Week 10 brought plenty of surprises, particularly in the ACC and Big 12. ESPN’s FPI rankings similarly showed some significant moves in those leagues, while neither the SEC nor Big 10 had any moves bigger than five spots up or down. But here’s a run down of the power conference teams that had the biggest FPI shifts after Week 10.
The fighting Bill Belichicks still had lift in them, as proven by a solid 27-10 win at Syracuse. The good news it that UNC took a big jump. The bad news is they jumped to 85th (third worst in ACC) and still have just a 10.5% chance at six wins. But improvement is improvement.
The Mountaineers provided a definite highlight to a struggling season by besting No. 22 Houston 45-35 on the road. Again, that’s the good news. But West Virginia is still next to last in the Big 12 and FPI gives them just a 1.0% chance at winning the last three to reach bowl eligibility.
Top 25 Florida State and Mike Norvell? That’s what FPI says after Week 10. / Melina Myers-Imagn Images
Florida State ended a losing streak and spanked Wake Forest 42-7. Now, in a move that will probably not thrill ACC fans, 4-4 FSU is now 24th in the FPI rankings, which is second in the ACC. Yes, ahead of 8-1 Georgia Tech by ten spots. Don’t shoot the messenger.
Pitt had a solid 35-20 win at Stanford that gave them a significant jump but still leaves them fifth in the ACC FPI numbers. For what it’s worth, the league’s current title favorite, Virginia, is ranked 46th in FPI. Pitt has just a 3.8% shot at the Playoff, but anything can and probably will happen in the ACC.
Syracuse was boat-raced at home by North Carolina and slid accordingly. FPI gives them literally no shot at six wins and has them just ahead of Boston College in the ACC cellar.
Haynes King and Georgia Tech took their first loss… and slid to 34th in the FPI rankings. / Zachary Taft-Imagn Images
Tech took nine weeks to slowly climb to No. 25 with an 8-0 start. But a 48-36 loss to NC State dumps the Yellowjackets back to 34th and sixth in the ACC. Tech still has a 22.8% shot at the Playoff (second in the league to UVA), but it’s pretty clearly going to be a one-bid situation for the ACC.
Cincinnati was crushed 45-14 by Utah in a game that seems to pretty conclusively close the Big 12’s top tier at BYU, Texas Tech, and Utah. Cincinnati fell to fifth in the league behind TCU and saw their Playoff shot dwindle to 4.7%.