College football rankings give fans and media members plenty to talk about between games. Traditional rankings, like the Coaches Poll and AP Poll, focus on the top 25. Out in Las Vegas, oddsmakers have power rankings for every FBS team.
Vegas rankings tend to look a bit different than the AP Top 25. The smartest folks in the desert only care about making money, as the casinos on The Strip weren’t built out of charity. Vegas handicappers are focused on figuring out which teams would win on a neutral field, regardless of preseason rankings, records and resumes.
Phil Steele, widely recognized as a college football guru, has connections to oddsmakers at the Las Vegas SuperBook and other casinos. Steele has published weekly in-season Vegas Power Ratings since his time at ESPN. Steele is independent these days but continues to publish the Vegas numbers in weekly updates on his website during the season.
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Each team is given a numerical value called a Vegas Rating. The difference between two teams’ Vegas Ratings offers a look into what the opening betting line would be if those two teams met on a neutral field. Lines can then move based on action.
Steele regularly reminds fans that Vegas Rankings do not always reflect prior outcomes. South Carolina defeated Kentucky 31-6 in Lexington in Week 2, but Vegas rates the Wildcats slightly higher than the Gamecocks.
Here’s where all 16 SEC teams stand in the Vegas Power Rankings for Week 4:
- No. 1 Georgia (135.53 Vegas Rating)
- No. 3 Texas (133.00)
- No. 4 Alabama (131.32)
- No. 5 Ole Miss (128.00)
- No. 6 Tennessee (127.97)
- No. 12 LSU (120.96)
- No. 13 Mizzou (120.89)
- No. 15 Texas A&M (120.27)
- No. 19 Oklahoma (118.92)
- No. 26 Arkansas (114.97)
- No. 27 Auburn (114.93)
- No. 32 Kentucky (114.06)
- No. 33 South Carolina (113.95)
- No. 39 Florida (112.23)
- No. 72 Mississippi State (104.47)
- No. 83 Vanderbilt (100.93)
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
