College football guru Phil Steele is one of the sport’s most popular analysts for his preseason preview. Steele also offers in-season analysis, including a look into how the smartest folks in the desert rank the 131 FBS teams.

Steele has published weekly Vegas Power Ratings since his days at ESPN. Now independent, Steele maintains connections with sportsbook handicappers at multiple Las Vegas casinos and shares the power rankings on his own website.

According to Steele, the difference in two teams’ Vegas Ratings offers the projected betting line for a neutral-field meeting. Steele notes that, unlike other polls, the Vegas Ratings don’t always reflect prior outcomes on the field:

Keep in mind just because a team beat someone last week does not mean they would be favored over them in the Vegas ratings. Let me give you a couple of examples from this week. I will update these each week during the year. Alabama barely got past Texas by 1 and was basically outplayed in the game. If the two met again on a neutral field, Bama would be a 13-point favorite. … If Bama played Tennessee on a neutral field this week the time would be -7’.

Entering Week 9, Mississippi State and Ole Miss have the same listed Vegas Rating, though the Bulldogs are ranked a spot higher. Here are the rankings for all 14 SEC teams:

  • No. 2 Alabama (136.11 Vegas Rating)
  • No. 3 Georgia (135.21)
  • No. 4 Tennessee (128.36)
  • No. 13 LSU (119.60)
  • No. 14 Mississippi State (119.14)
  • No. 15 Ole Miss (119.14)
  • No. 17 Arkansas (118.97)
  • No. 20 Kentucky (117.83)
  • No. 26 Texas A&M (116.15)
  • No. 35 Florida (114.05)
  • No. 43 South Carolina (112.35)
  • No. 58 Missouri (108.51)
  • No. 59 Auburn (108.47)
  • No. 101 Vanderbilt (97.75)

Vegas Ratings for all 131 FBS teams, starting with No. 1 Ohio State, can be viewed on Steele’s website.