Florida falls further in ESPN's Football Power Index after Week 3

Week 3’s Southeastern Conference schedule-opening matchup between the Florida Gators and Texas A&M Aggies did not go how the Gator Nation had hoped, falling to the visitors, 33-20, in the Swamp. With the loss went Billy Napier’s chances of making it through the season as well as a .500 or better finish.

After the home defeat, ESPN’s Football Power Index dropped Florida eight spots to No. 52 after sitting at No. 44 the last two weeks; its FPI rating also tumbled from 4.4 to 3.4, putting the Gators between the No. 51 West Virginia Mountaineers and No. 53 Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The Orange and Blue are now given a 6.9% chance of winning six games this fall — down 9.2% from last week — along with a 0% chance of winning the conference, a microscopic 0.1% chance of making the College Football Playoffs, a 0% chance of making the championship game and a 0% chance of winning the national title.

SEC teams in FPI

The SEC is represented among the top 25 by the top-ranked Texas Longhorns (28.5), followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide (2nd, 28.2), Tennessee Volunteers (4th, 24.4) and Georgia Bulldogs (5th, 23.7), respectively.

The top 25 consists of the Ole Miss Rebels (6th, 22.7), Missouri Tigers (10th, 17.4), Oklahoma Sooners (15th, 13.5), Texas A&M (16th, 13.4) and LSU Tigers (22nd, 10.5). Next up are the Auburn Tigers (26th, 9.0), Arkansas Razorbacks (29th, 8.2), South Carolina Gamecocks (33rd, 6.2) and Kentucky Wildcats (29th, 5.2).

The Vanderbilt Commodores (60th, 1.8) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (64th, 0.4) both lag behind Florida in the rankings.

About ESPN’s FPI

“The Football Power Index is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season,” according to ESPN. “FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.”

Up next for the Gators

Florida will play their first road game of the season as they travel up to Starkville to play against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, Sept. 21. Kickoff is set for noon ET and will be broadcast on ESPN.

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