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Florida International

Panthers · Conference USA

Head coach Willie Simmons Year 1 with Florida International

Year-1 HCs (2015-2024) averaged -0.19 W vs SP+ expected · n=83

Season Projection · 2026 W0

10,000 sims
5.7
Expected wins
6-6
Proj record
2 to 9
Win range (90%)
#105 (84–126)
Final rank (90%)
0%
Make playoff
6%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

0%

Baseline projection.

  • vs Buffalo
    Home · Sep 12
  • at Florida Atlantic
    Away · Sep 19
  • vs Long Island University
    Home · Sep 26

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2025

45 PCI
  • Quarterback 50% (3/6 players)
  • Offensive line 45% (9/20 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 46% (13/28 players)
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 44% (12/27 players)
  • Secondary 43% (9/21 players)
  • Special teams 13% (1/8 players)

PCI weights returning production by position group (QB/OL heaviest). 70%+ is healthy continuity; 45-70% is a normal rebuild; below 45% is a meaningful turnover.

If QB1 is out (Keyone Jenkins)

GIE projects a 6.5 rating drop and a 26.2pp shift in playoff probability if Florida International loses its QB1 for an extended stretch. (n=3 historical samples; pooled across recent seasons.)

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 32.7% 27th — below avg
  • Red-zone TD rate 15.8% 62th — average
  • 4th-down aggression 48.5% 92th — elite
  • Late & close 5.5 yds/play 61th — average

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.