⚡ CFB Dashboard

East Carolina's football team recorded its first victory of the 2026 campaign in Week 3, outlasting Old Dominion, 20-17, in a defensive slugfest inside SB Ballard Stadium in Norfolk, Va. The Pirates will try and make it two in a row this weekend, when they host North Carolina Central in the team's non-conference finale. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. In the mean time, the results of the Week 3 game have shifted the ESPN Football Power Index numbers across the country, ECU included. The formula gives winning percentage chances for each game (ECU had a 52.5 percent chance of winning at ODU, and ended up eking one out). The Pirates are currently rated 84th nationally in FPI, which is currently eighth in The American. For those unfamiliar with ESPN's FPI, here's a synopsis of the formula: The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily. Below, we dive into what the latest projections say, including how much things have changed since last week, when we did our prior article on ESPN's FPI. This will be a weekly updated piece on Hoist The Colours, to track how the numbers change throughout the season.