College Football HQ

Updated ESPN FPI College Football Rankings Leave Fans in Disbelief

Joe Cox|
Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes have some irate fans after the latest CFP rankings have 3-0 Miami barely ahead of an 0-2 Notre Dame team they already beat.
Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes have some irate fans after the latest CFP rankings have 3-0 Miami barely ahead of an 0-2 Notre Dame team they already beat. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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Florida State SeminolesMiami (FL) HurricanesNotre Dame Fighting IrishTexas A&M Aggies

ESPN's post-Week 3 FPI rankings are out and college football fans are less than thrilled. ESPN's mathematical ranking manages to perplex fans on a weekly basis. Some blame the math, some blame the concept or the lack of data early in the season, but one thing shines clear through the reactions-- the FPI must be wrong. Some social media posters are angry, some are perplexed, some are just plain confused, but there's plenty of reaction to the latest FPI rankings.

No Noles?

One fan dropped a mildly hilarious explanation of Florida State's continued absence from FPI's top 25.

The Miami/Notre Dame/A&M conundrum

But the consistent theme was that Miami, despite a 3-0 start and a pair of wins over AP top 25 foes, is still sitting at a relatively ho-hum 11th. Meanwhile, an 0-2 Notre Dame team that Miami bested in Week 1 is still at 14th. Add in that the Texas A&M team that just beat Notre Dame in South Bend is somehow 15th. It's a bit of a head scratcher, but college football fans were doing more than that.

More SEC love?

Still others found the evidence of that continuing bugaboo, potential SEC bias. Admittedly, the SEC now has 12 of college football's top 24 teams by the FPI's reckoning. Not shockingly, that drew some negative attention from the social media crowd.

Bringing up "The Voter"

Another creative fan dropped a social media reference to AP voter Haley Sawyer, who became famous for all the wrong reasons after her Week 2 AP vote drew note for bumping Florida up two spots for losing as a massive home favorite to South Florida while also failing to promote the South Florida Bulls into the top 25.

"Rage Bait"

But the badge of honor for all around summary of the FPI's multitude of mathematical issues goes to another poster. If FPI posting is rage bait indeed, this reasoned take might fall short of rage, but it's not for the lack of reasoned content.

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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