ESPN’s Football Power Index continues to like the top of the Big 12, but apparently not enough to put the conference’s undefeated leader among the very best teams in the country.
Following Week 9, Utah leads all Big 12 teams at No. 10 in ESPN’s updated FPI rankings despite improving to 8-0 with a dominant 49-25 road win over Cincinnati.
The Utes are one of the few remaining undefeated teams in college football and have won 14 consecutive games dating back to last season. But according to FPI, there are still nine teams in the country rated better than Utah.
That should give Big 12 fans something to talk about as the first College Football Playoff rankings approach.
Utah isn’t alone near the top of the FPI rankings, either.
Texas Tech moved up to No. 13 after bouncing back from its first loss of the season with a 34-26 win over Arizona. The Red Raiders made a quarterback change to Thomas Castellanos and piled up more than 300 rushing yards in the victory.
BYU checks in at No. 16 after surviving Arizona State 27-20 to improve to 7-1. The Cougars dropped one spot in FPI despite the win and now turn their attention toward arguably the biggest Big 12 game of the season.
Houston rounds out the Big 12 teams in the FPI Top 25 at No. 20.
That gives the conference four teams inside ESPN’s Top 20:
- No. 10 Utah
- No. 13 Texas Tech
- No. 16 BYU
- No. 20 Houston
The most interesting ranking remains Utah.
The Utes have established themselves as the team to beat in the Big 12, and Saturday’s trip to Cincinnati only strengthened that case. But FPI is designed to measure team strength rather than simply rank teams based on record, which helps explain why Utah remains outside the national Top 5 despite its perfect record.
Fortunately, Utah will get another opportunity to make its case on the field.
The Utes host BYU in the Holy War next Saturday in a matchup with massive implications for the Big 12 Championship race and the College Football Playoff.
And if Utah moves to 9-0 by beating another FPI Top 20 team, it will become increasingly difficult for any ranking — human or computer — to overlook what the Utes are doing.
