Virginia Makes Small Jump in ESPN's FPI Rankings After Monster Win against William & Mary

The Cavaliers easily handled business against FCS-opponent William & Mary, giving them a small boost in the FPI rankings

Sep 13, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers defensive end Billy Koudelka (93) runs onto the field prior to the game against the William & Mary Tribe at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

UVA made easy work of The Tribe in Charlottesville, having a record day on the offensive side of the ball. The Hoos offense tallied a total of 700 yards, a program record that stood for 50 years. Virginia's 55-point total was the most the program has scored since 2020. Focus now shifts to Saturday's home matchup against the Stanford Cardinals.

Jumping Up In FPI

Sep 13, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; William & Mary Tribe defensive back Ethan Yip (14) breaks up a touchdown pass for Virginia Cavaliers wide receiver Dillon Newton-Short (15) during the second half at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Even though UVA picked up the win in convincing fashion, the quality of their opponent obviously limits the amount they will jump up in this week's FPI rankings. After falling three spots as a result of last week's loss to NC State, UVA made up all the ground it lost. The Hoos jumped back to the 51st spot they held previously to their Week Two loss.

Virginia is the 7th-highest ranked ACC school, according to FPI. Looking specifically at only their conference, UVA sits ahead of the NC State team they lost to earlier this season. The Hoo's sit behind a 2-0 Louisville team. However, the Cardinals are trending downward from the previous rankings while Virginia is on the come up.

According to 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. If Vegas ever published the power rankings it uses to set its lines, they would likely look quite a lot like FPI."

Keeping the Momentum Going

Sep 13, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers wide receiver Cam Ross (6) carries the ball as William & Mary Tribe defensive back Brendan Robinson (25) defends during the second quarter at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Even though a jump of just three spots in the FPI is not massive, UVA head coach Tony Elliott believes the team got more out of the dominant win than just a bump in their ranking. Elliott says his players continue to show the right attitude regardless of the final score.

"Most proud is it's just a workman mentality. They showed up ready to work when circumstances could have created otherwise. You're playing an FCS opponent, you've got UVA Strong going on, a ton of distractions. And you kind of could have been feeling sorry for yourself for last week, coming up short. The guys showed up, their energy in pregame was very businesslike. Which is a good thing to see and feel as a coach, because you know that your senior leadership is really taking charge of the locker room."

However, Elliott also acknowledges the Hoo's still have a lot to learn from if they want to continue to trend in the right direction as the regular season continues and ACC play inches closer.

"Still opportunities to grow, and we're not there yet. We won a football game, had some success, but, you know, we still haven't reached that best game and that's what we're going to be chasing. That's kind of the standard every week: we're chasing our best game in all three phases of complementary football."

Virginia kicks off their Week Four contest against Stanford at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville this Saturday at 7:30 PM EDT.