The AP Poll was released over the weekend and today I can officially come up with Overrated and Underrated teams for the upcoming year.
First, here is the Preseason AP Top 25.
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1
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Oklahoma (36) |
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2
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Alabama (17) |
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3
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Oregon (4) |
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4
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LSU (1) |
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5
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Boise St (2) |
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6
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Florida St |
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7
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Stanford |
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8
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Texas A&M |
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9
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Oklahoma St |
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10
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Nebraska |
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11
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Wisconsin |
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12
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South Carolina |
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13
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Virginia Tech |
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14
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TCU |
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15
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Arkansas |
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16
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Notre Dame |
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17
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Michigan St |
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18
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Ohio St |
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19
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Georgia |
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20
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Mississippi St |
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21
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Missouri |
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22
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Florida |
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23
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Auburn |
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24
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West Virginia |
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25
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USC |
Overrated Teams
#23 Auburn-There are several signs pointing downward for last year’s defending champ. This year they lose the best offensive player in the NCAA in Heisman winner QB Cam Newton as well as arguably the best defensive player in DT Nick Fairley. Auburn also benefited from an amazing 7 net close wins and naturally the schedule gets tougher with road games vs Clemson, South Carolina, Arkansas, LSU and Georgia. They lose an incredible 31 lettermen and return just 6 starters (fewest in the country). Last year I had Texas as my #1 overrated team (preseason AP #5) and they went from the National Title game to 5-7 and Auburn will have to have some talented youngsters grow up quickly to avoid a similar fate
#22 Florida-After an 8-5 season (NR) former head coach Meyer stepped down due to health concerns and they bring a new HC in Muschamp who has no previous HC experience and just 10 returning starters. The Gators have just 3 SEC HG’s and play South Carolina and UGA away from home and pull the top two teams (Bama and LSU) out of the West. I think UF may have a tough time topping last year’s 8 wins and will not finish in the AP Top 25 at the end of the year.
#9 Oklahoma St-Last year I took a lot of flack for picking the Cowboys last in the Big 12 South but nearly every magazine picked them 5th or 6th as they were one of the more inexperienced teams in the country. Naturally they went on to a great season with their first 11-win season in school history. This year they return 2 of their 3 “triplets” in Weeden and Blackmon but OSU loses OC Holgorsen and RB Hunter from an off avg 44.2 ppg, which was their best since 1988. OSU was also +12 in TO’s, has five Big 12 away games (incl at Texas A&M, Texas, Missouri, and Texas Tech) and only had 2 starts lost to injury last year. They do get Oklahoma at home again this year but were outgained by 209 yds to the Sooners last year. There is no question that the Cowboys are very talented but because of having such a tough B12 schedule I do not have them in my Top 15. Read more…
Categories: Offseason Notes Tags: 2011, ap poll, Auburn, blog, Clemson, college football, florida, Houston, Notre Dame, Ohio, Oklahoma St, Overrated, phil steele, Southern Miss, Stanford, teams, Texas, Underrated, USC, USF, Virginia Tech
We have already been working hard on the 2011 season and Today’s blog is the current list for Returning Starters for each team in 2011 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 all the Senior Bowl/Pro Bowl coverage you need to prepare you for this weekend’s games. On Monday I will expand on the Las Vegas odds to win the 2011 BCS National Championship and give you a breakdown of each of the 50 teams including key starters back/lost. Read more…
Categories: Offseason Notes Tags: 2011, Alabama, Auburn, blog, college football, Michigan, phil steele, Returning Starters, TCU, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Here are the four candidates for the 2010 Heisman Trophy. Today, I will give you the PROS and CONS for each winning the Award this year but let me first say that this should be one of the largest landslides in the history of the award and unlike last year the race is for 2nd place this year. The Award comes out on Saturday but here are my projections of the order of finish for this year’s top 4 that have been invited to New York. Read more…
Categories: Offseason Notes, Phil Steele News Tags: Andrew Luck, Auburn, blog, Boise St, Cam Newton, college football, heisman, Kellen Moore, LaMichael James, Oregon, phil steele, projections, Stanford
The AP Poll was released over the weekend and today I can officially come up with Overrated and Underrated teams for the upcoming year.
First, here is the Preseason AP Top 25. Read more…
Categories: Offseason Notes Tags: ap poll, Arizona, Auburn, blog, college football, Georgia Tech, Houston, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Overrated, phil steele, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Texas, Underrated, wisconsin
The college football season is fast approaching and in today’s blog I will give you a sneak peak at some of the early marquee college football non-conference games and how I think they will shake out as of right now. Also included is your current voting tallies for each of these games.
Remember if you visit the homepage right now, you can get a head start on voting in the Non-Conference Poll with all the non-conference games. To see where you rank against other voters, as soon as your vote is entered in, you will see the % stacked with or against you. In the next day or two the four remaining non-BCS conferences will be added on the front page. The Non-Conference Poll will run until Sunday, Aug 29th. On Monday the 30th, look for the Weekly Polls to start. There are games every day Thursday September 2nd thru Monday September 6th as the first week of the season looks to kick off with a bang! Weekly prizes will be awarded throughout the season. Read more…
Categories: College Football Forecasts, College Football Picks Tags: Alabama, Arizona St, Auburn, blog, Boise St, Clemson, college football, Connecticut, Florida St, Forecasts, LSU, Marquee Games, Miami Fl, Michigan, Non-Conference Polls, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio St, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon St, Penn St, phil steele, Pittsburgh, TCU, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia Tech, wisconsin
A lot of people ask me if I have a favorite team. I was born and raised and still live in Cleveland, Ohio. I was a fan of many teams as a child but now that I put out a National magazine, I cannot afford to be a fan of any team. I have to pick the teams where I think they will finish each year. I was doing a radio show last week and I was asked if I have a favorite team or teams. My response was a strong YES! The interviewer was surprised by that answer and also eager to hear which team I would pick. My answer was my favorite team each year is the team I pick #1 in the magazine and my favorite teams are the ones I have picked higher than all the other major magazines out there. I then said that each year I establish a list of my favorite teams for that year. I then give this list to my wife. I wear a shirt and tie to work every day during the week and my tie is always a college team. I wear polo shirts during the weekend and when not at work and they are always different college teams. The list I give my wife is the ones to buy that I will be wearing for the upcoming year as these are the teams I will be the biggest fan of for the upcoming season. I was then asked “What teams will your wife be buying ties and shirts of this year? That was a great question and I thought I would answer it in a blog. Read more…
Categories: Offseason Notes Tags: Arizona, Auburn, Ball St, Baylor, blog, California, college football, Colorado, Favorite Teams, Fresno St, Kent St, Maryland, Miami Fl, Michigan, North Texas, Oklahoma, Penn St, phil steele, San Diego St, UAB, USF, West Virginia, Western Michigan
Many of you have asked me for an updated Bowl Projections listing since USC was eliminated from bowl contention recently. In the magazine which went to press before the NCAA’s ruling I projected the Trojans to go to the Rose Bowl. Naturally most of my Pac-10 selections for bowls have changed with the ineligibility of USC. Oregon now gets my pick to go to the Rose Bowl and a lot of the other Pac-10 teams get bumped up. Here are my current projections for all 35 of this year’s bowl games which includes the BCS Championship game. Read more…
Categories: Bowl Projections Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, bcs, Bog, Bowl Projections, Capital One Bowl, college football, Cotton Bowl, fiesta bowl, florida, Gator Bowl, Georgia, Iowa, LSU, Miami Fl, Michigan, National Title, Nebraska, Ohio St, Oklahoma, orange bowl, Oregon, Outback Bowl, Penn St, phil steele, Pittsburgh, rose bowl, Sugar Bowl, TCU, Texas, wisconsin
