ESPN released its FPI preseason rankings for the upcoming season on Monday, and Georgia, after starting No. 1 for the first time last year at 26.8, came in at No. 2 on the list, with a 26.6. That means Georgia’s offense, defense, and special teams ratings combine to be considered almost 27 points per game better than the average FBS team. Texas comes in at No. 1 with 28.5. ESPN has Georgia with the No. 2 projected offense and No. 2 defense.
Looking back at the last six years, Georgia was ranked No. 1 in the 2024 preseason rankings, ranked No. 3 in 2023, No. 3 in 2022, No. 7 in 2021, No. 10 in 2020, No. 3 in 2019, and No. 3 in 2018.
ESPN detailed how FPI works:
“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, including the conference championships and the CFP bracket, simulating the selection process using an algorithm that mimics the way the committee typically picks teams. Finally, once we have those results, we can say how often each team wins its conference, makes the playoff and achieves other milestones. Ratings and projections update daily.”
Georgia’s schedule, No. 1, No. 3, and No. 13 teams at home, the No. 10 and No. 14 teams on the road, and the No. 18 team in Jacksonville, is ranked eighth in strength of schedule, with Florida, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Kentucky ranked ahead. Georgia is projected at 10.1 wins, behind Texas, Ohio State, and Penn State.
Georgia is given a 26.9 percent chance of winning the SEC, with Texas at 34.1 percent. In terms of making the College Football Playoff, Georgia is given a 78.6 percent chance, second only to Texas, which comes in at 83.9 percent. Those rankings hold for making the CFP title game and winning it, with Georgia at 30 percent to make the game and 17.9 percent to win it, and the Longhorns being given a 37.7 percent and 24.1 percent chance of the same outcome.
For reference, last year these rankings gave Georgia a 79.1 percent chance to make the CFP, a 31.6 percent chance of making the national championship, anda 21 percent chance of winning the title.
In terms of combined FPI ratings, Georgia is involved in two of the three biggest matchups and six of the 20 best games of 2025. The home game against No. 1 Texas comes in at No. 1, and the home game against No. 3 Alabama comes in at No. 3 in the combined rankings. The road game against No. 10 Tennessee comes in at No. 4, with the road game at No. 14 Auburn at No. 7, the neutral-site game against No. 18 Florida at No. 15, and the home game against No. 13 Ole Miss considered the No. 17 game.
