Where potential Pac-12 expansion candidates rank in ESPN's FPI

The ESPN FPI measures the strength of every team in college football

With college football over 100 days away, the best thing we can do at this moment aside from follow the craziness in the transfer portal is speculate how good our favorite team is.

One way to debate with other fans or even with ourselves is to look at ESPN's FPI rankings. ESPN's rankings which they explain as:

The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily. FPI data from seasons prior to 2019 may not be complete.

This allows for us to see what every team's ceiling is based of data, and even get a rough outlook as to who the FPI sees as the true contenders. I wrote about the current Pac-12 teams, but now it's time to take a look at the possible expansion candidates. There are two teams that are widely viewed as locks, and three others that have a punchers chance and are worth a look by the conference. 

Here is where the Pac-12 expansion candidates rank in ESPN's FPI. 

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122. Colorado State

Bethany Baker / Staff Photographer via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Projected Wins: 4.7

Percent Chance of Winning Six Games: 28.6%

Percent Chance to Win Conference: 0.7%

107. Rice

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Projected Wins: 4.8

Percent Chance of Winning Six Games: 30.9%

Percent Chance to Win Conference: 0.2%

55. Tulane

Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports

Projected Wins: 8.3

Percent Chance of Winning Six Games: 95.7%

Percent Chance to Win Conference: 20.3%

89. San Diego State

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Projected Wins: 6.4

Percent Chance of Winning Six Games: 69.8%

Percent Chance to Win Conference: 7.5%

49. SMU

Icon Sportswire via AP Images)

Projected Wins: 8.8

Percent Chance of Winning Six Games: 98.4%

Percent Chance to Win Conference: 41.7%