ESPN Reveals New National Title Favorite in Latest FPI College Football Rankings

Week 2 of the 2024 college football season certainly didn't disappoint. Most notably, the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (2-0) ran the No. 10 Michigan Wolverines (1-1) out of Ann Arbor, Michigan with a statement 31-12 victory on Saturday, Sept. 7, that was far uglier than the final score indicates.

Heisman contender Quinn Ewers, a senior quarterback for the Longhorns, made easy work of Michigan's vaunted defense that features All-Americans Will Johnson (CB) and Mason Graham (DL). The 21-year-old quarterback, who started his college football career at Ohio State in 2021 but never saw any playing time for the Buckeyes while backing up now Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, finished with 246 yards and three touchdowns through the air in Texas's big Week 2 win.

The Longhorns have college football's attention. They don't just look like a college football title contender; they might just be the college football title contender. ESPN's FPI, a computer-generated college football rankings system, happens to agree.

Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns are the new national title favorite in ESPN's FPI rankings post-Week 2. The SEC newcomer has a 19.6-percent chance of winning the championship, which is nearly three percentage points higher than the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs (2-0), who won their Week 2 game 48-3 over Tennessee Tech.

Alabama, Ohio State, and Tennessee are the next three teams in ESPN's FPI rankings. The Crimson Tide (2-0) needed all four quarters to put away South Florida (1-1), pulling away in the final frame to leave with an unsatisfactory 42-16 over the Bulls. Ohio State (2-0) took care of business against Western Michigan in a 56-0 victory. And finally, the Tennessee Volunteers (2-0) crushed No. 24 NC State (1-1) 51-10, cementing their status as a true contender this season, thanks to the play of second-year quarterback Nico Iamaleava (211 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions).

Take a look at ESPN's post-Week 2 FPI rankings, led by Sark and the Longhorns:

The big story of the weekend, of course, was Texas's statement win over Michigan, though. Sarkisian and the Longhorns made the SEC proud and solidified their stance as the top contender in college football up to this point in the season.

The AP Top 25 Poll will be released on Sunday, Sept. 8. And while it's unlikely No. 3 Texas jumps Georgia or Ohio State, the Longhorns should see a jump in votes going their way, and it might be enough to move up a spot or two.

Texas gets back to work next Saturday, Sept. 14, against the UTSA Roadrunners.