Breaking down Auburn’s Football Power Index ranking since 2005

Over the last two decades, Auburn Tiger fans have seen the ups and downs of their program. The highs were the 2010 BCS National Championship team and the lows were the 3-9 campaign that ended in the dismissal of Gene Chizik.

In the first year of the Gus Malzahn era, the team was battling for another national championship but came up short against the Florida State Seminoles. A new era began in 2021 with the dismissal of Malzahn and the hiring of former Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin.

In recent weeks ESPN published their updated Football Power Index (FPI) that measures team strength, based on 20,000 simulations as explained on their website.

This year the Tigers have the following preseason FPI ratings:

FPI: 13.9

Overall Ranking: No. 10

SEC Ranking: No. 3

Auburn Wire breaks down each final FPI dating back to 2005:

2005: 9-3

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 17.4

Overall Ranking: No. 9

SEC Ranking: No. 4

Bowl Game: 24-10 loss to Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl

2006: 11-2

Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports Copyright

FPI: 14.5

Overall Ranking: No. 12

SEC Ranking: No. 3

Bowl Game: 17-14 over Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl

2007: 9-4

Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 12.4

Overall Ranking: No. 18

SEC Ranking: No. 4

Bowl Game: 23-20 win over Clemson in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl

2008: 5-7

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 4.7

Overall Ranking: No. 49

SEC Ranking: No. 8

Bowl Game: Failed to qualify

2009: 8-5

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 11.1

Overall Ranking: No. 26

SEC Ranking: No. 8

Bowl Game: 38-35 win over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl

2010: 14-0

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 22.7

Overall Ranking: No. 7

SEC Ranking: No. 2

Bowl Game: 22-19 win over Oregon in the BCS National Championship

2011: 8-5

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 4.1

Overall Ranking: No. 51

SEC Ranking: No. 10

Bowl Game: 43-24 win over Virginia in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl

2012: 3-9

Gene Chizik

Gene Chizik

AP Photo/Dave Martin

FPI: 0.3

National Ranking: No. 67

SEC Ranking: No. 13

Bowl Game: Failed to qualify

2013: 12-2

Gus Malzahn

Gus Malzahn

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 19.9

National Ranking: No. 12

SEC Ranking: No. 4

Bowl Game: 34-31 loss to Florida State in the BCS National Championship

2014: 8-5

Gus Malzahn

Gus Malzahn

Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 21.9

Overall Ranking: No. 8

SEC Ranking: No. 3

Bowl Game: 34-31 loss to Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl

2015: 7-6

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 13.0

Overall Ranking: No. 30

SEC Ranking: No. 10

Bowl Game: 31-10 win over Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl

2016: 8-5

Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 19.3

Overall Ranking: No. 11

SEC Ranking: No. 3

Bowl Game: 35-19 loss to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl

2017: 10-4

Gus Malzahn

Gus Malzahn

Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 21.6

Overall Ranking: No. 9

SEC Ranking: No. 3

Bowl Game: 34-27 loss to UCF in the Peach Bowl

2018: 8-5

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 16.0

Overall Ranking: No. 12

SEC Ranking: No. 5

Bowl Game: 63-14 win over Purdue in the Music City Bowl

2019: 9-4

Gus Malzahn

Gus Malzahn

Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 21.3

Overall Ranking: No. 10

SEC Ranking: No. 5

Bowl Game: 31-24 loss to Minnesota in the Outback Bowl

2020: 6-5

Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

FPI: 13.3

Overall Ranking: No. 19

SEC Ranking: No. 5

Bowl Game: 35-19 loss to Northwestern in the Citrus Bowl

2021: 6-7

AP Photo/Butch Dill

FPI: 9.9

Overall Ranking: No. 20

SEC Ranking: No. 5

Bowl Game: 17-13 loss to Houston in the Birmingham Bowl

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