After crunching the numbers, Bill Connelly of SB Nation has just announced his first S&P+ projections for the 2017 season. As you might imagine, Connelly has a ton of faith in the SEC – especially the West teams – as several league teams dominate the rankings once again.

The S&P+ rankings are determined by three factors: Recruiting, returning production, and recent history. Connelly goes in-depth on each item of his grading scale at SB Nation.

While Alabama is the runaway #1 team in these S&P+ projected rankings, LSU is also regarded as one of the best teams. Had a few close games gone differently for the Tigers, LSU’s 2016 season would have gone much better.

LSU went just 1-4 against teams in last year’s S&P+ top 15, but the four losses were by a combined 23 points. Against teams outside of the top 15, the Tigers were 7-0 with an average win of 22 points. They were an excellent, slightly unlucky team, and they project in the top 10 per all three projection factors — recruiting, returning production, and recent history.

The note on LSU is important to remember, as close game results are typically a 50/50 proposition and have a way of correcting themselves. If the Tigers can flip that script and go 4-1 in close games in 2017, LSU could be in for a fantastic season.

Here’s every SEC team’s initial projected 2017 S&P+ ranking:

#1 Alabama

#4 LSU

#9 Auburn

#15 Florida

#19 Texas A&M

#20 Georgia

#24 Tennessee

#26 Ole Miss

#30 Mississippi State

#32 Arkansas

#36 South Carolina

#41 Kentucky

#53 Missouri

#63 Vanderbilt