National signing day was yesterday as the top rated high school players all over the country sign with their favorite school. It is one of the most important days of the year for each college team as usually the teams with the best recruiting classes year in and year out usually find themselves in the Top 25.

Covering college football as I do takes 52 weeks a year as it is and while I personally do not scout the high school games and rate each player I do compile my rankings based on the many different recruiting services across the country that follow and scout HS football year round. I not only like to use all of the biggest and best services, but I also use regional reports as well. The colleges themselves use many of these services to get the latest information on recruits.

One very important part of my College Football Preview Magazine is an individual player’s “PS#”. You will see them on almost every page and I find them vital in my analysis of a team.  A simple definition for a PS# is my ranking of the players at their positions coming out of high school.

When I receive a recruiting magazine, I translate each player’s ranking into a point system from 1-100.  Each and every player is then logged into the computer and give them a point total from each source. This is a very time-consuming process. Many players are listed by just one or two sources. The higher ranked recruits are mentioned by almost every source. The more they are mentioned and the higher they are rated in each publication, the more total points they accrue. After months of entering all of this information, I sort the list by each position and by total points. Naturally, the QB with the most total points then becomes PS#1QB for that year. If a player is PS#99QB, that means he ranks 99th in total points of all QB’s coming out of high school that year.

While my final recruiting rankings for this year will not be completed for awhile, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at my top overall 250 players.

Phil Steele’s Current 2012 Top 250 Incoming Frosh Read more…

Well here it is, my projected AP Top 10 for next year as of January 30, 2012! I will mention it now and I will mention it numerous times throughout today’s blog but this is not MY preseason Top 10 for next year, it is where I project the AP Top 10 to come out at the start of the season.

Most AP voters usually look at a couple of criteria when they evaluate a team for the upcoming season. First they look at the number of returning starters that the team has coming back particularly at the offensive skill positions. A team that returns its starting QB and a combination of its RB and WR’s is often times more highly thought of than a team that loses its starting QB but returns its entire offensive line. Similarly a team that returns most of its starters on offense but loses a lot of its defensive playmakers usually is more highly thought of than a team that returns a majority of its defensive starters but loses its skill position players on offense.

Another factor that is heavily weighted is the performance of the team in the bowl game, which undoubtedly is the lasting image of that team in the offseason. A team coming off a huge bowl win usually is more highly thought of than a team that is coming off a bowl loss regardless of what their schedule looks like for the upcoming season. Read more…

Every year in my magazine, I list my Top Non-AQ teams for that particular year and over the course of the last six seasons I have had great success!

In 2006, my top non-AQ team was Boise St and I PROJECTED THEM INTO A BCS BOWL and they went undefeated and got to the Fiesta Bowl where they beat Oklahoma. In 2007, I called for Hawaii to go 12-0 and grab a SUGAR BOWL BERTH and that is exactly what they did!

In 2008 my top non-AQ team was Utah and while they were NOT RANKED in the preseason and no one picked them to even win the MWC at the start of the year except me, they finished unbeaten and #2 in the country! In 2009 my Top non-AQ team was Boise St and when they beat TCU in the Fiesta Bowl they finished #4 and the top non-AQ team in the country. In 2010 it was FIVE in a row. EVERYONE had Boise St as their top non AQ team but I went against the grain and picked TCU and coach Patterson and company did not disappoint as they knocked off Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and finished #2 in the country, naturally the top rated non AQ team out there (Boise #9!) Read more…

We have already been working hard on the 2012 season and today’s blog is the current list for returning starters for each team in 2012 broken down by offense, defense and special teams (kicker/punter). The * on the offense number denotes that the starting QB is returning. Below the list I broke down teams with the most/least returning starters.

I will be back later this week with my forecasts for the AFC and NFC Championship games while on Monday I will expand on the Las Vegas odds to win the 2012 BCS National Championship and give you a breakdown of each of the teams including key starters back/lost. Read more…

Every year people ask me who my favorite team is. It is the team I pick #1. Last year I rooted AGAINST Alabama almost every week as my magazine was about the only one out there not to pick them to win (or even play in) the title game. This year I picked them #1 and it was not easy but I will admit I rooted for the Tide each week and they held LSU to under 100 yards (4 to 1 yardage edge) last night in a dominating 21-0 national title win!!!

The Daily blog will be undergoing some changes in the next couple of days now that the college football season is complete. Tomorrow’s blog will give you some bowl notes on 15 bowl games with also some top bowl performances from a stats perspective in Friday’s blog. Later on this week you will get my forecasts for the NFL Divisional games played that day including my computer’s projected box score of the games.

Starting next week I will be going to a Monday, Wednesday and weekend blog format until magazine season is over in late spring/early summer. In early February, my projection of what the Preseason AP top 10 will be for 2012 and that will be coming after January 15th when juniors have to declare or not declare for the NFL Draft. I also will be updating you with 2012 NFL Draft and 2012 Frosh Recruiting updates. Read more…

Phil Steele’s 2011-12
Bowl Confidence Contest

Pick the Winners of all 35 Bowl Games and rank them in order of 1-35 with 35 being your most confident pick and 1 being your least confident pick.

FREE to ENTER with Cash Prizes!!!

1st Place: $250 and a Set of 2012 Preview Magazines
2nd Place: $100 and a Set of 2012 Preview Magazines
3rd Place: $50 and a Set of 2012 Preview Magazines

One Picksheet Per Person!

All picks must be completed by Saturday Dec 17th at 2:00 PM EST

The last couple of years I have had a Bowl Confidence Contest that generated a lot of interest on our site and we had hundreds and hundreds of entries. Two years ago we had the biggest entry pool yet with nearly 1200 entries and it was a huge success with more than double the amount of entries compared to ‘08! Last year we outdid ourselves again with an incredible 2922 entries! This year we will again have a “Bowl Confidence Contest” and I hope there will be many more participants!

You can enter the contest by simply clicking here. To enter, just go to the sign up page and log in your information. Then after that go to your picksheet page and simply pick who you think will win each of the 35 bowl games. You then award your confidence points to each. The team you think will definitely win their game would get 35 points and the team who you picked at the bottom which was very tough for you to call would get 1 point.

For each team that wins their bowl game that you picked correctly, you get the confidence points you assigned to them. Those with the highest points are the winners. The first bowl game takes place on December 17th at 2:00 PM EST and Good Luck!!

One Bowl Entry Per Person Please!! For more contest rules click here and if you have any questions or concerns please email brandon@philsteele.com.

Make Your Group and Compete Against Your Friends!

Also make sure to check PhilSteele.com everyday for complete information and coverage on all the bowl matchups. On the homepage click on the Bowl Matchups link, where you will find all 35 bowl games. Click on the bowl logo for each game to get all the information you need to become an expert! Start doing your homework now and get your 35 bowl predictions done.

When I release my All-American and All-Conference teams, I get input back from NFL scouts, schools and head coaches and feel that my teams are the most complete and most accurate post-season awards teams out there today.

Today I am releasing my All-American team with four full teams complete 116 players representing every conference including the independent schools. This year with so many players pulling double duty at RB/WR and ST’s I have added an extra position as “AP” designates All-Purpose with each of the 4 players excelling in at least two different categories.

Tomorrow I will post all of my postseason All-Conference teams.

Download Phil Steele’s 2012 Postseason All-American Team!

Bowl season is upon us and PhilSteele.com will be overwhelming you with the most complete information and coverage on all the bowl matchups. On the homepage page on the Bowl matchups link, where you will find all 35 bowl games. Click on the bowl logo for each game to get all the information you need to become an expert.

Keep checking back everyday at PhilSteele.com for more bowl information!!

Now Available in iTunes!  Steele Stats iPhone App!

Just $1.99

While I am not always up-to-date on the latest technology, there have been several requests that PhilSteele.com needed to have an iPhone app and I am very pleased that earlier this year we released our first app and we have gotten some great feedback. Here are some of the comments….

The App is Now on sale for $1.99 and features Live scores, box scores, team schedules, week-by-week schedule, 2011 team and individual game statistics including FBS Power Ratings for the 2011 season and includes all 120 teams!

The Steele Stats App has it all!

2011 Live Scores – Live college football scores for all FBS 2011 Games

Individual Team Content at your fingertips!

2011 Individual Team Schedules – All FBS college footballs team schedules, locations, and times.

Quick Facts – Summary of facts about each team including coach, coaching records, colors, mascot, year founded, team formation, stadium and other fun facts.

2011 Game Scores – Final game scores for all season games.

2011 Box Scores for each game once 2011 season begins! Box scores include team, game and individual stats as well a recap of action for each quarter of all games!

2011 Week-by-Week Schedule! Select a week or day and see a complete listing of all game times and scheduled television coverage. Time listed in ET.

2011 FBS Power Ratings!

My Daily Blog – Expert commentary from college football’s own Phil Steele, publisher of “College Football Preview” since 1995. Phil’s blog covers College and Pro Football coverage. Available on the App daily at 2 p.m. ET!

Search by Conference or Team Name!

Only one app needed! No need to buy individual team apps or additional in-app purchases to access 120 FBS teams for scores, stats and schedules!

Whether you are at the game, in your living room or sitting around a table with your friends, follow your favorite FBS college football teams! Includes 120 all teams!

Initial loading of the App will take 0-30 seconds, please be patient! Once loaded, previously viewed data will cached.

Now on sale for $1.99

1. Trent Richardson, Alabama-Richardson has a combined 1,910 rush/rec yds with 23 TD’s while being the best player on one of the two best teams in the country this year! When breaking down Richardson’s numbers even further, it is remarkable considering the fact that he has faced EIGHT total defenses that rank in the top 51 with FIVE of them in the top 20! If you want to compare Richardson’s numbers to former Alabama RB Mark Ingram who won the Heisman in 2009 they are better! Thru 12 games, Richardson has 1,583 rush yds (6.0) with 20 TD’s with 27 receptions for 327 yds (12.1) and 3 TD’s. Ingram (thru 12 gms) meanwhile had 1,429 yds (6.5) and 12 TD’s to go along with 28 receptions for 246 yards (8.8) and 3 TD’s. To top it off Richardson has put together his best performances this year in the biggest games. He had 111 rush yds (4.3) and 2 TD’s vs Penn St’s #11 D, 211 combined rush/rec yds vs Arkansas, 208 combined rush/rec yds vs Florida’s #11 D, 169 of Alabama’s 295 total yards vs LSU’s #2 D and in the Iron Bowl needing a big performance to top it off he ran for a career-high 203 yards (7.5) with another Heisman-caliber run similar to his outstanding run vs Ole Miss earlier this year. Simply put, Richardson is the best player in college football this season playing a top notch schedule and putting forth clutch performances to help his team win games. Read more…

The NFL Magazine was sent off to the press and we expect to start shipping the magazines on August 16th. Naturally the NFL lockout this year delayed the release of the magazine but I do believe it will be the most accurate and in-depth NFL magazine on the market as we have included all the recent free agent moves.

You should be able to find my NFL Magazine on the newsstands in late August. However, with this being just the 3rd year I have put the magazine on the newsstands it will only have about half of the distribution that my College Magazine has. If you cannot find my Pro Football Preview anywhere near you, try ordering thru the PhilSteele.com store or call our offices at 1-866-918-7711. The cost is just $12.70 (includes priority shipping) and we will ship it out of our offices within 24 hours unless ordered on the weekend and in that case it will get shipped 1st thing on Monday.

Two years ago, I decided to put out a full color NFL Preview Magazine and I could not have been more pleased with the results. I correctly predicted 7 out of 8 division winners which was more than any other preview magazine and I was the only magazine to predict the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints to win the NFC South! Read more…