The fine folks over at ESPN have certainly done their homework, in more ways than one. They not only have created a metric that gives fans and readers something to talk about, but it’s also something that we need.
ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) generates an index for every team in major college football, or the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). This number measures team’s true strength on a net points scale; expected point margin vs average opponent on a neutral field.
It is said to be the measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward with the rest of each specific season.