Making sense of the updated ESPN FPI for 2016

Earlier this week ESPN released its first 2016 FPI which seeks to determine and rank the strength of all FBS teams.

Like preseason rankings, some people will find the FPI to be nonsense, while others can see at least a little value in both. Although its many months before the season, ESPN has made early projections with its 2016 FPI, calculating just how talented every team should be.

Of course, you can probably guess what conference has the most teams in the top ten. The LSU Tigers lead the nation at number one with a top three offense and defense, and the Florida State Seminoles from the ACC are number two.

The Tennessee Volunteers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Mississippi Rebels and Georgia Bulldogs round off the SEC’s takeover of the top 10, which makes five of the top ten that hail from the consistently mightiest conference in College Football in recent years.

According to the 2016 FPI, the Boise State Broncos are listed as the strongest Group of Five team at 35th, unlike the popular choice Houston Cougars, listed at 48th.

Furthermore, the four major components that determine the Football Power Index are a team’s performance in the last four years, returning starters, an average of the last four recruiting years from several sources, and lastly the tenure of the head coach.

More saturday blitz: 10 Early Bold Predictions for 2016

In the 2014 season, three out of the four playoff teams were in the FPI’s preseason top three.

Even if you don’t think much weight is really held in anything like the FPI, it’s, at least, interesting to see various sources and their unique approaches at analyzing the season. What are your thoughts? Who seems to be over-rated and under-rated?