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The latest edition of the College Football Future Power Rankings was released this week, projecting the potential for success for college football programs over the next three seasons. ESPN Insider's Travis Haney led a panel of experts who ranked teams in five categories and combined those ratings into an FPR score designed to identify teams best positioned to compete for conference and national championship accolades in the 2015 to 2017 seasons. We wanted to find out whether our computer projections agreed with the FPR. Our methodology at Football Outsiders uses five years of opponent-adjusted drive-efficiency data to help forecast the upcoming season and beyond. Our research reveals that recent success and multiyear trajectory can be strong indicators for projecting program power and victories. It is no coincidence that the four teams that played in the inaugural College Football Playoff were also the four programs from Power 5 conferences with the best FBS winning percentage over five years through last season. Adjusting the FPR title path methodology, we calculated the likelihood that each program would make at least one playoff appearance over the next three seasons as well. Our top 10 projected programs represent two contenders from each of the Power 5 conferences, but only six of the experts' top 10 FPR picks made our list.
 1. Alabama Crimson Tide
Rank in FPR: 2
Projected three-year FBS record: 33-5 (.868)
Projected likelihood of at least one playoff appearance from 2015-17: 77 percent
There is no surer thing in college football than the enduring strength of the Alabama program under Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide have ranked among the top three teams in our end-of-year drive-efficiency ratings in each of the past six seasons and have claimed three national championships in the same span. The depth of the SEC will pressure Bama in its annual playoff pursuit, but the nation's strongest recruiting profile has well equipped the roster in Tuscaloosa to meet the challenges from other contenders.
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