Alabama football fans have to love the rankings ESPN's algorithms give the Crimson Tide. In May, Bill Connelly's SP+ ranked Alabama Football as the No. 1 SEC team and No. 2 in the FBS behind Ohio State. Connelly's algorithm ranked the Alabama offense at No. 4 among the 136 FBS teams, and the Crimson Tide defense was ranked No. 5. Special Teams, now a concern to some Alabama fans, was ranked No. 20.
Connelly's recent update still has the Crimson Tide at No. 2 behind Ohio State, with Georgia bumped up from No. 4 to No. 3, close on Alabama's heels. The Alabama Crimson Tide offense has moved up to No.3, and the defense remains No. 6.
Alabama Football and Top SEC Teams in SP+ Rankings
Connelly had four SEC teams in his Top 10. In order they are Alabama (No. 2 overall), Georgia (No. 3), Texas (No. 5), Ole Miss (No. 9). Top SEC teams outside the Top 10 are LSU (No. 11), Tennessee (No. 12), Texas A&M (No. 13), Oklahoma (No. 15), Florida (No. 16), South Carolina (No. 17), and Missouri (No. 20).
Per Connelly, the SP+ "is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking... These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather to date"
The ESPN algorithm that annually garners the most attention (and dispute) is the Football Power Index (FPI). The FPI has also been recently updated. In the final preseason FPI, Texas, Georgia, and Alabama hold the top three slots. Other SEC teams in the FPI Top 20 are Tennessee (No. 8), Texas A&M (No. 9), Ole Miss (No. 10), South Carolina (No. 11), LSU (No. 12), Florida (No. 13), and Oklahoma (No. 19).
The SEC has 10 teams in the FPI Top 20. Notre Dame is at No. 6, and the other three Power Four conferences combined have only nine teams in the FPI Top 20. One of those nine teams is SMU at No. 19. SMU's head coach, Rhett Lashlee, was critical that ACC teams dropped in the updated rankings. Lashlee bluntly claimed that the FPI "is rigged" to favor certain teams from certain conferences.
One computer rankings source unaffiliated with ESPN or Fox is Jeff Sagarin. Sagarin also has 10 SEC teams in his preseason Top 20. Three ACC teams are in Sagarin's Top 20. None of them is coached by Rhett Lashlee.