A big day on the preseason calendar has arrived as ESPN released its annual Football Power Index analysis, creating a complete ranking and strength of schedule model for 134 college football teams heading into the historic 2024 season.
Read more: ESPN releases preseason college football rankings
As expected, the SEC and Big Ten stand out as top contenders in rankings and College Football Playoff projections, with nine of the top 10 teams coming from those two conferences, including independent Notre Dame, ranked 10th.
And five of those schools are projected to score at least 20 points better than what the index calls the average team playing on a neutral field, which is the primary way FPI compiles its rankings.
Three teams from the SEC (Georgia, Texas and Alabama) meet this criteria, as do two from the Big Ten (Oregon and Ohio State). Penn State sits just outside of this group, but not by much.
Which college football teams are rated the best and worst nationally this preseason?
According to the index, that unfortunate honor falls to Kent State, which the FPI projects to be 18.6 points worse than the average team on a neutral field.
The computer is predicting that the Golden Flashes will win just 3.3 games this season and have an expected loss of 8.8 games, which rounds up to a 3-9 regular season record.
Still, it's an improvement from Kent State's 1-11 record last year, which was the worst in all of college football and included an 0-8 mark in MAC play.
Kent State's projected win totals weren't the worst on the index, but their expected points differential per game put them at the bottom of the rankings.
Temple debuted its 2024 preseason rankings with the worst record in the country, projected to win 3.0 games and lose 9.0 games.
However, the Owls avoided finishing last overall thanks to the FPI projecting them to score 17.7 points worse per game than the average team.
As the epicenter of this year's historic college football realignment, the Big Ten is expected to have an edge in the race for an expanded playoff.
But it's also home to what is considered the most average team in the country.
The FPI rates Illinois 0.2 points above the average team, while Minnesota is projected to rank just slightly higher at 0.4 points above that. Both teams are projected to win 5.3 games this season.
Illinois debuts on the rankings at No. 62, while Minnesota comes in at No. 61.
Arizona State, currently a member of the Big 12, is the epitome of mediocrity in the preseason rankings, ranked 63rd nationally just below Illinois, projected to be 0.4 points worse than the average team on neutral fields and expected to win 4.7 games.
It seems to be pretty unanimous: Georgia is the best team in college football, and FPI agrees with most other projections and early 2024 top 25 rankings.
FPI projects the Bulldogs to be 26.8 points better than teams in the same field and have the best chance to advance to and win the expanded College Football Playoff.
The index projects Georgia to have a 32.8 percent chance of winning the SEC Championship, a 79.1 percent chance of making the playoff and a 21 percent chance of winning the national title.
FPI projects the Bulldogs to win 10.3 games, second-best in the nation behind leader Oregon, which is No. 2 in the index, and is projected to win 10.8 games.
–
More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | schedule | team
Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Ranking | recommendation
