College football rankings keep the conversation going between games. On Sundays, the Coaches Poll and AP Poll offer a look into the top 25 teams. Next month, the College Football Playoff selection committee will get in on the action.
Out in Las Vegas, rankings are done a bit differently. Oddsmakers have power rankings for all 134 FBS teams. While coaches, media members and the CFP committee consider resumes and head-to-head outcomes, the smartest folks are only concerned with team strength at the moment to help determine betting lines.
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Phil Steele, widely recognized as a leading college football expert, 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. He is independent these days but continues to publish the Vegas numbers in weekly updates on his website during the season. The difference in two teams’ Vegas Ratings offers a look at what the opening betting line would be if those teams were meeting on a neutral field. Homefield advantage is widely considered to be worth 3 points.
Vegas numbers often don’t reflect results on the field. Entering Week 9, for example, Alabama is ranked above Tennessee despite UT’s win. Here’s where all 16 SEC teams stand in the Vegas Power Rankings for Week 9:
- No. 2 Georgia (133.01 Vegas Rating)
- No. 3 Texas (132.70)
- No. 5 Alabama (129.70)
- No. 6 Ole Miss (128.43)
- No. 7 Tennessee (127.43)
- No. 11 LSU (122.93)
- No. 13 Texas A&M (121.38)
- No. 19 South Carolina (117.97)
- No. 22 Mizzou (117.41)
- No. 23 Florida (116.80)
- No. 25 Arkansas (116.39)
- No. 26 Kentucky (116.13)
- No. 27 Auburn (115.90)
- No. 41 Oklahoma (112.84)
- No. 63 Vanderbilt (109.09)
- No. 81 Mississippi State (102.17)
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.
