While the competition has not been the toughest, the USC Trojans have dominated both of their games and currently have the nation’s No. 1 offense in terms of yards per game (676) and points per game (66).
We have already talked ad nauseam about the AP and Coaches Poll not seeing enough from the Trojans yet, but there is another metric that is very high on the USC Trojans thus far.
ESPN’s FPI (Football Power Index) currently has the Trojans ranked 5th in the country, and the model gives them a 59.7% chance to make the College Football Playoff, which is the 5th-best percentage.
Chances to make the CFB Playoff, per ESPN FPI 🏟️ pic.twitter.com/cBi3Tuq1fR
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) September 11, 2025
Football Power Index Favors USC Trojans
The football power index is a predictive model that attempts to estimate how many points a team could score above or below an average team on a neutral field, based on their offense, defense, and special teams. This allows the model to measure the strength of a team.
The model also takes into account current on-field results, past performances, returning player production, schedule difficulty, home-field advantage, and in-house recruiting talent.
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The FPI has no actual effect on team rankings, and unlike the BCS model back in the day, it does not combine a weighted average of the AP and Coaches Poll. It is completely standalone.
The FPI puts the USC Trojans’ win total at 9.9 and gives them a 15.5% chance to win the Big Ten Conference.
The USC Trojans kick off against the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday at 12:30 PM PT. The game is airing on CBS/Paramount+.
Thoughts, Trojan fam? Comment below!