Teams Rising & Falling in New ESPN FPI Rankings

UCLA (up 18 spots to 46th)

The Bruins emerged as the big winners of Week 1 off a 45-24 win over Cal. ESPN's metrics were impressed enough that FPI gives the Bruins a 3.1% chance at making the CFP. While that seems a little premature, it was quite a jump for the Bruins.

Mississippi State (up 16 spots to 33rd)

The Bulldogs steam-rolled Louisiana-Monroe en route to a substantial FPI leap. QB Kamario Taylor's 354 passing yards and four scores were impressive and ESPN now projects the Bulldogs with a 3.7% shot at the CFP. Pretty good for a team still ranked 13th in its own conference.

Syracuse (up 16 spots to 54th)

Syracuse didn't even play an FBS opponent, but fattened up on New Hampshire by a 66-3 margin. The computers must have been impressed by a 513-159 yardage margin in the game. The Orange climbed toward the middle of the ACC pack and now have a projected 2.0% chance to earn a CFP berth.

Falling

Rutgers (down 29 spots to 96th)

There's losing and then there's losing by 16 to a 29.5 point underdog that went 0-12 last year. Yes, that was week 1 for Rutgers, whose FPI ranking accordingly plummeted. At 96th, the Scarlet Knights are dead last among power four teams and not only do they not have a CFP pulse, ESPN gives them just a 4.1% chance at reaching six wins this year.

Clemson (down 23 spots to 42nd)

The slide from 19th to 42nd was a big drop, but after a 51-10 beating from LSU, Clemson may still have further to fall. The good news, if it can be called that, is that ESPN still gives the Tigers a 2.8% chance to reach the CFP. That said, it gives them a 58.8% chance at six wins, so the more likely scenario would fall under some version of crash and burn.

NC State (down 20 spots to 71st)

Week 1 was not kind to the Wolfpack, who took a brutal 34-8 loss at Virginia. While they stay out of the ACC basement, they're looking at a 40.2% chance of even winning six games. Not good news for coach Dave Doeren.