With national signing day in the rearview mirror, it's time to start looking ahead to the 2017 college football season.

It also means there is enough information for ESPN Stats & Information to run its initial version of the Preseason Football Power Index (FPI) to determine the best and worst teams heading into next season.

Preseason FPI is designed to take the guesswork out of preseason ratings. It is an automated ranking intended to measure team strength going forward. It is not a ranking of who will have the highest win total (which is dependent on schedule) or who is most likely to make the College Football Playoff.

The model comprises four major components: the last four seasons of performance on offense, defense and special teams, with the most recent season counting most; information on offensive and defensive returning starters, with special consideration given to a team returning its starting quarterback or gaining a transfer quarterback with experience; a four-year average recruiting ranking of four systems (ESPN, Scouts, Rivals and Phil Steele); and head coaching tenure. These four components interact and are assigned different weights depending on the team to produce preseason FPI.

Combining all of the factors above produces a predicted value on offense, defense and special teams, which represents the number of points that each unit would be expected to contribute to the team’s scoring margin if it were to face an average FBS team on a neutral field.

Ohio State sits at No. 1 in the first iteration of preseason FPI. Entering his sixth season as head coach at Ohio State, Urban Meyer is returning eight offensive starters, including quarterback J.T. Barrett. The Buckeyes are returning seven starters to a defense that finished last season ranked second in defensive efficiency. Meyer again added depth to the team with a top-10 recruiting class for the fifth straight year.

Preseason FPI Rankings - Version 1.0 RANK TEAM FPI PRED

OFF

RK PRED

OFF PRED

DEF

RK PRED

DEF 1 Ohio State 28.9 2 12.1 2 14.8 2 Alabama 25.9 9 8.3 1 15.7 3 Oklahoma 24.5 1 17.4 20 6.2 4 Florida State 24.3 3 11.8 4 11.6 5 Auburn 21.5 5 10.4 10 9.4 6 LSU 19.6 10 8.0 6 10.4 7 Clemson 19.6 16 7.0 3 11.9 8 Penn State 18.9 6 9.9 17 7.7 9 Washington 18.7 8 8.6 12 8.7 10 Wisconsin 17.4 15 7.0 9 9.4 11 Stanford 16.7 30 4.7 8 9.7 12 USC 16.3 18 6.7 15 8.1 13 Georgia 15.6 36 3.5 5 11.1 14 Louisville 14.9 21 6.3 14 8.4 15 Florida 14.5 46 2.6 7 10.0 16 Miami (FL) 14.4 40 3.3 11 9.3 17 Notre Dame 14.2 14 7.2 22 6.0 18 Michigan 13.7 26 5.2 19 7.3 19 TCU 13.5 11 7.6 27 5.2 20 Tennessee 13.4 22 6.2 25 5.4 21 Oregon 12.3 4 11.6 61 -0.1 22 North Carolina State 12.2 19 6.5 23 5.7 23 UCLA 12.1 34 3.8 18 7.4 24 Texas 11.8 41 3.3 16 7.9 25 Washington State 11.7 13 7.3 29 4.3 26 Oklahoma State 10.6 12 7.3 46 2.2 27 Texas A&M 10.6 43 2.9 21 6.1 28 Baylor 8.7 27 5.0 32 3.6 29 Northwestern 8.6 48 2.5 26 5.4 30 Kansas State 8.5 24 5.5 48 2.1 31 Virginia Tech 8.2 74 -1.4 13 8.6 32 South Carolina 8.0 39 3.3 31 4.0 33 Mississippi State 7.6 23 6.1 55 1.4 34 Kentucky 7.4 31 4.6 45 2.3 35 North Carolina 7.3 42 3.1 35 3.3 36 Arkansas 7.0 25 5.4 58 1.1 37 Georgia Tech 6.8 32 4.6 54 1.4 38 Ole Miss 6.8 44 2.9 34 3.4 39 Iowa 6.6 62 0.0 24 5.4 40 Arizona State 5.6 53 1.3 39 2.9 41 Missouri 5.6 20 6.4 67 -1.0 42 Colorado 4.9 51 1.9 40 2.9 43 Memphis 4.6 28 4.9 69 -1.6 44 Pittsburgh 4.3 17 6.9 77 -2.6 45 Duke 4.2 55 1.3 43 2.5 46 Syracuse 4.1 37 3.4 57 1.2 47 Vanderbilt 4.0 58 0.4 33 3.5 48 Texas Tech 3.9 7 9.3 102 -5.1 49 Brigham Young 3.8 60 0.2 37 3.0 50 Utah 3.7 72 -1.4 30 4.0 51 South Florida 3.5 35 3.6 59 0.2 52 Oregon State 2.0 67 -0.9 44 2.4 53 West Virginia 2.0 56 0.6 53 1.5 54 Wake Forest 1.9 76 -1.6 36 3.1 55 Arizona 1.6 29 4.7 79 -2.8 56 Boise State 1.6 47 2.6 65 -0.8 57 Nebraska 1.5 82 -2.2 38 2.9 58 Michigan State 1.4 66 -0.9 50 1.9 59 Houston 0.8 70 -1.2 47 2.2 60 Indiana 0.8 79 -1.9 41 2.9 61 Minnesota 0.8 78 -1.7 52 1.8 62 California 0.8 33 4.1 89 -3.7 63 San Diego State -0.1 88 -3.3 42 2.8 64 Colorado State -0.2 45 2.8 80 -2.8 65 Toledo -0.3 38 3.4 86 -3.2 66 UCF -0.6 84 -2.8 49 2.0 67 Tulsa -0.9 52 1.9 73 -2.3 68 Iowa State -1.2 54 1.3 78 -2.6 69 Maryland -1.5 83 -2.3 60 0.1 70 Western Michigan -1.8 65 -0.9 62 -0.5 71 Navy -1.9 49 2.4 88 -3.7 72 Boston College -2.0 112 -6.6 28 4.3 73 Virginia -2.1 90 -3.9 51 1.8 74 Appalachian State -3.1 75 -1.5 66 -0.9 75 Army -3.2 57 0.4 75 -2.4 76 Troy -3.4 77 -1.7 70 -1.6 77 Western Kentucky -4.4 73 -1.4 74 -2.4 78 Tulane -4.5 98 -4.9 56 1.2 79 Southern Methodist -4.9 71 -1.3 81 -2.9 80 Wyoming -5.2 68 -1.1 83 -2.9 81 Louisiana Tech -6.6 61 0.1 105 -5.6 82 Temple -7.3 97 -4.9 72 -2.1 83 Illinois -7.3 114 -6.8 63 -0.6 84 Arkansas State -7.5 108 -6.0 68 -1.2 85 Miami (OH) -7.5 93 -4.5 71 -2.0 86 Middle Tennessee -7.8 63 -0.5 113 -6.5 87 Marshall -8.1 89 -3.4 95 -4.3 88 Rutgers -8.3 117 -7.4 64 -0.7 89 Central Michigan -8.3 86 -3.0 93 -4.3 90 Cincinnati -8.5 99 -5.1 82 -2.9 91 Ohio -8.6 100 -5.1 87 -3.3 92 Air Force -9.1 64 -0.9 118 -7.4 93 Old Dominion -9.5 69 -1.2 115 -6.9 94 Northern Illinois -9.5 96 -4.8 92 -4.0 95 UTSA -9.7 102 -5.2 91 -3.9 96 New Mexico -9.8 50 2.0 130 -11.2 97 East Carolina -9.8 87 -3.3 103 -5.4 98 Purdue -9.8 105 -5.6 90 -3.8 99 Utah State -10.0 94 -4.7 98 -4.7 100 Southern Miss -10.1 109 -6.2 84 -3.2 101 Florida Atlantic -10.6 92 -4.4 107 -6.0 102 Kansas -11.0 123 -8.4 76 -2.5 103 UNLV -11.1 59 0.3 129 -10.3 104 Akron -11.2 80 -2.1 122 -8.1 105 Ball State -11.3 81 -2.1 124 -8.5 106 Nevada -11.9 106 -5.7 106 -5.6 107 Hawaii -11.9 91 -4.2 117 -7.2 108 Fresno State -12.0 113 -6.7 101 -5.1 109 Louisiana-Lafayette -12.1 122 -8.3 85 -3.2 110 San Jose State -12.4 115 -7.2 94 -4.3 111 Bowling Green -12.6 104 -5.6 112 -6.3 112 Eastern Michigan -12.9 85 -2.8 127 -9.2 113 Coastal Carolina -13.2 101 -5.1 116 -6.9 114 Georgia Southern -13.3 111 -6.4 110 -6.2 115 Massachusetts -13.4 103 -5.5 114 -6.6 116 Kent State -13.6 121 -8.3 96 -4.4 117 Louisiana-Monroe -14.1 110 -6.3 109 -6.1 118 Rice -14.5 107 -5.8 121 -7.7 119 Idaho -14.6 95 -4.7 126 -9.1 120 Connecticut -14.8 126 -9.3 97 -4.6 121 South Alabama -14.9 116 -7.4 111 -6.3 122 Buffalo -15.0 124 -8.5 99 -4.7 123 Florida International -15.3 129 -9.8 100 -4.8 124 Georgia State -15.5 120 -8.3 104 -5.5 125 North Texas -15.6 118 -7.5 120 -7.6 126 New Mexico State -16.8 125 -8.8 108 -6.0 127 UAB -16.9 127 -9.3 119 -7.4 128 UTEP -19.0 119 -7.8 128 -10.0 129 Charlotte -19.2 128 -9.3 123 -8.5 130 Texas State -21.2 130 -11.1 125 -8.9

There will be multiple iterations of preseason FPI to capture the most up-to-date information on returning starters and other factors that affect the rankings. Complete season projections, which will include a team’s chance to win its conference, projected win total and more, will be available this spring. For more on the model and how it was created, please read this article or this companion piece from last season's release.