It has Utah at 17, BSU at 37, and us at 44, so I'm not exactly sure what FPI means, even after looking it up. It looks like it is an amalgamation of predictive analytics looking at combined rankings, SOS, etc., etc. Correct me if I am wrong here.

Here is the ESPN link for your reference: https://www.espn.com/college-football/fpi

If you look at their schedule, it seems the committee is relying upon their best victory over tOSU and ignoring a terrible loss to a terrible Stanford team (3-7 overall; 3-2 in conference) whose only victories have come in conference, which is a real indication of the weakness of the conference as a whole.

Oregon's best wins in order:

1. 35-28 over tOSU (9-1; this was a really good win and caught OSU at a good time when Stroud and the defense were struggling early to gel; tOSU looks like a juggernaut on O again now).
2. 31-24 over Fresno State (8-3 overall)
3. 34-31 over UCLA (5-3 overall; 3-2 in conference)
4. 38-24 over WSU (5-5 overall)
5. 26-16 over UW (4-6 overall)
6. 52-29 over UC (3-7 overall)
7. 24-17 over a really bad Cal (3-6 overall)
8. 41-19 over a really, really bad UA (1-9)
9. 48-7 over a mediocre Stony Brook (4-6 overall)
10. 24-31 loss to a bad Stanford (3-7 overall)

Combined opponent W-L is 45-53. I predice they will actually lose to Utah because Utah looks like they have really turned it around with a better QB in Rising.

This is not so much about Oregon's schedule per se as it is about how head scratching the committee's decisions are. Granted, it seems like Oregon's O is playing much better, but they still struggle to put away mediocre teams and have lost to a bad team. In comparison, tOSU's loss to Oregon is considered not as bad because of Oregon's record and their CFP rank, which makes for a circular argument with the committee.

I think a stronger case could be made for UM, MSU, and UC is close.

UM opponent W-L: 47-45 with wins over ranked PSU and Wiscy and loss to CFP #7 MSU (8-1) by 4.
MSU opponent W-L: 48-53 with wins over ranked Miami and and CFP #6 UM and loss to Purdue (ranked at the time). W-L is very comparable to Oregon's, but with much better wins and a better loss to Purdue.
Cincinnati opponent W-L: 40-60 with wins over ranked Indiana (at the time) and CFP #8 Notre Dame

Cincinnati's strength of schedule is suspect, but they have arguably just as good a win over ND as Oregon's win over tOSU and they are undefeated in two regular seasons in a row (so far) with a slim margin of loss to an unbelievable Georgia team in the Peach Bowl last season. I think head-to-head, UC would probably beat Oregon. They won't get the chance, but they will.

MSU should be #4 and UM #5 followed by UC. It makes little sense for UM to be above MSU, because they lost to MSU, but they have similar resumes. These are no brainers and yet it seems like there is a room full of otherwise intelligent people making extremely baffling decisions year after year.