College football rankings: ESPN reveals final top 25 of the season

National champion Michigan is the No. 1 team in college football, but what do the rest of the ESPN rankings look like as we close out the 2023 season?

As expected, national champion Michigan is the consensus No. 1 team in all the college football rankings as we put a bow on the 2023 season, receiving all of the first-place votes from AP top 25 voters and the Coaches Poll, and that consensus now also includes the official ESPN College Football Power Index rankings, as well.

• Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.
• Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season and games, using a combination of key analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, team talent, recruiting, and a team’s schedule.
• Teams are ranked not in order of talent like in other rankings, but by a projected point margin per game against an average team on a neutral field.

ESPN top 25 college football rankings

1. Michigan
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Oregon
5. Penn State
6. Alabama
7. Texas
8. Notre Dame
9. Oklahoma
10. LSU
11. Kansas State
12. Washington
13. Florida State
14. Missouri
15. Ole Miss
16. Tennessee
17. Texas A&M
18. USC
19. Clemson
20. Arizona
21. Oregon State
22. SMU
23. Louisville
24. Miami
25. Utah

Biggest mover: Georgia. Some still argue the Bulldogs were the best team in college football and should have been in the playoff, especially after beating up FSU by 60 in the Orange Bowl. UGA is the favorite to win the 2024 title, and moved up four spots in these final rankings.

Ohio State ahead of Missouri? Despite falling to the Tigers in the Cotton Bowl, the depleted Buckeyes ranked ahead of Mizzou owing to a greater expected point margin per game (OSU's 26.4 to UM's 16.5).

Washington so low? FPI takes scoring margins into account, and the Huskies' closer results at the end of the season brought their average to 17.3 on the ESPN index, good for the 12th highest average.

Favorites for next season? Georgia is the current favorite to win the national championship (+350), according to SI Sportsbook. Alabama (+550) and Ohio State (+800) follow, with Texas (+850) and Michigan (+1000) rounding out the top five. Any way you look at it, expect the Big Ten and SEC to dominate the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff in 2024.

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