WIth the college football season drawing closer, ESPN recently released their most recent Football Power Index (FPI).

Last season, the Minnesota Golden Gophers finished 28th in the FPI after achieving an 8-5 season which included a Duke's Mayo Bowl victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies in January. It was the fourth time in the last five full seasons for the Gophers that they finished within the top-30 after doing so in 2019 (18), 2021 (27), and 2022 (21).

But where do the Gophers' rank in the latest FPI ahead of this upcoming season?

In the latest update, the Gophers ranked 43 in the FPI which ranks them as the 11th best team in the Big Ten Conference.

There are no surprises at the top of the rankings; Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon all rank near the top at four, five, and six respectively. The next Big Ten team is the Michigan Wolverines at No. 17, followed closely by USC at No. 19. The last time to sneak into the top-25 is the Nebraska Cornhuskers at No.25.

Washington (No. 27), Indiana (No. 31), Wisconsin (No. 38), and Iowa (No. 39) round out the top-10 teams in the conference. Following the Gophers' ranking at No. 43, Illinois at No. 44, and UCLA at No. 47 are the final two teams ranked within the top-50.

The bottom tier of the Big Ten spans from No. 55 to No. 92 in the rankings. Rutgers leads the group at No. 55, followed by Michigan State at No. 59 and Maryland at No. 61. Northwestern checks in at No. 74, while Purdue sits far behind the rest, ranked last at No. 92.

The 2025 season will be Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck's ninth season as the head coach of the Golden Gophers. Through his first eight seasons with the program, the Gophers are 58-39 overall and 34-36 in Big Ten play. However, the Gophers have improved to 29-23 in conference action since the 2019 season and are also 6-0 in postseason play under Fleck.

From ESPN's An inside look at College FPI

"FPI is a predictive rating system designed to measure team strength and project performance going forward. The ultimate goal of FPI is not to rank teams 1 through 128; rather, it is to correctly predict games and season outcomes. If Vegas ever published the power rankings it uses to set its lines, they would likely look quite a lot like FPI.

Correctly predicting game outcomes can’t be done by evaluating teams’ records because some teams are stronger than their records indicate (lots of close losses), and others have favorable schedules. Both of these situations are reflected in the game- and season-level projections.

It is important to note what FPI is not -- FPI is not a playoff predictor, and it is not designed to identify the four teams most deserving of making the College Football Playoff. ESPN has other metrics, including Strength of Record, that can be used to identify the most deserving teams."

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