Clemson Football: Early 2019 ESPN FPI continues SEC bias

The way-too-early 2019 ESPN FPI has Clemson football ranked No. 1 in the nation. There are some surprises around the rest of the country.

ESPN released its way-too-early 2019 FPI and there were a few surprises, but the same storyline abounds, without a doubt.

The Football Power Index, better known as FPI, has Clemson football No. 1 in the nation, but outside of the Tigers, there’s not much to agree upon, honestly.

Here’s a look at the top-10 for the ESPN Preseason FPI, as of February.

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. LSU
5. Michigan
6. Oklahoma
7. Notre Dame
8. Florida
9. Auburn
10. Oregon

New top team, same ole storyline…

I agree with the first two. After that, this model clearly is bias towards the SEC. LSU is not a top-four team in the nation. As a matter of fact, they’re not even close to that.

In my opinion, I’m not really all that sure that Georgia is the No. 3 team in the country at this point.

Having Michigan in the top-five over Ohio State- even with a new coach- is laughable, and speaking of the Buckeyes- they aren’t in the top-10.

Florida and Auburn are at No. 8 and No. 9 and neither of those teams are anywhere near being worth of top-10 spots.

If you look outside of the top-10, it gets even worse. Tennessee is ranked No. 15 in the nation. Yes, the Volunteers who have been one of the worst Power-Five programs in the nation are suddenly a top-15 team according to ESPN FPI.

Ohio State is No. 13, just two spots ahead of Tennessee.

South Carolina is No. 19 and Florida State is No. 22, while UCLA is No. 21. None of which I agree with.

To me, this system has always been flawed, but it seems as if ESPN has double-downed on the SEC favoritism as of late. I agree that Clemson football should be ranked No. 1, but outside of that, this ranking is wrong and off-base more times than it is right.