From Alabama to Vandy, where every SEC team ranks in ESPN's SP+ rankings after Week 2
Two weeks of SEC football in 2020 are in the books, and ESPN’s Bill Connelly has adjusted his SP+ rankings to reflect Saturday’s college football results.
The SP+ rankings are “a tempo and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” created by Connelly. The rankings are “predictive” according to Connelly, taking how a team’s play will affect its future games into account more so than recent results.
Alabama is at the top of the SEC, and at No. 2 nationally having surpassed Clemson and sitting behind only Ohio State, who has not played a game in 2020. The Crimson Tide have a rating of 28.5 and are two spots ahead of Georgia, who is at No. 4 with a 25.6 rating following a dominant 27-6 win over Auburn.
Florida is the only other SEC team in the top ten at No. 8 with a rating of 21. Auburn comes in at No. 15, with LSU at No. 20 and Tennessee at No. 22 with a rating of 13.6.
Texas A&M sits as No. 29 after a being routed by Alabama on the road, and Kentucky is at No. 42. South Carolina and Ole Miss take the No. 43 and 44 spots, respectively. Mississippi State was riding high last week after the upset over LSU, but fell to Arkansas in Mike Leach’s home opener on Saturday, and are down to No. 47 in the SP+ rankings.
The SEC bottom-feeders in these rankings are Missouri at No. 65, Arkansas at No. 68, and finally Vanderbilt at No. 115. Vandy has a -12.7 rating, and sit behind several non-Power 5 schools such as Middle Tennessee, UTSA, South Alabama, and others.
I would have Tennessee above LSU. The Aggies belong with the group in the 40’s. They barely beat Vandy and then lost to Bama. Arkansas should be ahead of Missouri.
And the two Mississippi schools should be ahead of Kentucky and SC, as they have won games.
Respect…
I didnt believe LSU’s early rankings with all the turnover in personnel. (I know . Easy to say now, right?) But this is my west team and im a fan of orgeron. I hope LSU and TN get much better fast. Its about to get real
Ain’t no way Mizzou is 60+ better than Vandy. Atleast Vandy played tough on the road at A&M. I don’t doubt Mizzou will beat Vandy but they aren’t 60+ better. South Carolina should be way lower with Mizzou like in the 80s or 90s.
Garbage into a poll, Garbage out of a poll.
Nothing is “predictive” except playing the exact same opponents on the exact same week with all the roster healthy and playing the same roles. In other words, bull-manure.