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Florida State football is nation’s top riser in this ESPN stat

The Florida Gators are outside the top 10 in ESPN’s Football Power Index advanced metrics, but the Seminoles are up a lot.
 
Florida State quarterback James Blackman (1) throws during the first half of the 2019 season opener against Boise State in Tallahassee.
Florida State quarterback James Blackman (1) throws during the first half of the 2019 season opener against Boise State in Tallahassee. [ Tampa Bay Times ]
Published Feb. 17, 2020

ESPN has released another set of early 2020 advanced metrics. This one isn’t as high on the Gators as SP+, but it is slightly higher on Florida State.

Florida is No. 11 in ESPN’s first Football Power Index, which was released Monday. That’s four spots lower than the Gators were in the SP+ ratings.

Related: Where Florida, FSU, USF and Miami rank in early 2020 projections

Clemson (no surprise) was No. 1 in the power index, followed by Ohio State, Oklahoma, Alabama and Ohio State. Florida’s top SEC East rival, Georgia, was 10th.

Florida State made the biggest jump of any team in these analytics, moving up 28 spots from last season to start at No. 23. Miami was down at No. 37.

UCF was also the top Group of Five team in these metrics, just like SP+. The Knights were 21st. USF was No. 86.

Related: Why one big FSU booster remains upbeat about the 'Noles while preaching patience

Other notables in the power index include Jimbo Fisher’s Texas A&M Aggies (eighth), defending national champion LSU (12th), Will Muschamp’s Gamecocks (34th), Lovie Smith’s Illini (65th) and Willie Taggart’s Florida Atlantic Owls (89th).

Check out ESPN’s full Football Power Index here.