Miami football drops 8 spots in ESPN FPI after Southern Miss win
The Miami football team dropped from ninth to 17th in the ESPN Football Power Index following its 30-7 win over Southern Mississippi on Saturday. Southern Mississippi is ranked 95th, probably due to playing Miami rose eight spots after losing to the Hurricanes. Miami was one of three teams to drop out of the FPI top 10.
Baylor and Notre Dame dropped out of the top 10 in the FPI following losses. The Bears lost 26-20 at Brigham Young in double overtime. Marshall shocked Notre Dame 26-21 in South Bend. Baylor dropped from eighth to 14th in the FPI. Notre Dame plummeted from sixth to 18th following the loss to Marshall.
The “FPI is a predictive rating system designed to measure team strength and project performance going forward.” as described by ESPN. Miami currently has an FPI of 13.8. Several other high-profile teams fell in the FPI after Saturday. Texas A&M who Miami plays on Saturday fell eight spots in the FPI.
The Aggies suffered a shocking 17-14 defeat to Appalachian State. Appalachian State moved up seven spots in the FPI to 49th following its victory. Texas A&M has an FPI of 9.1. After previously giving Texas A&M a better than 50 percent chance to defeat Miami, the FPI now favors the Hurricanes over the Aggies on Saturday.
The FPI gives the Miami football team a 53.6 percent chance to defeat Texas A&M. Miami now has a better than 50 percent chance to win every game this season except at Clemson on November 19. Texas A&M was anemic offensively versus Appalachian State. The Aggies had only 186 total yards and seven points offensively.
Texas A&M scored its other seven points on a kickoff return for a touchdown. Miami also struggled offensively on Saturday. The Hurricanes did not score a TD until 20 seconds remaining in the first half. The 17th ranking by the FPI is below Miami being ranked 13th in both national polls and 10th in the ESPN Power Rankings.
Despite the lower-than-expected ranking that Texas A&M has in the FPI, a win for Miami over an SEC team on the road will probably gain meaning in the metrics as the Aggies get into conference play later this month. Clemson is the only opponent on the Miami schedule ranked ahead of the Hurricanes. The Tigers are fourth in the FPI.