National signing day is complete, which means it's time to start looking ahead to the 2016 college football season.

It also means there is enough information for ESPN Stats & Information to run its initial 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.

More detail on how Preseason FPI is determined and why LSU is No. 1 is available in this post.

Preseason FPI 1.0 Rankings RANK TEAM FPI PRED

OFF

RK PRED

OFF PRED

DEF

RK PRED

DEF 1 LSU 26.7 3 13.1 2 12.1 2 Florida State 26.5 1 15.6 8 9.4 3 Oklahoma 24.9 4 12.8 4 10.6 4 Clemson 24.8 2 14.4 7 9.6 5 Tennessee 23.0 6 11.4 10 9.1 6 Alabama 22.8 22 7.0 1 14.0 7 Ole Miss 19.8 13 9.4 9 9.1 8 USC 19.5 8 11.1 24 7.1 9 Georgia 18.5 12 9.7 18 7.8 10 Oklahoma State 17.7 7 11.3 32 5.4 11 Michigan 17.1 26 6.8 12 8.7 12 Louisville 16.9 18 7.4 11 8.7 13 Washington 16.8 36 4.4 3 10.8 14 Texas A&M 16.6 33 5.0 6 9.7 15 Notre Dame 16.5 9 10.6 35 4.8 16 Baylor 16.4 5 11.5 36 4.6 17 Ohio State 16.3 27 6.4 15 8.3 18 Stanford 15.1 17 8.0 31 6.0 19 UCLA 15.0 32 5.4 14 8.4 20 North Carolina 14.7 10 10.3 48 3.2 21 Auburn 14.1 24 6.9 29 6.0 22 Mississippi State 14.0 19 7.3 30 6.0 23 Florida 13.9 45 2.6 5 9.9 24 West Virginia 13.3 20 7.3 33 5.2 25 Nebraska 12.8 21 7.2 37 4.4 26 Miami (FL) 12.6 15 8.8 50 2.7 27 Arkansas 12.4 23 6.9 34 4.9 28 Oregon 11.9 11 10.0 58 1.4 29 Texas 11.7 44 2.7 20 7.7 30 Pittsburgh 11.7 25 6.9 38 4.1 31 Wisconsin 11.6 52 1.9 13 8.6 32 Arizona 10.8 16 8.3 54 2.3 33 TCU 10.8 56 1.6 16 8.3 34 Michigan State 10.2 57 1.6 17 7.9 35 Boise State 10.0 31 5.6 41 3.8 36 Penn State 10.0 49 2.1 23 7.2 37 Utah 9.3 69 0.2 22 7.4 38 Iowa 9.0 47 2.5 27 6.2 39 South Carolina 8.8 35 4.6 42 3.6 40 Washington State 8.3 30 5.6 49 2.9 41 Virginia Tech 8.2 65 0.4 26 6.7 42 North Carolina State 7.5 41 3.1 40 3.9 43 Brigham Young 6.3 46 2.6 43 3.6 44 South Florida 6.3 48 2.4 45 3.4 45 Texas Tech 6.2 14 8.9 85 -2.5 46 Georgia Tech 6.0 37 4.0 56 1.7 47 Arizona State 5.8 60 1.1 39 4.1 48 Houston 5.6 42 2.9 52 2.5 49 California 5.6 39 3.5 55 1.8 50 Vanderbilt 5.5 93 -2.2 25 7.0 51 Missouri 5.3 96 -2.7 21 7.6 52 Boston College 4.9 103 -3.7 19 7.7 53 Northwestern 3.9 97 -3.0 28 6.1 54 Kentucky 3.3 43 2.8 68 0.0 55 Western Michigan 3.3 29 6.3 91 -2.9 56 Duke 3.1 53 1.9 63 0.4 57 Kansas State 3.1 61 1.1 59 1.3 58 Wake Forest 2.9 84 -1.3 44 3.5 59 Colorado 2.6 77 -0.7 47 3.2 60 San Diego State 2.1 91 -1.9 46 3.3 61 Syracuse 1.9 54 1.7 66 0.1 62 Indiana 1.9 40 3.5 81 -1.9 63 Virginia 1.7 68 0.2 57 1.5 64 Temple 1.6 85 -1.4 51 2.5 65 Minnesota 1.6 64 0.5 61 0.9 66 Appalachian State 1.3 74 -0.4 53 2.3 67 Purdue 1.3 59 1.2 65 0.2 68 Air Force 1.1 51 1.9 74 -0.5 69 Western Kentucky 0.9 28 6.3 108 -5.1 70 Cincinnati 0.7 55 1.7 75 -0.5 71 Iowa State 0.5 75 -0.5 60 0.9 72 Illinois 0.0 71 -0.2 64 0.3 73 Oregon State 0.0 58 1.4 78 -1.3 74 Rutgers -0.1 50 2.0 88 -2.6 75 Maryland -0.1 82 -0.9 62 0.5 76 Marshall -0.4 70 0.0 76 -0.7 77 San Jose State -0.6 38 3.6 92 -3.2 78 Tulsa -0.9 34 4.6 106 -4.8 79 Northern Illinois -1.9 87 -1.6 69 0.0 80 Central Michigan -2.1 88 -1.6 67 0.0 81 Navy -2.2 73 -0.4 79 -1.4 82 Utah State -2.3 67 0.3 83 -2.3 83 Georgia Southern -2.4 80 -0.8 77 -1.2 84 Connecticut -2.5 92 -2.0 73 -0.5 85 Memphis -3.4 99 -3.4 71 -0.3 86 Middle Tennessee -3.6 63 0.8 100 -3.9 87 Toledo -3.7 79 -0.8 89 -2.6 88 Arkansas State -4.6 104 -4.5 70 -0.1 89 Bowling Green -4.9 76 -0.6 97 -3.7 90 Southern Miss -5.0 78 -0.7 98 -3.8 91 Southern Methodist -5.3 66 0.3 110 -5.1 92 Nevada -5.4 62 0.9 115 -5.9 93 Troy -5.4 102 -3.7 80 -1.5 94 Louisiana Tech -6.0 83 -1.2 103 -4.3 95 East Carolina -6.2 90 -1.8 101 -3.9 96 New Mexico -6.8 107 -5.0 82 -1.9 97 Louisiana-Lafayette -7.4 89 -1.7 104 -4.7 98 Colorado State -7.5 72 -0.3 117 -6.7 99 Army -7.6 98 -3.4 96 -3.6 100 UCF -8.9 114 -6.7 86 -2.5 101 Wyoming -9.3 95 -2.7 112 -5.2 102 Ohio -9.6 111 -5.8 95 -3.6 103 Georgia State -9.7 109 -5.1 93 -3.3 104 Fresno State -9.9 106 -4.7 105 -4.7 105 Kent State -10.1 124 -9.2 72 -0.4 106 Tulane -10.3 115 -6.8 87 -2.5 107 Kansas -10.4 112 -6.5 94 -3.4 108 UNLV -10.6 108 -5.0 107 -5.0 109 Florida Atlantic -10.9 119 -8.1 90 -2.6 110 Ball State -11.4 110 -5.7 114 -5.6 111 Miami (OH) -11.5 113 -6.5 102 -4.2 112 Old Dominion -11.5 94 -2.7 121 -7.3 113 Akron -11.8 116 -7.4 99 -3.8 114 Rice -11.9 100 -3.5 122 -7.7 115 Buffalo -12.0 121 -8.5 84 -2.3 116 Florida International -12.2 101 -3.7 123 -8.0 117 Hawaii -12.6 117 -7.8 111 -5.2 118 Idaho -12.9 81 -0.8 127 -11.0 119 Eastern Michigan -15.0 86 -1.5 128 -12.1 120 South Alabama -15.0 123 -9.0 109 -5.1 121 New Mexico State -15.8 105 -4.5 125 -9.7 122 UTEP -16.0 120 -8.2 120 -7.2 123 UTSA -17.9 125 -10.3 119 -6.9 124 Charlotte -18.2 127 -11.6 113 -5.4 125 Massachusetts -18.2 122 -8.9 124 -8.1 126 Texas State -18.3 118 -7.8 126 -10.1 127 Louisiana-Monroe -18.6 126 -10.6 118 -6.9 128 North Texas -19.5 128 -13.4 116 -6.1

There will be multiple iterations of preseason FPI before the season to capture the most up-to-date information on returning starters and other factors that impact the rankings. Full 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 read this article or this companion piece.