And The Valley Shook: FanPosts

ESPN's CFB Future Power Rankings

2013-06-18T19:02:21Z

Ran across this on ESPN.com. It ranked the Top 25 College Football programs for the next 3 years. There were 5 categories: Coaching, Current Talent, Recruiting, Title Path, and Program Power. The categories were weighted. Coaching and Current Talent came out to be 27.5%, Recruiting to be 15%, Title Path to be 10%, and Program Power to be 20% Here's what they said about each category

Coaching: Quality of coaching staff, with heavy emphasis on HC, taking into account potential coaching changes in the future

Current Talent: Quality of players currently in the program, focusing on the future.

Recruiting: Projected quality of 2014 and 2015 recruiting classes, and recruiting momentum.

Title Path: Ability for teams to compete for league and national titles, based on opponent strength and quality of conference.

Program Power: Accounts for fan and institutional support, facilities, resources and history, in addition to intangible factors.

Here is how ESPN ranked the Top 25 schools for the next 3 years. Scores for each category are in parentheses

1. Alabama (C - 10, CT - 9.8, R - 10, TP - 8.6, PP - 10) Total Score: 98.05

2. Ohio State (C - 9.4, CT - 8, R - 9.2, TP - 9.4, PP - 8.8) Total Score: 88.65

3. LSU (C - 8.2, CT - 8.2, R - 9.2, TP - 7.2, PP - 8.8) Total Score: 83.70

4. Florida (C - 7.2, CT - 8.2, R - 9.2, TP - 7.4, PP - 8.2) Total Score: 79.95

5. Michigan (C - 7.8, CT - 7.4, R - 8.8, TP - 7.6, PP - 8.4) Total Score: 79.40

6. Notre Dame (C - 8, CT - 6.8, R - 8.2, TP - 8.2, PP - 8.4) Total Score: 78.00

7. Florida State (C - 6.6, CT - 8, R - 9, TP - 8.6, PP - 7.8) Total Score: 77.85

8. Texas A&M (C - 7.8, CT - 7.4, R - 8.8, TP - 6, PP - 8.4) Total Score: 77.80

9. Georgia (C - 7, CT - 7.4, R - 8, TP - 7.4, PP - 8) Total Score: 75.00

10. Stanford (C - 8, CT - 6.8, R - 7.2, TP - 7.4, PP - 7.2) Total Score: 73.30

11. Oregon (C - 6.2, CT - 7.2, R - 7.2, TP - 8, PP - 8.6) Total Score: 72.85

12. Texas (C - 5.8, CT - 7.4, R - 8.4, TP - 7.8, PP - 8) Total Score: 72.70

13. Clemson (C - 6.8, CT - 7, R - 7.8, TP - 7.6, PP - 7.4) Total Score: 72.05

14. Oklahoma (C - 6.6, CT - 6, R - 6.8, TP - 7.8, PP - 8) Total Score: 68.65

15. South Carolina (C - 7.4, CT - 6, R - 6.4, TP - 6.2, PP - 7) Total Score: 66.65

16. Louisville (C - 7.4, CT - 5.8, R - 7, TP - 6.4, PP - 6.6) Total Score: 66.40

17. Oklahoma State (C - 7, CT - 6. R - 6, TP - 6.4, PP - 7) Total Score: 65.15

18. Miami (C - 6.2, CT - 6.2, R - 7, TP - 6.2, PP - 5.2) Total Score: 61.20

19. TCU (C - 7.8, CT - 5.2, R - 5.2, TP - 6, PP - 5.8) Total Score: 61.15

20. Virginia Tech (C - 7, CT - 5, R - 5.6, TP - 6, PP - 6.8) Total Score: 61.00

21. North Carolina (C - 6.6, CT - 5.8, R - 6, TP - 6, PP - 5.4) Total Score: 59.90

22. UCLA Bruins (C - 6.2, CT - 5.8, R - 6.8, TP - 5.4, PP - 5.6) Total Score: 59.80

23. Auburn (C - 5.6, CT - 5.6, R - 7, TP - 4.4, PP - 6.8) Total Score: 59.30

24. Baylor (C - 6.8, CT - 5.6, R - 5.8, TP - 5.6, PP - 5.4) Total Score: 59.20

25. USC (C - 4.4, CT - 6.2, R - 6.4, TP - 6.4, PP - 7) Total Score: 59.15

The quotes from LSU on each category are here

Coaching - LSU is an interesting program to evaluate from a coaching standpoint. The Tigers have won consistently, but Les Miles has taken heat for late-game management issues. Still, LSU ended up earning the third-highest mark in the coaching category in these rankings. "I think they've been really strong with their defensive coaching staff, with coordinator John Chavis, and that's covered up for a few things."

Current Talent - Even after having nine players taken in the 2013 NFL draft, the Tigers still have plenty of talent left on their depth chart. "LSU is one of three or four teams that are so head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the country in terms of defensive front-seven play," Luginbill says. "They've been so good there that it's masked some deficiencies on offense." DT Anthony Johnson looks to be the next elite LSU defensive linemen.

Recruiting - This category is where the Tigers really got a boost. "In terms of overall talent, Louisiana is a better recruiting state than Alabama and Ohio," says Luginbill. "And the 2014 class from that state could produce the type of class that only comes along once in every 15 years." Three four-star recruits from Louisiana have already committed to LSU, and several other top in-state prospects are considering the Tigers, including ESPN No. 1 overall prospect RB Leonard Fournette.

Title Path - The Tigers have made the national championship game in two of the past six seasons, but playing in a division with Alabama and a rising Texas A&M program makes for a challenging path to the title game. Example: LSU could play as many as four top-10 teams in 2013.

Program Power - Only Alabama scored higher in this category than LSU (the Tigers tied with Ohio State), and the program has been a model of consistency. "LSU has been the one program able to play, recruit and develop at this high of a level outside of Alabama," Haney says. "Even when they lose a bunch of guys like they did this year, we're still thinking of them as a top-10 team. That just demonstrates where they are as a program."

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