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…

Today the preseason AP Top 25 was released with Oklahoma clearly ranked #1. Every year I am particularly intrigued by who is placed in the preseason AP Top 10 as I try to predict what those teams will be shortly after the previous season is completed.

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 WRs 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…

In today’s blog I will give you the odds to win the 2010 National Championship from the Hilton. If you are in Las Vegas at anytime in the next couple of months make sure to stop by the Hilton to get advanced odds on the 2010 college football season and advanced odds to win the Super Bowl.

Also make sure to check out our team schedules for next year.  On the left side of the home page under 2010 click onSchedules/13 Year Logs. Go to your favorite conference to get schedules for all your teams for 2010.

Click on any game to get all the games played between the two teams in the last 13 years with complete statistics including first downs, rushing, passing, sacks, TO’s and much more.

Because we want all the information to be complete and accurate as possible, if you see any games we have missed for next seasons’ schedules or if there have been any recent changes to your favorite teams 2010 schedule please emailBrandon@philsteele.com and we’ll get it corrected.

Don’t forget to check out our Spring Central section to get 2010 schedules, coaching changes, who’s back/who’s not and all the NFL Draft early entrants.

We will back by the end of this week with my projections of what the 2010 Preseason AP Top 10 will be.

Here are the Odds to win the 2010 National Championship courtesy of the Hilton. Read more…