Texas Football: Updated FPI has extremely high ranking for Longhorns
We are drawing very close to the start of the 2021 season for the Texas football program. The start of Week 0 around the college football landscape, in general, is well under two months away. Texas is set to kick off the regular season slate on Sep. 4 at home against Louisiana.
The hype is clearly building up for new head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns just ahead of the start of fall camp. An offseason that was filled with change for the Longhorns is about to see what the fruits of the labor of this new-look coaching staff will be at the outset.
ESPN’s FPI showing high expectations for Texas football in 2021
One area where the hype has caught on with some analytics and rankings ahead of the start of the 2021 season is with the ESPN Football Power Index. The latest edition of the FPI from ESPN actually has Texas well inside the top 10.
Considering that Texas finished up last season in the 19th spot in the final AP Poll, that is quite the jump. Texas was one of three Big 12 teams that cracked the top 10 in this latest edition of the FPI. One of the others was the rival Oklahoma Sooners, who claimed the No. 3 spot behind the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers.
And the other Big 12 foe to make the list was the Iowa State Cyclones, ringing in at No. 9.
In this FPI, Oklahoma was given a 66 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff and a 17 percent chance to win the National Championship. Meanwhile, Texas was given a 12 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff and a one percent chance to win the National Championship.
Iowa State got less than a one percent chance to win the National Championship, and an eight percent chance to make the College Football Playoff.
It looks as if ESPN’s FPI is overwhelmingly favoring the Sooners and head coach Lincoln Riley to come away with the Big 12 Championship yet again. ESPN still gives the likes of Texas and Iowa State a chance, but not a great one.
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Texas finished up last season with a record of 7-3 (5-3 Big 12) under the direction of former head coach Tom Herman. The expectations will be high for the new Texas head coach Sark this fall, evident by the team’s placing in this latest version of the FPI. Potential emerging stars such as sophomore running back Bijan Robinson and senior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown can spearhead this team in a critical run in 2021.