted offensive, defensive and special teams component. These ratings represent the number of points each unit is expected to contribute to the team's net scoring margin on a neutral field against an average FBS opponent.

In the preseason, these components are made up entirely of data from previous seasons, such as returning starters, past performance, recruiting rankings and coaching tenure (more on the preseason component below). That information allows FPI to make predictions (and make determinations on the strength of a team’s opponents) beginning in Week 1, and then it declines in weight as the season progresses. It is important to note that prior seasons’ information never completely disappears, because it has been proved to help with prediction accuracy even at the end of a season. Vegas similarly includes priors when setting its lines."

Where do the Miami Hurricanes Rank in the Polls Heading into Week 4

AP Top 25 Poll

(Ranking, team, first-place votes, record, points received)

1. Ohio State (55), 3-0, 1631
2. Penn State (5), 3-0, 1490
3. LSU (2), 3-0,1470
4. Miami (3), 3-0, 1434
5. Georgia, 3-0, 1428
6. Oregon, 3-0, 1423
7. Florida State, 2-0, 1123
8. Texas, 2-1, 1111
9. Illinois, 3-0, 1110
10. Texas A&M, 3-0, 1101
11. Oklahoma, 3-0, 1056
12. Iowa State, 4-0, 820
13. Ole Miss, 3-0, 748
14. Alabama, 2-1, 599
15. Tennessee, 2-1, 583
16. Utah, 3-0, 573
17. Texas Tech, 3-0, 538
18. Georgia Tech, 3-0, 511
19. Indiana, 3-0, 458
20. Vanderbilt, 3-0, 397
21. Michigan, 2-1, 356
22. Auburn, 3-0, 344
23. Missouri, 3-0, 292
24. Notre Dame, 0-2, 207
25. USC, 3-0, 105

Others receiving votes:BYU 94, South Florida 83, South Carolina 82, Mississippi St. 69, TCU 67, Arizona St. 57, Tulane 33, Louisville 25, Nebraska 9, Baylor 6, Clemson 6, SMU 4, NC State 4, UNLV 2, Navy 1.

Coaches Poll

(Ranking, team, first-place votes, record, points received)

1. Ohio State (62), 3-0, 1668
2. Penn State (3), 3-0, 1559
3. Georgia (1), 3-0, 1501
4. LSU (1), 3-0, 1468
5. Oregon, 3-0, 1444
6. Miami, 3-0, 1379
7. Texas, 2-1, 1209
8. Illinois, 3-0, 1150
9. Florida State, 2-0, 1023
10. Texas A&M, 3-0, 1003
11. Ole Miss, 3-0, 951
12. Oklahoma, 3-0, 906
13. Iowa State, 4-0, 896
14. Alabama, 2-1, 630
15. Tennessee, 2-1, 625
16. Texas Tech, 3-0, 563
17. Indiana, 3-0, 550
18. Utah, 3-0, 510
19. Georgia Tech, 3-0, 333
20. Michigan, 2-1, 316
21. Notre Dame, 0-2, 296
22. Missouri, 3-0, 252
23. Vanderbilt, 3-0, 249
24. South Carolina, 2-1, 198
25. Auburn, 3-0, 160

Schools dropped out:No. 11 Clemson ;No. 23 South Florida; No. 24 Arizona State; No. 25 BYU

Others receiving votes: BYU 158; Arizona State 141; USC 117; Clemson 116; Tulane 107; Louisville 53; TCU 49; South Florida 48; Mississippi State 27; SMU 24; Nebraska 24; Navy 15; Memphis 14; Washington 13; North Carolina State 13; Baylor 8; Houston 5; Kansas 2; UNLV 1; California 1

Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.

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