SEC lands 9 teams in SP+ 2023 projections, including 4 in top 10

Bill Connelly is out with his SP+ projections at ESPN as he turns his attention to the 2023 season.

As a refresher from last season, the SEC graded out as the top conference on average despite some late fades from certain teams, while the Big 12, driven both by TCU’s national title push and a really high floor, ended up a good amount ahead of the Big Ten in the No. 2 spot.

The SEC has an average rating of 16.6, ahead of the second-ranked conference, the Big Ten, at 10.1. The SEC had 9 in the top 25, and 4 in the top 10.

1. Georgia
4. Alabama
6. Tennessee
7. LSU
17. Texas A&M
18. Ole Miss
20. Florida
23. Mississippi State
25. Kentucky
26. Auburn
29. Arkansas
32. Missouri
33. South Carolina
71. Vanderbilt

A reminder on SP+: It’s a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking, and, along those same lines, these projections aren’t intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the year. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather to date.

? 2023 SP+ PROJECTIONS ?

* You’ll NEVER BELIEVE who’s No. 1!
* Bama starts out fourth??? #TheSkyIsFalling
* The Pac-12 race could be fantastic
* Kent State ?
* Welcome to the party, @JSUGamecocks_FB and @BearkatsFB

THE OFFSEASON’S OVER, EVERYBODYhttps://t.co/e5MWjgkWcF

— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) February 14, 2023

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.