ESPN reveals preseason SP+ rankings for every SEC team in 2020
By SDS Staff
Published:
Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings, metric-based rankings popular with media members, bettors and (some) casual fans, have been unveiled ahead of Week 1 of the 2020 college football season.
The ESPN analyst has three SEC teams in the top 5, with Alabama leading the way at No. 2 overall behind No. 1 overall Clemson. As Vanderbilt’s No. 110 ranking indicates, Connelly ranked all 130 FBS teams for his preseason poll, even teams that will not be playing a fall season.
- No. 2 Alabama
- No. 4 Georgia
- No. 5 Florida
- No. 10 Texas A&M
- No. 11 Auburn
- No. 13 LSU
- No. 19 Tennessee
- No. 22 Kentucky
- No. 36 South Carolina
- No. 38 Ole Miss
- No. 44 Missouri
- No. 48 Mississippi State
- No. 75 Arkansas
- No. 110 Vanderbilt
Connelly notes that his rankings find Kentucky is one of the most underrated teams in CFB. The Wildcats are No. 22 in SP+ compared to the receiving votes equivalent of No. 34 in the Associated Press Top 25. Meanwhile, LSU is overrated as the AP’s preseason No. 7 while the SP+ puts the defending champion at No. 13.
For those unfamiliar with SP+, here are prior explanations Connelly has offered of his in-season score-based rankings:
What is SP+? In a single sentence, it’s a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. I created the system at Football Outsiders in 2008, and as my experience with both college football and its stats has grown, I have made quite a few tweaks to the system.
SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing. That is important to remember. It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling — no good predictive system is. It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.
The 2020 preseason rankings are based on returning production, recent history and recruiting.
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
