In the spirit of way-too-early 2017 rankings in basketball this week, ESPN has jumped into the fray on the gridiron. Their Football Power Index (FPI) rankings include projected win-loss totals for all 120+ FBS teams.
Virginia comes in at #71, just behind Boston College and last in the ACC.
But thanks to some favorable scheduling, FPI projects 4.8 wins for the Hoos in the upcoming season. (Yes, you can’t record eight-tenths of a win—the win total is the sum of the win probability for each individual game.)
Home teams receive a bit of a boost for projected home-field advantage.