ESPN FPI rankings continue to highly value the Alabama Crimson Tide

Halfway through college football's regular season, ESPN's FPI algorithm continues to highly value the Alabama Crimson Tide. Fans need to remember the FPI is designed to be a predictive calculation. Rather than a current ranking of teams, the model projects how teams will perform in their future games.

The Alabama Crimson Tide struggled to beat South Carolina, but in the updated FPI, Alabama remained as college football's No. 3 team. South Carolina moved up nine spots in the FPI to No. 26.

A good example of how odd the FPI can look is the current rankings of Ohio State at No. 2 and the Oregon Ducks at No. 8. The Ducks beat the Buckeyes 32-31 on Saturday.

For true Playoff contenders, the FPI is the most important barometer of CFB Playoff chances. Before the South Carolina game, Alabama Football had a 70% probability of making the Playoffs. After the close win over the Gamecocks, the number slipped slightly to 68.9%.

According to the current FPI, there are 15 teams with a higher than 28.2% probability of making the Playoff field. The Texas Longhorns lead them at 95.9%. The other 14 are Oregon (84.3%), Ohio State (81%), Penn State (75.2%), Miami (73.2%), Alabama (68.9%), Georgia (68.4%), Notre Dame (57.4%), Iowa State (53.2%), Indiana (47.3%), Boise State (46.5%), Tennessee (46.2%), Clemson (44.6%), Texas A&M (32.8%), and BYU (32.7%).

Despite losing to LSU in overtime on Saturday night, Ole Miss remained ranked No. 5 in the FPI. The Rebels Playoff probability dropped to 23.6% with their second loss. With their win, LSU received a one-spot boost in the FPI rankings to No. 14 and increased their Playoff probability to 26.4%.

The ESPN FPI rankings for all of the SEC's teams are: 1) Texas Longhorns; 3) Alabama Crimson Tide, 4) Georgia Bulldogs; 5) Ole Miss Rebels; 7) Tennessee Vols; 12) Texas A&M Aggies; 14) LSU Bengal Tigers; 18) Missouri Tigers; 20) Oklahoma Sooners; 25) Arkansas Razorbacks; 26) South Carolina Gamecocks; 32) Kentucky Wildcats; 34) Auburn Tigers; 35) Vanderbilt Commodores and No. 59) Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Alabama Crimson Tide and other potential Playoff teams SOS

The SEC has seven Playoff contenders with a 23.6% probability or higher of making the 12-team field. ESPN's calculation of the remaining Strength of Schedule (SOS) for each one shows a wide range. Georgia has the toughest path with a No. 2 SOS (among all FBS teams). Texas is at No. 8; Texas A&M, No. 9; LSU, No. 13; Alabama, No. 14; Tennessee, No. 16 and Ole Miss, No. 32.