Where every SEC team ranks in Phil Steele’s Vegas Power Ratings entering Week 8
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
A host of college football games have been postponed or outright canceled as a result of COVID-19, but college football guru Phil Steele has returned with his weekly Vegas Power Rankings.
The rankings are a continuation of a column Steele wrote for ESPN.com, combining stats from 3 Las Vegas casinos with his plus/minus ratings to measure how much a team would be favored by in a head-to-head matchup in a neutral setting.
“I use these to get an idea of lines on upcoming games,” notes Steele. “Keep in mind just because a team beat someone last week does not mean they would be favored over them in the Vegas ratings.”
Here’s where all SEC teams fall in Steele’s Vegas Power Ratings headed into an abbreviated slate of games this weekend:
2. Alabama 138.72
4. Florida 131.15
7. Texas A&M 128.14
8. Georgia 127.83
22. Auburn 119.12
28.LSU 116.74
36. Kentucky 114.06
43. Ole Miss 112.05
49. Arkansas 111.21
51. South Carolina 110.99
52. Missouri 110.96
54. Tennessee 110.83
78. Mississippi State 103.44
110. Vanderbilt 93.03
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M are the top 3 teams in the conference according to Steele’s ratings. Using the system, if Alabama were to play Florida on a neutral field—and very well might in the SEC Championship Game—Alabama would be favored by about 7 points in Vegas, based on Steele’s system.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
