Miami football moves up nine spots in new ESPN FPI

The Miami football team moved up nine spots to ninth in the updated ESPN Football Power Index. ESPN projects Miami to have a record of 9.2 wins and 3.3 losses. Miami is projected by ESPN with a 99.5 percent chance for six wins, a 45.1 percent chance to win the ACC Coastal Division, and 16.6 percent chance to win the ACC Championship.

ESPN projects Miami with an 8.9 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff and a 2.1 percent chance to advance to the Championship Game. Clemson which is fourth in the FPI rankings is the only ACC team ahead of the Miami football team. Miami plays at Clemson on November 19. ESPN graded Miami with a 14.5 FPI.

Clemson has a 22.8 grade. The Tigers are projected to win 11.1 games, lose 1.7, have a 13.8 percent chance to go undefeated, a 100.0 percent chance to win six games are at 75.0 percent to win the ACC Atlantic Divison, 59.0 percent to win the ACC, 57.4 to make the CFP, 24.8 for the championship game and 10.0 percent to win.

North Carolina and Pittsburgh who are 19th and 20th in the FPI are the second and third favorites to win the ACC Coastal. The Tar Heels are given a 25.4 percent chance to win the Coastal and the Panthers are at 24 percent. Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia and Virginia Tech are left with the other 5.6 percent chances to win the Coastal.

From 2013 through 2019 all seven ACC Coastal Division teams won the title once. Miami has not won the Coastal Division since 2017. The 2017 team finished 10-3. That was the last time Miami reached even nine wins in a season. Miami finished 8-3 in 2020. Four teams in the top 20 provide Miami with a challenging schedule.

Florida State which is 33rd in the FPI is the next highest-ranked team on the 2022 Miami schedule behind Pittsburgh. That’s followed by Virginia which is 54th. Based on the FPI, nine seems like an obtainable goal if Miami can split the four games against the FPI top 20 teams. Miami has high expectations entering 2022.