With the 2020 season complete and the 2021 recruiting cycle effectively over on National Signing Day, the focus is shifting to the 2021 fall season. Spring practice is just around the corner and some outlets are sharing preseason rankings even ahead of those 15 practices and scrimmage games.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly has updated his SP+ rankings for all 130 FBS teams. Connelly shares that his 2021 preseason SP+ rankings are based on returning production from last season, recent recruiting and recent history.

For those unfamiliar with SP+, Connelly defines it as a predictive metric of efficiency:

What is SP+? In a single sentence, it’s a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. …

More than ever, it’s important to note that SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling — no good predictive system is.

The metric is especially popular with bettors for traditionally going above 50% in predicting outcomes against the Vegas spread.

Here’s how the 14 SEC teams rank in the SP+ rankings, updated after National Signing Day:

  1. Alabama (30.7, No. 1 overall)
  2. Georgia (24.1, No. 6)
  3. Florida (21.2, No. 12)
  4. Texas A&M (20.9, No. 13)
  5. Ole Miss (24.9, No. 24)
  6. LSU (14.6, No. 26)
  7. Auburn (14.2, No. 28)
  8. Arkansas (8.8, No. 41)
  9. Mississippi State (8.1, No. 44)
  10. Tennessee (6.1, No. 49)
  11. Kentucky (4.8, No. 57)
  12. Mizzou (4.7, No. 58)
  13. South Carolina (-5.3, No. 90)
  14. Vanderbilt (-12.7, No. 108)