Michigan ranks No. 12 in the nation in ESPN's 2024 Football Power Index

ESPN on Monday morning released its 2024 Football Power Index. The FPI, which is a forecast of how each college football team will perform in 2024, outlines everything from projected win total to national championship odds and much more.

According to ESPN, "The FPI is a power rating that tracks each team's strength relative to an average FBS squad. Teams are rated on offense, defense and special teams, with the values representing points per game."

The numbers are then used to simulate the season 20,000 times, which is how ESPN arrives at the percentages and numbers it does.

For Michigan, the defending national champions were not thought of very highly by ESPN's FPI.

Here is a look at where Michigan fell in each category released.

Michigan came in ranked 12th in college football, according to the FPI. The Wolverines posted an overall score of 14.9, meaning Michigan is 14.9 points per game better than the average FBS team. Below is the top 20.

1. Georgia

2. Oregon

3. Texas

4. Ohio State

5. Alabama

6. Penn State

7. Notre Dame

8. Oklahoma

9. Tennessee

10. Missouri

11. Florida State

12. Michigan

13. LSU

14. Texas A&M

15. Clemson

16. Ole Miss

17. Kansas

18. USC

19. Auburn

20. Florida

Michigan posted an offensive FPI score of 5.3, which was the third-worst offensive rating among the top 20 teams in the FPI. Below is a look at the top 20 teams sorted by offensive rating.

1. Oregon (15.4)

2. Georgia (15.2)

3. LSU (14.6)

4. Texas (11.2)

5. Kansas (10.8)

6. Notre Dame (10.4)

7. Alabama (9.6)

8. Ohio State (9.5)

9. USC (9.2)

10. Penn State (9.1)

11. Tennessee (8.5)

12. Missouri (8.2)

13. Oklahoma (8.1)

T14. Florida (6.7)

T14. Florida State (6.7)

16. Ole Miss (6.5)

17. Texas A&M (5.9)

18. Michigan (5.3)

19. Auburn (3.9)

20. Clemson (1.9)

Surprisingly, among the top 20 overall teams, Michigan posted just the ninth-best defensive FPI score of 8.4. Here is how the top 20 are sorted, according to defensive FPI rating.

1. Ohio State (12.4)

2. Alabama (11.2)

3. Georgia (11.1)

4. Texas (10.7)

5. Clemson (10.3)

6. Penn State (10.0)

7. Oregon (9.5)

8. Oklahoma (9.3)

9. Michigan (8.4)

10. Florida State (8.3)

11. Notre Dame (7.7)

12. Tennessee (7.6)

13. Texas A&M (7.1)

14. Missouri (6.5)

15. Auburn (6.0)

16. Ole Miss (5.2)

17. Florida (3.0)

18. USC (1.6)

19. Kansas (0.9)

20. LSU (0.4)

It's worth noting that Michigan's special teams FPI rating of 1.1 is tied with Alabama for the best mark among the nation's top 20 teams.

Michigan comes in with a projected regular-season win total of 8.3, which, for reference, is identical to Oklahoma's projected total. However, the Wolverines still fall behind many of college football's top contenders, including Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, Texas and others.

Michigan has a 7.3 percent chance of winning the Big Ten for the fourth year in a row.

According to the FPI, Michigan's chances of earning a spot in the 12-team playoff come in at 28.6 percent.

Michigan's odds of winning the national championship are 1.7 percent, which is good for 12th in the country.

- Michigan was not including among the 10 best teams with odds of earning a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.

- Michigan's home contest against Oregon ranked as the sixth-biggest matchup of the regular season, coming in at a rating of 92.3.

- Michigan vs. Texas earned a rating of 91.6, which was good for the eighth-biggest game of the season.

- The Game between Michigan and Ohio State is thought of as the 16th-biggest matchup of the season, with a rating of 87.9.

- The Game also has the second-largest impact on the CFP, with 36.5 percent leverage. It falls behind only Ohio State at Penn State (36.9 percent) for the best mark in the country.

- Texas at Michigan has 35.2 percent leverage, making it the sixth-most CFP-leveraging game of the season.

- Oregon at Michigan as 32.6 percent leverage, which is the 12th-most of any game in college football this upcoming season.

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