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Seven SEC teams make Bill Connelly’s S&P+ projected 2017 Top 25 rankings
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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
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
