Ohio State Football Tops Preseason FPI With Two SEC Schools On Its Heels

Ohio State football tops preseason FPI with two SEC schools on its heels.  The top of ESPN’s Football Power Index rankings have a familiar feel.

Six of the seven schools to make multiple Playoff appearances are in the Top 10 and only two teams from the final Top 10 last season dropped out.

The two teams to move into the Top 10 since the end of last season both feature second-year head coaches: Lincoln Riley at USC and Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame.

The Trojans finished 11-3 in Lincoln Riley’s first season and finished 16th in FPI. Reigning Heisman winner Caleb Williams is back at quarterback this season and is expected to lead one of the top offenses in the nation.

Georgia is looking to become the first team to win three straight national championships since the AP Poll debuted in 1936.  The Bulldogs are projected to have the best defense in the nation in 2023 (to go along with a Top-5 offense).

How far ahead of everyone else are the big three of Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia? In addition to having the top three projected defenses they are projected to have three of the top four offenses.

The SEC has nine teams in the Top 25 in the preseason FPI, two more than any other conference including 3 in the top 10.  (Alabama, Georgia, LSU).

With Cincinnati, UCF and Houston joining the Big 12 there’s a dearth of contenders to crash the Playoff party from the Group of 5. SMU is the only Group of 5 team ranked in the Top 50 of preseason FPI and barely (SMU #49).

Only four of the 10 teams that won their conference championship game last season are projected to repeat this season according to ESPN Analytics: Clemson, Georgia, Toledo and Troy.

ESPN Analytics and Caesars Sportsbook agree on the favorites for four of the five of the Power 5 champions. Florida State (+135) is the betting favorite in the ACC, just ahead of Clemson (+145).

Ohio State and Michigan are co-favorites in the Big Ten at +190.

Highest Pregame Matchup Quality This Season
Nov. 25 Ohio State at Michigan 99.7
Sept. 23 Ohio State at Notre Dame 98.3
Nov. 4 LSU at Alabama 96.8
Sept. 9 Texas at Alabama 96.7
Nov. 18 Georgia at Tennessee 95.1
Nov. 11 Michigan at Penn State 95.1
Oct. 7 Texas vs Oklahoma 93.6
Oct. 7 Alabama at Texas A&M 93.4
Oct. 21 Penn State at Ohio State 92.7
Oct. 28 Ohio State at Wisconsin 91.9

More on all of this and lots more CFB fun facts coming up on Shemon and Sheppard 2-6pm.

Cats are funny creatures aren't they? TikTok is full of all kinds of videos with animals including cats. I was laughing out loud at so many of these that I rounded up five of the most hilarious cat videos for TikTok Tuesday.

The social media platform is full of all kinds of DIY videos, instructional videos, lots of dancing and pranks too.  The funny videos have been topping my feed lately. The world is full of so much bad news lately, so finding things that make us laugh seems more important than ever. And even on good days, who doesn't appreciate or like a good laugh?

Cats are always good entertainment. They are bendy, skittish, jumpy, curious, and when you put all that together, it's a great recipe for comedy.

I'm on TikTok and got sucked into funny animal videos over the weekend. The cats always make me laugh and seemed to populate often. So I picked a few compilation videos to share. Some of them are a little long but they are worth the watch.

You don't have to be a subscriber to the social media platform in order to view these. Simply scroll down and hit play. They are all kid and office friendly. In addition, they are guaranteed to make you smile. Here are the top five most hilarious cat videos for this week's TikTok Tuesday post.