Florida falls in ESPN's Football Power Index after bye week

The Florida Gators got a chance to catch their breath in Week 5 of the 2024 college football campaign thanks to a bye, though a hurricane still made things a bit uncomfortable in Gainesville.

While the Orange and Blue were away from the field, most of the nation still competed on the collegiate gridiron, with some rather exciting outcomes.

Following the results of last weekend’s action, Florida’s position in ESPN’s updated Football Power Index dropped seven spots from No. 39 to No. 46 while its overall rating fell 0.2 points from last week to 5.4. That puts the Gators between the No. 45 Rutgers Scarlet Knights and No. 47 Boston College Eagles.

Billy Napier and Co. are now given a 14.4% chance of winning six games this fall — down from 15.2% 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. The FPI’s final record predicts currently sits at 4.2-7.8.

SEC teams in FPI

The SEC is represented among the top five by the top-ranked Texas Longhorns (27.9), followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide (2nd, 27.9), Georgia Bulldogs (4th, 25.2) and Tennessee Volunteers (5th, 23.6), respectively.

The remainder of the top 25 consists of the Ole Miss Rebels (6th, 21.8), Missouri Tigers (14th, 14.1), LSU Tigers (15th, 13.9), Oklahoma Sooners (17th, 12.2), Texas A&M Aggies (18th, 11.9), Kentucky Wildcats (23rd, 9.5) and South Carolina Gamecocks (25th, 9.1).

Next up are the Arkansas Razorbacks (27th, 8.5) and Auburn Tigers (38th, 6.7), with the Vanderbilt Commodores (57th, 3.3) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (70th, -0.3) following Florida, respectively.

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 hosts the UCF Knights on Saturday, Oct. 5 for a Week 6 tangle between two Sunshine State rivals, with kickoff slated for 7:45 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.