Last week the Top 25 Forecasts went 15-4 79% and on the year they are now 163-35 82%! On the bottom of the forecasts, I have also listed some Upset Specials for this week which added another winner last week when East Carolina upset Houston.
For projected box scores and Last 14 Years Matchups for all of these games, please click here.
#1 Alabama vs #15 Texas A&M
Bama is, of course, coming off the huge game vs LSU although they do only have Western Carolina on deck. A&M, meanwhile, is on its third straight away game and playing for the 10th straight week. Last week the Tide jumped out to a 14-3 halftime lead at #5 LSU but found themselves down 17-14 late in the game as McCarron completed just 1-7 passes for 0 yards in the 2H prior to the final drive. LSU blew some opportunities to put the game away including 3 failed FG attempts. McCarron led Bama 72/5pl in a drive that culminated with a td pass with just :51 left as the #1 Tide won 21-17. McCarron has still not thrown an int this year but the #1 Tide D did give up 435 yards and they will have their hands full again this week vs ‘Johnny Football’ who tore through Miss St’s D to the tune of 440 total yards (30-36 passing!) as the Aggies rolled to a 38-13 win at MSU. A&M outgained MSU 693-310 and had a 36-15 FD edge. Keep in mind, the last 2 times Bama has lost a game it came at the hands of mobile QB’s in Cam Newton and Jordan Jefferson. Still I can’t step in front of the
elephant here as A&M’s offense has been sluggish in the 2H of games vs the other two elite D’s it faced earlier this year in UF/LSU.
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Categories: Top 25 Games Tags: Alabama, AP Top 25, Arizona St, Arkansas, army, Auburn, Baylor, Boston College, California, Clemson, florida, Florida St, Georgia, Houston, Iowa St, Kansas, Kansas St, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Mississippi St, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon St, Penn St, rutgers, South Carolina, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas St, Texas Tech, Tulsa, UCLA, USC, Virginia Tech, Washington St
Every week I will post my forecasts of all the games involving Top 25 teams. As usual, it includes my computer’s projected box score for each game.
Last week the Top 25 forecasts went 15-3 83% and on the year they are 118-21 85%!! On the bottom of the forecasts, I have also listed some Upset Specials for this week which are 5-1 the last 4 weeks!! To get projected box scores for theses Top 25 games, click here.
#1 Alabama at Tennessee
Finally this game returns to The Third Sat in October. It may surprise some to know that from ‘95-’06 UT was 10-2 in this series. Since Bama lost at UT 16-13 in ‘06, they are 5-0 and have won their last 2 trips here 29-9 in ‘08 (+193 yards) and 41-10 in ‘10 (+221 yards). Last year’s game was surprisingly tied 6-6 at the half with Bama only having a 157-114 yard edge but Saban let them know about his unhappiness and Bama did not allow a FD in the 2H and had a 280-41 yard edge winning 37-6. The #1 Tide again have the nation’s #1 D and last week the only td allowed came on a 98 yard KR as they rolled Mizzou 42-10 racking up a 355-37 rush yard edge! Bama is on its second straight away which didn’t occur last year. After last week’s loss to Miss St 41-31, UT has lost 14 straight vs ranked opponents with the avg loss by 19 points per game. Despite huge improvements in the run game (avg 185 ypg), the Vols are 3-3 and Dooley is on one of the hottest seats in America. While Bama is well rested off a bye and blowout, they may be peeking ahead to games against Mississippi St and LSU on deck.
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Categories: Top 25 Games Tags: Alabama, Arizona St, Boise St, BYU, California, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado, florida, Florida St, Georgia, Kansas, Kansas St, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Miami Fl, Michigan, Michigan St, Middle Tenn, Mississippi St, NC State, Notre Dame, Ohio St, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon St, Purdue, rutgers, South Carolina, Stanford, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Toledo, UNLV, USC, USF, Utah, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
GAMES NOTES
Giovani Bernard ran for 177 yards and North Carolina had a 485-415 yard edge. Stephen Morris was having a fine game for Miami and had hit just 12-26-155 yds. He had some crucial runs for 40 yds on 7 carries. He was helped off the field with 8:26 left. Bkp Ryan Williams hit 9-13-80. NC led 7-0 when they were int’d at the UM25 then on the next drive missed a 33 yd FG. UM punted but roughing the P kept the drive alive and they would go 80/12pl for a td. NC led 15-7 at the half with a 313-191 yd edge. UM got to 15-14 after a delay of game pen had then go for just a regular xp. NC got a 48 yd FG then missed a 43 yd FG. UM went 48/13 and on 3&6 was SOD at the NC26. Their final drive got to the NC29 but on 4&16 they gained 11 yds with :22 left.
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Categories: News & Notes Tags: Air Force, Arkansas, Arkansas St, Baylor, California, Cincinnati, College Football Daily, Dari Nowkhah, FAU, FIU, florida, Fordham, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Miami, Middle Tenn, Mississippi St, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio St, Oklahoma St, rice, South Alabama, South Carolina, Southern Miss, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UCF, UCLA, ULM, UNLV, Utah, Vanderbilt, Washington St, Wyoming
Here are my projections for games being played on Saturday, October 6th.
I list the projected scores from my computers forecast. Another column shows you the computers yardage forecast for each game. I think it will be interesting to see who the computer picks to win the yardage battle and see if they win the game. In my College Football magazine I have the plus and minus ratings. I update them weekly and then factor in the home edge and I will show you who the Plus Minus ratings forecast. I will also list who Vegas has favored to win each week and we can see how they do picking the actual winners of games. There is also a WEEKLY POLL which you can enter for free each week.
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Categories: College Football Picks Tags: Air Force, Akron, Arizona, Arkansas, army, Auburn, Ball St, Boise St, Boston College, Bowling Green, Buffalo, California, Central Mich, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado St, Connecticut, Duke, Eastern Mich, florida, Florida St, Fresno St, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Houston, Idaho, Illinois, Indian, Iowa St, Kansas, Kansas St, Kent St, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Marshall, Maryland, Memphis, Miami Fl, Miami Oh, Michigan, Michigan St, Middle Tennessee, Missouri, Navy, NC Staate, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New Mexico St, North Carolina, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio, Ohio St, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon St, Penn St, Purdue, rice, rutgers, San Diego St, SE Louisiana, SMU, South Carolina, Southern Miss, Stanford, TCU, Temple, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas St, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, UCLA, ULM, UMass, UNLV, USF, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington, Washington St, West Virginia, Western Mich, wisconsin, Wyoming
Every week I will post my forecasts of all the games involving Top 25 teams.
Last week the Top 25 forecasts went 15-1 (94%) and on the year they are 91-12 88%! On the bottom of the forecasts, I have also listed some Upset Specials for this week which are 3-0 the last 2 weeks as both New Mexico and San Jose St pulled the upsets two weeks ago and Duke beat WF LW. To get projected box scores for all of the Top 25 games this week, click here.
#2 Oregon vs #23 Washington
Oregon has now won eight in a row in this series by an avg of 42-17. Last year UO had a huge game vs Stanford on deck and on the road only had a 381-278 yard edge. In fact, in the 1H UW had 11-6 FD and 23:54-6:06 TOP edges. The last time here UW only trailed 18-6 at the half. “In the 1H, when we were fresh and they were fresh, we outplayed them, but they wore us down,” Sarkisian said. This year UW had a bye and a Thursday game while UO is playing its 6th straight. The Huskies are off a 17-13 upset of Stanford as they came back from a 13-3 3Q deficit and held the Cardinal without an offensive td. Last week the Ducks led just 23-19 vs Wash St at the half but exploded for three 3Q td’s to blow the game open. No way can I go against the Ducks here at home as they get a 9th straight win over their rival. Read more…
Categories: College Football Picks, Top 25 Games Tags: Arizona, California, Clemson, Connecticut, FL, florida, Florida St, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Iowa St, Kansas, Kansas St, Kentucky, LSU, Miami, Mississippi St, NC State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio St, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon St, Penn St, rutgers, South Carolina, Stanford, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA, uconn, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington St, West Virginia
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
First, I hope you and your families are having a very happy and safe 4th of July weekend!
For the next two weeks, I will be taking a look at the conference teams of the decade for 2000-2009. Factored into my analysis will be conference win %, conference and division titles, bowl games and bowl wins. I will also include BCS bowl wins, final AP rankings and number of national championships for the major conferences. There have been several teams who have changed conferences during that time and I will include them in the analysis for any season(s) they were affiliated with that certain conference. I will also be doing a breakdown of how the conference did in bowl games during the decade and I will emphasis the overall win/loss record, the number of BCS bowl wins, and the records against Non-BCS and ranked bowl teams.
While some conferences may have no-brainers as the top team, other conferences were very competitive over the past decade. Here is the schedule for the upcoming week with the conferences I will be analyzing on each date. Read more…
The official on sale date for my 2010 College Football Preview was yesterday and if you do not already have a copy, head out to the bookstores and newsstands today. The magazine is available nationwide at Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks, Borders, Hastings, Media Play, Target, Books-A-Million, K-Mart and Circle K. There are other locations where we shipped to, so check the magazine section at stores near you. The cost is just $8.95 in the stores but they tend to fly off the shelves. If you’re having trouble finding a copy visit our store or call 1-866-918-7711 and order your copy thru the office (plus shipping).
The past few weeks I have been giving you some advanced articles from the magazine to wet your appetite for the upcoming year. Today I will give you the results of the Draft Day Party Hangover, which is on page 308.
After several years of research I have found that almost 7 out of every 10 teams that rank among the top in the NCAA in players drafted struggle the next year and have a weaker record. I call it the Draft Day Party Hangover Effect. Read more…
Categories: Offseason Notes Tags: Alabama, California, Clemson, college football, Draft Day Party Hangover, florida, Georgia Tech, Iowa, LSU, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, Penn St, phil steele, rutgers, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, USF, Utah
In Today’s blog I will start releasing my Preseason All Conference teams with the PAC-10 and Independent teams.
The Pac-10 is very balanced this year as nine of the ten teams (Washington St) have a player on my 1st Team. Washington leads the way with five players led by QB Jake Locker. USC and Arizona both have four players on my 1st Team while Oregon, Oregon St, UCLA and Stanford each have 3 players.
Oregon St RB Jacquizz Rodgers and WR James Rodgers both appear on my preseason 1st Team for the 2nd year in a row as well as USC OC Kristofer O’Dowd, California LB Mike Mohamed, UCLA K Kai Forbath and California P Bryan Anger.
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Categories: Phil Steele News Tags: All Conference Teams, Arizona, Arizona St, Armando Allen, army, California, college football, Darrin Walls, independent, Jacquizz Rodgers, Jake Locker, James Rodgers, Navy, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon St, pac 10, phil steele, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington St, Wyatt Middleton
