Using a straightforward approach of comparing points-per-play (PPP)on offense and defense, then calculating the difference, we can see how teams are doing overall. The difference was then standardized to give a sense of “distance” between teams beyond just that of ordinal ranking.
Team | PPP Differential |
Alabama | 0.932 |
Florida | 0.668 |
Georgia | 0.540 |
Tennessee | 0.391 |
LSU | 0.317 |
Auburn | 0.069 |
MSU | 0.018 |
Arkansas | -0.110 |
Ole Miss | -0.168 |
Kentucky | -0.415 |
Texas AM | -0.504 |
USCe | -0.540 |
Missouri | -0.578 |
Vandy | -0.621 |

Below is how each team ranks in PPP overall, offensively, and defensively:
Team | Rank overall | Offensive Rank | Defensive Rank |
Alabama | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Florida | 2 | 2 | 8 |
Georgia | 3 | 6 | 1 |
Tennessee | 4 | 5 | 3 |
LSU | 5 | 4 | 6 |
Auburn | 6 | 11 | 2 |
MSU | 7 | 7 | 7 |
Arkansas | 8 | 12 | 5 |
Ole Miss | 9 | 3 | 14 |
Kentucky | 10 | 8 | 12 |
Texas AM | 11 | 10 | 11 |
USCe | 12 | 9 | 13 |
Missouri | 13 | 13 | 10 |
Vandy | 14 | 14 | 9 |
Alabama is looking like a clear number one. Florida’s offense is humming, but need to shore up that defense. Georgia is very close to Florida overall and can easily pass them as the weeks go on. Tennessee is performing pretty good through 2 weeks as well.