When I worked for ESPN full time, I put out a weekly article entitled the Vegas Power Ratings. I still have all the sources that I used to produce that article as it featured my plus/minus ratings which closely resemble Vegas’s numbers as well as three different casinos including the fine folks over at the Westgate Las Vegas Sportsbook @SuperBookSports.
Now that all the teams will be kicking off shortly and many games have been played, I will post these numbers weekly. This is not the AP poll but gives you an idea of how much teams would be favored over another team if they met on a neutral field. I use these to get an idea of lines on upcoming games. Keep in mind just because a team beat someone last week does not mean they would be favored over them in the Vegas ratings. A couple of examples. Kansas St is 3-1 and beat Oklahoma outright and the Sooners are 2-2. The Sooners were -27’ in that game and these Vegas ratings say the Sooners would be -17 in a rematch at home this week. Last week Florida St beat North Carolina as a two TD dog. North Carolina would still be a 9 point favorite this week. Notre Dame is #3 in the AP poll but is only #10 in the Vegas rankings. Oklahoma St is the only undefeated team in the Big 12 but come in 3rd in the league in the Vegas Power Rankings. Coastal Carolina is undefeated and has been impressive and deserves to be in the AP Top 25 but they are just #71 in the Vegas power ratings.
Here is this year’s second edition of my 2020 Vegas Power Rankings.
