Where every SEC team ranks in Phil Steele’s Vegas Power Ratings entering Week 9
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
The SEC barely made it through the week before one of its games was postponed—Ole Miss’ trip to Texas A&M—but all other ones will go on as scheduled after a season-high 4 were wiped out in the previous week. Ahead of this week’s slate of matchups, Phil Steele released his weekly Vegas Power Ratings for each FBS team.
The ratings are a continuation of a weekly column Steele wrote for ESPN, compiled as a combination of his own plus/minus ratings and stats from a trio of Las Vegas casino sportsbooks. Using this, Steele projects the number of points one team would be favored over another if the 2 were to play each other at a neutral venue.
Unsurprisingly, Alabama and Florida lead the SEC teams on the list, with the Crimson Tide clocking in at No. 2 and the Gators being slotted at No. 4. Vanderbilt, at No. 102, is the bottom-ranked team in the conference.
Steele’s numbers can be used to project the opening Vegas line for if the two teams met on a neutral field. Alabama, for instance, looks to be about an 8-point favorite over Florida right now at the books Steele contacted.
Here is a full list of where every team placed in Steele’s Vegas Power Ratings ahead of Week 9 of SEC play:
2. Alabama, 140.07
4. Florida, 132.10
6. Texas A&M, 128.03
7. Georgia, 127.82
19. Auburn, 119.74
26. LSU, 118.15
37. Ole Miss, 113.32
43. Kentucky, 112.10
44. Tennessee, 111.46
51. Arkansas, 110.73
54. Missouri, 110.34
74. South Carolina, 104.52
88. Mississippi State, 100.95
102. Vanderbilt, 95.90
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.
