The official start of the college football season is just a day away, and the predictive statistics from the major prognosticators are all out. While these numbers are meaningless once the players make it onto the field, they do serve a useful role in setting expectations for what’s to come.
As a reminder, these statistics are meant to predict how a team will perform against an average opponent. Brian Bremeau’s FEI focuses on possession-level efficiency. Bill Connelly’s SP+ utilizes play-by-play data to score teams on efficiency, explosiveness, field position, ability to finish drives, and turnovers.