For the last couple of years I have had team pages for all 120 FBS teams complete with notes, schedules, results, statistical leaders, game-by-game stats and start charts. With this being the first year of having a stand-alone FCS magazine I have also decided to do team pages on all 126 FCS schools complete with the same amount of info!

I can guarantee you that you will not find any other site on the internet today with as much dedicated to every single FCS school in one place and remember there are 38 matchups opening weekend involving FBS vs FCS teams.

Below is an example of what our William & Mary Page looks like.

Click Here To Get All 126 FCS Team Pages!

Help Support the FCS by purchasing Phil Steele’s 2011 FCS Preview!

If you’re an FCS fan I can promise you there is no other preview magazine like it on the market today with 240 pages dedicated to the FCS including one full page on every team! You can order it through our offices by calling us at 1-866-918-7711 or by going to PhilSteele.com and it is just $13.70 (S&H included). You will become an instant expert on EVERY FCS team and remember every year there are more and more matchups between FCS and FBS schools. So get a leg up on one of your favorite team’s possible FCS opponent this year by purchasing Phil Steele’s 2011 FCS Preview today!

If you’re an FCS coach, AD, conference coordinator, SID or FCS fan please help me promote each and every one of the 126 FCS schools by purchasing my 2011 FCS preview and by putting the word out to your associates and known FCS fans. I want to put out a FCS Preview each year as college football is a labor of love for me but with printing costs, plus time and effort I have to see that there is a significant demand out there. If you have a twitter or facebook account or a blog spread the word to anyone that you know is a FCS fan. Last year we sold just under 1,000 copies of the FCS magazine that was located in one of our regional magazines but this year with it being a stand-alone magazine that number should greatly increase especially with your help .

The FCS continues to provide fans with quality football and with 96 games this season against FBS foes interest will continue to grow. TV contracts are also becoming bigger, which will continue to expand the viewing audience while more and more upsets seem to occur each season. The NFL draft also brings to light the quality of players that come from the FCS. It is time the Nation realizes that many of these quality FCS programs can compete day in and day out with many FBS conferences.

Since there will be a limited distribution of the magazine in book stores and newsstands the best way to get your hands on the 2011 FCS Preview is ordering online at the PhilSteele.com store or by purchasing thru our offices at 1-866-918-7711.  Let’s make the FCS Preview a standard tradition much like what my National College Preview has become the last 17 years!

Only 8 Days Until the First College Football Game!!!

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.

Unlike the College magazine where I write each of the 120 team previews myself, the NFL magazine was written by others including a special fantasy writer from a popular Emmy-Award winning web based show.

Erik Kuselias has been one of the leading Fantasy Football experts in the nation for over a decade. Most notably, while at ESPN (2003-2010) Kuselias was asked to create, host and lead ESPN’s first season long Fantasy football show “Fantasy Football Now.’ In its first season, the show was nominated and won ESPN’s First Fantasy Emmy, claiming honors for Outstanding New Show. With Kuselias, the show moved from an ESPN.com venture over to television garnering huge ratings on ESPN2, and “Fantasy Football Now” became one of the leading shows anywhere on fantasy football.

In 2011, Kuselias signed on with The Golf Channel to host “Morning Drive,” a daily talk show that covers golf as well as other sports. The show debuted on January 3, and can be seen from 7-9 AM ET.

Today I am going to give you a sneak peak at this year’s expanded fantasy section. Below are my Top 45 Fantasy Quarterbacks for 2011. Also below is unique view of Erik’s Fantasy preview of last year’s Super Bowl participants Green Bay and Pittsburgh included with position-by-position write-ups, Crazy Notes, Depth Charts, Stats, Schedule and a play-by-play of all their red zone opportunities!

This year’s magazine is 288 pages which is considerably thicker than most NFL magazines out there. If you are looking to order your copy of the 2011 NFL Preview and Fantasy Football Guide you can order now for just $12.70 (includes S&H) and you can also receive another NFL Magazine shipped to the same address for only $5.00 more.

Order Now PhilSteele.com Store!!!

Download FREE NFL and Fantasy Pages!

Only 21 Days Until the First College Football Game!!!

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!

Unlike the College magazine where I write each of the 120 team previews myself, the NFL magazine was written by others including a special fantasy writer from a popular Emmy-Award winning web based show. I did do the forecast for each team using my 5 sets of Power ratings that I have for the NFL (I use 9 different sets for the colleges).

This year’s magazine is 288 pages which is considerably thicker than most NFL magazines out there. Here on the blog today I thought I would put the six pages of the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers. Below you can see how the pages look and click here to download the pdf version from this years magazine and this will show you all the information on each of the 32 teams that we produce. I will not go into great detail as to what is on the pages as you can see for yourself and I think you will agree that it is more information than any other NFL preview.

Since this is the third year of the NFL magazine on the newsstands, it will NOT be in all the places that the college magazine is at.  Right now I distribute about 7 times that amount of college magazines that I put out the first year (1994, 15 years ago) and it will take a year or two for the NFL magazine to reach the same levels and availability as the colleges.

I always prefer that you buy my magazines on the newsstands but you may not see the NFL version nor the FCS Preview (240 pages) on the newsstands. Your best bet for these two valuable magazines which have more information on the NFL than any other magazine and about 20 times the information on the FCS (1AA) than anyone else is to order on the website.

Only 24 Days Until the First College Football Game!!!!

Download PDF version

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.

I went to preseason.stassen.com to find out where all the magazines have everyone ranked for the upcoming year. Here is the list of teams that I will be rooting for the most this year.

1. Alabama-As I said every year the team that is my pick to win the national title is my favorite team of the year and this year that team is the Alabama Crimson Tide. Last year I was ambushed by many Crimson Tide fans because I did not pick them to go to the national title game when many had them pre-season #1. They only had 2 starters back on D and a brutal schedule. In the end Bama went 10-3 and did not play in the title game like I predicted. This year is a different story. The Tide have the best defense in the country and their schedule is much more manageable as they avoid South Carolina and Georgia out of the East and get Arkansas and LSU at home. I will be decked out in Bama garb all year long and hopefully they bring home their second national title in three years!

2. Southern Miss-Take the most talented team in CUSA and match it up vs the #117 schedule in the country and you get a Top 20 team! There is a chance there could be a couple of 12-0 teams in the CUSA title game because four of my 9 sets of power ratings call for Southern Miss to go 12-0 and this is by far the best team HC Fedora has fielded in his 4 years. Out of the major preseason magazines on stassen.com only Blue Ribbon and myself have the Golden Eagles in the Top 25 and I’m the only magazine to have them in my top 20.

3. Virginia Tech- The Hokies draw a lot of comparisons in my mind to last year’s National Champ Auburn. They have a big mobile 1st year starting QB and have a schedule in which all of their tough games are at home and they could be favored in every road game. VT also has one of the top coaches in college football in Frank Beamer. DC Bud Foster must have been angry the entire offseason after 2010’s weaker than expected D and should have them breathing fire. While they rank in 7 of the 8 position categories in my top units, they are not top 10 talent-wise, but when lined up with their schedule I give them a great shot at a 12-0 record and another trip to the ACC Title game. I am the only magazine other than Athlon that ranks them in the Top 10 and I have them higher than anyone so I’ll be a big Hokie fan this year.

4. Houston-Last year UH was the preseason favorite to win CUSA led by QB Keenum. UH put up 122 pts in the first 2 but then Keenum was inj’d and OFY in their loss to UCLA. The Cougars dropped 2 of the next 3 including a tough loss to Rice where they had a 436-344 yd edge but lost by 3. After beating SMU and Memphis, Houston was 5-3 and in the CUSA chase but suffered a tough loss at home to UCF and QB Piland had 5 int’s vs Tulsa in the 3 pt loss. They lost to SM by 18 and TT by 15 to finish 5-7 for their first losing season since ’04. Keenum’s return has me very excited for this year’s squad and 8 of my 9 sets of power ratings call for a double digit win season which will at least double LY’s 5 win total! Three of the 9 call for them to be 11-0 when they travel to Tulsa! UH is not only one of my Surprise Teams but also one of my favorite teams this year since I am the only publication that has them ranked in the top 25.

5. Georgia-South Carolina is the favorite to win the SEC East for a 2nd year in a row but both Athlon and myself project the Bulldogs to rebound from a losing season and capture the East in 2011. Last year was the Bulldogs’ first losing season since 1996. The Bulldogs did have 4 net close losses and are hoping that JUCO NT Jenkins (340 lbs) will have the same impact that NT Terrence Cody had for Alabama and that RB Crowell (PS#4) will have the same impact that Lattimore had for SC. I like the talent of this year’s squad and they have just 3 SEC road games which are vs the 3 SEC teams that finished with a losing records LY! They avoid LSU and Bama out of the West. This year they have a veteran QB, 14 ret st’rs and a much better schedule. LY they had close losses to SC and Fla but this time get SC at home and have a bye before the Gators. UGA also has my #1 rated ST unit. Mark Richt is a coach on the hot seat but has a talented team with a great schedule and will be the upset winner of the SEC East therefore making them one of my favorite teams for 2011.

6. Kansas St-I have the Wildcats tied for 6th in the Big 12 while every other publication has them projected 8th or 9th. KSU does have to play Texas Tech, Oklahoma St and Texas on the road but just like the old days coach Snyder has brought in a lot of JUCO’s as well as a couple of VHT transfers in RB Bryce Brown (PS#1) and MLB Arthur Brown (PS#5) who should make an immediate impact. This year’s squad is even more exp’d than last year’s which made it to a bowl game and with the influx of talent, the Cats will be back in the postseason.

7. UCLA-HC Rick Neuheisel is on the hot seat and must deliver this year. I think he will and I have the Bruins tied for 3rd in the Pac-12 South while all of my competitors have them projected to finish 5th or 6th in the division. The Bruins were just 4-8 LY and this year draw 5 Pac-12 road games and 2 potential Top 25 non-conference foes. They figure to be a dog in all 5 Pac-12 AG’s including Utah, which will be played in altitude and possible cold weather in November. I think this year’s Bruins’ squad will be much better than most folks anticipate (17 returning starters most in Pac-12) and if they receive better QB play (which I expect), it will make both their offense and defense stronger. The Bruins actually made my Most Improved List which means I expect to see them in the postseason and are one of my favorite teams.

8. Nevada-The WAC figures to be very competitive last year and according to the pre-season publications Hawaii is the favorite but I have the Wolf Pack as my WAC favorite. There is nowhere near the difference there has been in the past between the #1 and #8 team. Honestly, if Hawaii, Fresno, La Tech or Idaho had Nevada’s schedule, I would probably call for them to win the WAC this year but Nevada has an unbelievably beneficial WAC schedule. They take on the 3 bottom teams in the conference on the road and not only benefit from 4 WAC HG’s, but it’s they are against their 4 toughest foes and Nevada has a solid altitude advantage and will probably have a weather edge vs both warm-climate teams (Hawaii & La Tech) on B2B Saturdays in Nov. This is a team that would be a good-sized underdog to last year’s squad but with the schedule, they are my prohibitive favorite to win the WAC.

9. Colorado St-I have the Rams picked for 4th in the MWC while my competition has them 5th or lower. The Rams are off a pair of 3-9 seasons and last year were -86.1 ypg in MWC play. This year I feel they are one of the most improved teams in the country and they make my Most Improved List. This is HC Fairchild’s best team in his four years (including the ‘08 bowl team) as they have 14 returning starters and for the first time in his tenure return a starting QB. CSU gets a pivotal game vs SDSt at home which has me calling them for #4 in the MWC. They also get AF at home and could actually finish even higher in the MWC.

10. Pittsburgh-With the exception of the USA Today (USF) every other major publication has West Virginia picked for the Big East title while I have USF and Pittsburgh tied at the top. HC Todd Graham steps into a great situation. Pitt has my #1 rated defense in the league and Graham will get the most out of an offense that has talent. Pitt was +94.9 ypg in conf play (2nd best) and has one of the top 3 offenses in the Big East. Pitt has 4 BE HG’s including a Thursday nighter in Sept when they host USF. I am forecasting a tie for the BE Title but Pitt will hold the tie-breaker and that would put them into a BCS bowl making them one of my favorite teams in 2011.

11. Clemson-Like Neuheisel, Dabo Swinney is on the hot seat but only Lindy’s and I have the Tigers picked 2nd in the ACC Atlantic. Clemson is off a rare 6-7 losing season (first since 1998) and draws both VT and UNC out of the Coastal. They lose their top 2 defensive players including Da’Quan Bowers who had 15.5 sacks but brought in a great recruiting class and were actually better than their final record in ’10. They had 4 net close losses and could easily have won games LY vs Auburn, Miami, UNC and FSU. Clemson makes my Most Improved List and is one of my favorite teams.

12. Texas-A lot of people are down on Texas this year after last year’s 5-7 finish and I am the only magazine to have them ranked higher than 4th (tied for 3rd). Oklahoma took a step back in 2009 but rebounded to win the Big 12 in 2010. Texas took a major step back last year falling to a 5-7 record and naturally make my Most Improved List. While they have just 12 returning starters (tied fewest Big 12) they were -12 in TO’s last year and despite finishing last in the Big 12 South, were +53 ypg in the Big 12, which was 5th best. Keep in mind Colt McCoy had 18 int’s as a soph and rebounded for a big Jr year and whoever wins the Texas QB job should greatly cut down on the 17 int’s from LY. My talent ratings say Texas has the best def in the Big 12 and if they get adequate QB play, could end the season as a surprise Title contender.

13. Kent St- Kent St is a team that was better than its final record in most of HC Martin’s 7 yrs. They did not catch a lot of breaks. In the last 2 yrs they had a pair of 4-4 finishes in MAC play losing numerous close games. Hazell was pleased with the talent he inherited and Kent St also has a very manageable schedule and my #3 rated O-line and #1 rated D-line in the MAC. LY’s Miami team gives everyone hope as they went from 1-7 to 7-1 in MAC action. New HC Hazell will bring in the Ohio St wining attitude and they have a shot at getting to their first bowl S/’72.

14. Western Michigan- My main 2 sets of power ratings both call WM the top team in the MAC. While every other publications has the Broncos picked 2nd or worse, I have tied for 1st. Unfortunately the Broncos have to face both UT and NIU on the road. Last year they had a 24-11 FD edge vs Toledo and also had just 7 pts on four 2H drives inside the NIU15 giving the Huskies their closest conference game of the season. WM is one of the most improved teams in the country and while they have to face both Toledo and NIU on the road, they are actually capable of winning both games and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Cubit’s Broncos playing in the MAC Championship game.

15. Penn St-I am the only publication that has Penn St tied atop the Big 10 Leaders division with most having them 3rd behind Ohio St and Wisconsin. LY Penn St may have had one of HC Paterno’s youngest ever teams and this year they are a much more veteran unit with 14 ret st’rs and might be the most improved team in the Big Ten. There are still question marks at QB but if they get that situation worked out favorably, I look for PSU to open the Big Ten portion of their schedule at 6-0 but unfortunately their final 2 games are at Ohio St and at Wisconsin. A win at one of those 2 games would likely put Penn St into the first ever Big Ten Title game.

16. Rutgers-Most publications have the Scarlet Knight picked for 7th or 8th in the Big East but I have them tied for 6th. Thanks to a late season collapse last year, Rutgers finished last at -131.6 ypg in BE play and in ‘09 was -82.7 ypg which was the 2nd worst. While RU has 4 BE HG’s, unfortunately they are vs the top 4 teams in the league meaning their 3 winnable games vs the lower half of the conf are all on the road. I like this Rutgers team and their talent and my main set of power ratings calls them the 5th best team in the league. The schedule has me calling them 6th but this is a team clearly capable of surprising and has added a lot of talent this year.

17. San Jose St-Only the Sporting News and myself have the Spartans projected for 6th in the conference while the rest have them at 7th or 8th. I like what HC Mike MacIntyre is doing with the Spartans and they are in much better shape this year. LY they opened up vs Alabama, Wisconsin and Utah, 3 big, powerful teams that wore them down and helped cause them to have 78 starts lost to injury. They were still, however, very competitive in the 2H of the season and had losses in WAC play by 2, 4, 7 and 3 points and could have easily have won all 4 (4 net close losses, pg 299). My computer calls them the most improved team in the WAC and they have 18 returning starters (most in the WAC) and 4 WAC HG’s. While most of my power ratings call for a losing season, my main set calls for them to go 4-3 in WAC play despite having a 1-15 record in the WAC the last 2 years.

18. ULM-Only the Rogers poll and myself have the Warhawks projected for 3rd. Last year ULM had just 9 returning starters and was in the first year of a coaching change where the coach has to learn the players and the players have to learn the new system. They did catch some breaks and nearly got to bowl eligibility finishing 4-4 in the SBC (+16.8 ypg) and 5-7 overall. This year they have 17 starters back and are in the 2nd year of the new coach and get a favorable schedule with most of the key games at home. Their 13 lettermen lost are 2nd fewest in the SBC and they are a dark horse contender for the SBC Title.

19. Cincinnati-I have the Bearcats tied for 3rd in the Big East while the other publications have them either 4th or 5th. For a good portion of April I thought I was going to pick the Bearcats #1 in the Big East. They have a lot of factors pointing to improvement as they are in the 2nd yr under HC Butch Jones and teams show great improvement in year 2. They were -15 in TO’s last year. They went from a record of 23-4 in ‘08 and ‘09 to just 4-8 LY and despite their 2-5 Big East record LY were actually +36.4 ypg in conf play and that includes the final game of the season which they mailed in and were outgained by 165 yards (+70 ypg prior). They have 15 returning st’rs which is 2nd most in the BE and make my Most Improved List and my favorite teams list.

20. USC- Only Athlon and myself picked the Trojans first and even though I peg USC for 1st, the Trojans cannot play for the Pac-12 Title as they are in the 2nd year of their probation which also keeps them from a bowl. They can still win the Pac-12 South which should give them more motivation than they had LY. While this year’s team is young and they draw both Oregon and Stanford from the North as well as having to face Pac-12 South favorite ASU on the road, the Trojans have plenty of talent and despite just 62.9% returning lettermen, should finish at the top of the South.

21. Ole Miss-I am the only publication that picked the Rebels to finish of ahead of defending national champ Auburn. The Rebels were coming off finishes at #14 and #20 but LY did not go as expected for them as they finished last in the West at 1-7 and were -74.9 ypg. The Rebels’ 4 SEC HG’s this year are vs arguably the top 4 teams in the SEC meaning most of their winnable games are on the road. They have just 65.3% of their lettermen returning (#9 SEC) incl just 4 st’rs on D but Houston Nutt’s teams do very well when I put them on my Most Improved List and they find themselves in that spot this year and will pull some upsets.

Only 28 Days Until the First College Football Game!

Early this morning the FCS magazines were delivered to our offices and all of you who have Pre-Ordered your FCS magazine I can promise that your magazine will be shipped out of our offices today! For those of you who have not ordered my first stand only FCS Preview here’s a brief history of my FCS coverage over the years:

In 2007, I made the commitment to provide quality in-depth FCS information and I provided a ¼ page on each FCS team in my Pac-10 Regional. There was moderate interest and I increased the coverage to 1/2 page per team in 2008.

In 2009 I moved the coverage to my ACC & Big East Regional giving the FCS even more exposure. Last year I increased the coverage on each team to a FULL PAGE and the interest increased. This season I am very proud to produce a magazine that gives each and every school equal FCS coverage!

The FCS continues to provide fans with quality football and with 96 games this season against FBS foes interest will continue to grow. TV contracts are also becoming bigger, which will continue to expand the viewing audience while more and more upsets seem to occur each season. The NFL draft also brings to light the quality of players that come from the FCS. It is time the Nation realizes that many of these quality FCS programs can compete day in and day out with many FBS conferences.

If you’re an FCS fan I can promise you there is no other preview like it on the market today with 240 pages dedicated to the FCS! You can order it through our offices by calling us at 1-866-918-7711 or by going to PhilSteele.com and it is just $13.70 (S&H included). You will become an instant expert on EVERY FCS team and remember every year there are more and more matchups between FCS and FBS schools. So get a leg up on one of your favorite team’s possible FCS opponent this year by purchasing the Phil Steele 2011 FCS Preview today!

I need your help:

If you’re an FCS coach, AD, conference coordinator, SID or FCS fan please help me promote each and every one of the126 FCS schools by purchasing my 2011 FCS preview and by putting the word out to your associates and known FCS fans. I want to put out a FCS Preview each year as college football is a labor of love for me but with printing costs, plus time and effort I have to see that there is a significant demand out there. If you have a twitter or facebook account or a blog spread the word to anyone that you know is a FCS fan. Last year we sold just under 1,000 copies of the FCS magazine that was located in one of our regional magazines but this year with it being a stand-alone magazine I want to sell many more copies. Since there will be a limited distribution of the magazine in book stores and newsstands the best way to get your hands on the 2011 FCS Preview is ordering online at the PhilSteele.com store or by purchasing thru our offices at 1-866-918-7711.  Let’s make the FCS Preview a standard tradition much like what my National College Preview has become the last 17 years!

Pro Magazine Update:

With free agency wrapping up and all of the teams now in training camp, we will be sending my 2011 NFL Preview to the press this Friday. I promise you it will be the most up-to-date Preview magazine on the market today that includes all the trades and free agency moves. The shipment of Pro magazines should be in my offices by August 16th and it will be hitting the newsstands by August 30th. If you have a fantasy draft coming up in the end of August your best bet to get your hands on the NFL Magazine is to order online at the PhilSteele.com store or by calling our offices at 1-866-918-7711. Remember this year we are expanding the Fantasy portion of the magazine and are bringing in a Fantasy football writer from a popular Emmy-Award winning web based show to author that section! The cost of the NFL Magazine is just $12.70 (includes S&H).

31 Days Until the First College Football Game!!!

Most of you have been buying Phil Steele’s College Football Preview for years and you know just how much that magazine has improved throughout the years. Thanks to your input I continue to make improvements and add information that you cannot obtain from any other magazine. I am extremely excited about the 3rd edition of Phil Steele’s NFL Magazine as I continue to make it better and I hope that it will rival my College Preview Magazine as being “the one the experts cannot do without”.

One of the new features I added to the 2010 CFB Preview was the team’s grade for each individual game. The grade represents not only how much the team won by or how much they outgained an opponent by but it’s also compared to what my computer forecasted. For example, TCU in week 2 last year played against Tennessee Tech. They won 62-7 and outgained them 452-150. That game grade was only 85.0 because the Horned Frogs were expected to win easily and in fact the game was rated as their second worst performance of the season! TCU, however did have the #2 best game grade of the entire NCAA last year with their dominating 47-7 win over an undefeated #6 Utah team on the road as they outgained the Utes by a 558-199 mark. Stanford’s win against Washington was #1 as the Cardinal knocked off the Huskies on the road in dominating fashion. While other teams won & outgained opponents by more (see Oregon vs New Mexico), when you add in the strength of opponent and where the game was played you get the true Phil Steele Game Grade.

Here is the list of last season’s Top 10 college performances:

Top 10 College Team Performances of 2010

As I do with most articles and evaluations I translate them to the NFL and provide you with that information. When you buy my NFL Magazine which will be available at the PhilSteele.com store in just a few weeks, on each team’s stat page, or the first of the teams six pages, you will find last season’s game-by-game stats. On the right side you will find a game grade, a team’s season rank and an NFL rank comparing it to every game played last year. You’ll see that last season’s top NFL performance was by Oakland in week #7. The Raiders beat the Broncos 59-14 and outgained them 508-240. On the Oakland page you will find a game grade of 110.5, a season rank of #1, and an NFL rank of #1 meaning it was the NFL’s best performance and of course Oakland’s best game of the 16 they played last year. On the flip side, if you go to Denver’s page you will find an individual game grade vs OAK of 53.8, it was of course their worst performance of the season (#16) and it was an NFL low #534. All 32 teams played 16 regular season games (32×16) equaling 512 plus 8 teams in the Wild Card, 8 teams in the Conference Semi-Finals, 4 teams in the Conference Finals and 2 in the Super Bowl equals the 534 games played.

Here are last season’s Top 10 NFL performances (note – we have taken out several week #17 games as those stats were tainted against opponents resting their starters):

Top 10 NFL Team Performances of 2010

Only 37 Days Until the First College Football Game!!!

The NFL lockout looks like it finally may be over with today so with that in mind I am going to switch the blog topic up a little bit with an article that is featured in our NFL Magazine. Normally by now our NFL magazine has hit the newsstands but with the lockout in place, I have decided to postpone the magazine because I want to be the most accurate NFL magazine on the market that takes into consideration all the free agency moves that are about to occur.

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.

In the inaugural Phil Steele’s Pro Football Preview, I made a forecast for each division and I am very pleased to announce that I correctly forecasted 7 of the 8! I was the ONLY major magazine to pick the Super Bowl winning New Orleans Saints to win the NFC South. I followed that performance up by picking three of last years first place teams for an impressive 2 year record of 11 of 16 division winners or 69%.

The NFL is certainly a league of parity and in fact going back to 1998 only 31% of the time has a team repeated as a division winner. In 2002 the NFL went four divisions of four teams each, making it much easier to repeat. Taking those 9 seasons plus the previous two, only 27 of the 72 division winners or 38% repeated. Those numbers include both New England and Indianapolis who have dominated the AFC East & AFC South as each has repeated 5 times and were the ONLY 2 teams to repeat again last season.

Since the start of this decade there have been 78 division winners but ONLY 11 of the NFL’s 32 teams have been consistent enough to bag B2B division titles. I mentioned NE & Indy and they are followed by San Diego, Philadelphia and Seattle with 3 repeats. Oakland and Green Bay each have 2 while Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Minnesota, Chicago and Arizona each have 1 repeat.

While I wrote earlier that with eight 4 team divisions it was easier to have a repeat winner, it must still be noted that only 3 of the divisions have had multiple B2B division winners and the NFC North is the only division to have 3 B2B winners as GB won the title in ’03 & ’04, CHI in ’05 & ’06 and MIN won it in ’08 & ’09. With New Orleans winning the NFC South it is sill is the only division to have not had a repeat winner since the new format in 2002. The NFC South is also 1 of 3 divisions since 2002 to have all 4 members win the division title along with the AFC West & the NFC West.

At the start of the decade I could easily attribute that to the fact the NFL made the first place teams play a first place schedule or take on the division winners and runner ups from the previous year while the last place teams did the opposite. That scheduling philosophy changed a few years back but the trends have continued.

Here are all the NFL division Champs from 1998-2009.

One last thing which is common knowledge but often forgotten this time of year is the Super Bowl loser jinx. Here are the last 12 Super Bowl losers listed the year they lost the Super bowl and after their team name is how they fared the next season.

1998 Atlanta – In 1999, the Falcons went 5-11. (no playoffs)
1999 Tennessee – In 2000, the Titans went 13-3 but lost their 1st playoff game .
2000 NY Giants – In 2001, the Giants went 7-9 .
2001 St Louis – In 2002, the Rams went 7-9 .
2002 Oakland – In 2003, the Raiders went 4-12 .
2003 Carolina – In 2004, the Panthers went 7-9 .
2004 Philadelphia – In 2005, the Eagles went 6-10 .
2005 Seattle – In 2006, the Seahawks went 9-7 and WON a playoff game when Tony Romo fumbled the snap on the game winning FG. (lost next week).
2006 Chicago – In 2007, the Bears went 7-9 .
2007 New England – In 2008, the Patriots went 11-5 but missed the playoffs.
2008 Arizona – In 2009, the Cards won the division and WON a playoff OT shootout when the ball bounced off Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers foot and the Cards caught it and returned it for a TD. (lost next week).
2009 Indianapolis- In 2010 the Colts went 10-6 and won the AFC South but saw their streak of 7 straight seasons with at least 12 wins come to an end and lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
2010 Pittsburgh-In 2011 the Steelers ?

The last 12 Super Bowl losers have combined for 2 playoff wins with EIGHT of them missing the playoffs and there were a combined 7 losing records.

Only 38 Days Until the First College Football Game!!!

This year when you add up the national Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, the FCS Preview and the NFL magazine we are closing in on printing close to a million magazines. Now when you factor in the actual printing cost, shipping and distribution of the magazine and my staff of roughly 25 people, the cost becomes exorbitant. My employee’s work on nothing but football year round and I would like to thank them for the massive amount of man hours it takes to produce these in depth and meaty magazines.

To do all the research that we do and print all the magazines, the costs continue to climb. This year you will notice we have expanded our advertising in the magazine and are pleased to have our new advertisers but are still happy to have fewer ads than the competitors. These advertisers are crucial for me to keep expanding the amount of information that we produce every year. There are two things you can do to keep us putting out more and more information. The first is to buy the magazine at the newsstands or ideally buy the entire set of magazines thru the offices and get them sent to you priority mail for just $36.75. The second is to patronize our advertisers.

You will notice in this years magazine that we have added some new advertisers. For years my entire staff has been devoted to football and football only. We do not have a separate sales staff that is just here to find advertising. I believe most other major magazines have those type of staffs. For years I have wondered why any major advertiser would advertise in one of the competitors and not my magazine. Let’s face the facts. When you purchase one of the competitors magazines, you buy it, do a quick read thru and it finds itself on the bookshelf and unread after that. Their magazines maybe get opened 3 to 5 times during the year. My magazine is used almost daily during football and I can tell from everyone’s comments that it is used from the summer thru September, October, November, December and even into January and the next spring! I would estimate the average buyer of my national magazine opens it up during the year somewhere between 500 and 1000 times giving the advertiser greater exposure. I know this is true and if you buy the magazine you probably realize this as well.

Now advertisers like to track how successful their ads are and I feel they will all be pleasantly surprised. This could be a key to much greater football coverage in the future as the advertisers grow and pay more of the bills. Each of the advertisers has a way to track folks that have heard of them thru my magazine. Let me quickly give you some of those advertisers and how you can identify yourself as a Phil Steele Publications reader.

If you check out page 323 of this years magazine, there is a picture of me watching the games on Saturday on Direct TV. Naturally if you want to watch as much college football as I do I feel it is the way to go. They also have the NFL package which allows you to watch EVERY NFL game. That is what I do on Sundays. I personally have been using Direct TV for over a decade. If you are thinking of getting Direct TV for your football setup at home call them at 1-888-383-9941. There is no equipment to buy and no start up costs. For a limited time you can also get over 150 channels for just $29.99 a month! When you call 1-888-383-9941 they know you saw their ad in my magazine and maybe they will place bigger ads in next year’s magazine.

Croton watches took out a big ad on the inside front cover this year. You should check out their huge selection of quality, precision watches at crotonwatch.com. I am not sure how we get credit for your visit but make sure you let them know where you heard of them from.

As men, we all know that our girlfriends, wives, and mothers love flowers. I like to use ProFlowers where you can get several bouquets for any occasion whether it be anniversary, birthday or just because starting at just $19.99. You can save an extra 20% off already reduced prices on other bouquets and the offer is only available at proflowers.com/winning or call 1-888-451-5227.

A new advertiser this year in the magazine is GameFly.com. While I do not personally play video games myself, I know millions of people do across the country and there are several great football games. Right now you can get video game rentals delivered to your door with free shipping and no late fees. They have all the new releases and classic games for XBOX 360, Playstation 3 and Wii. You can cancel at anytime and right now they are offering for new members only an extended free trial. All you have to do is go to www.gamefly.com/print and enter the code: NEWS61.

Another new advertiser that I’m really excited about is FansAuction.com which is featured on our website. This is a penny auction site where you can find great NCAA Fan Gear and Tickets for under $5! I don’t know anyone who would not mind going to sporting events and getting gear for their favorite team for such a low price. Make sure you check out them out today and put your bids in!

Finally, most of the other magazines have ads for sports services in their magazines. A major concern I have about using sports services (they provide their selections on games concerning the Las Vegas line) is that there are a lot of high pressure services out there with slick salesmen that get your phone number and harass you at all hours until you sign up. Northcoast Sports has been an advertiser in the magazine for 15 years (you probably recognize their girls in bikini’s in their ads) and we have never had a single complaint of them ever calling someone’s house or business. They assure me that if you call 1-800-654-3448 and get 3 free issues of their newsletter Power Sweep (including the pre-season issue which is coming out very soon) that they will not even ask for your phone number and no salesman will call.

If you have already purchased this year’s magazine make sure to check out the ads and remember by patronizing the advertisers you can ensure us putting out more and more information in the future. Thanks!!!!

Only 40 Days Until the First College Football Game!!!

In 2007 I made the commitment to provide quality in-depth FCS information and I provided a ¼ page on each FCS team in my Pac-10 Regional. There was moderate interest and I increased the coverage to 1/2 page per team in 2008. In 2009 I moved the coverage to my ACC & Big East Regional giving the FCS even more exposure. Last year I increased the coverage on each team to a FULL PAGE and the interest increased. This season I am very proud to produce a magazine that gives each and every school equal FCS coverage! I am counting on you the FCS fans, alumni, school leaders and athletic departments to help spread the word and make this magazine a success allowing me to continue publishing it.

The FCS continues to provide fans with quality football and with 96 games this season against FBS foes interest will continue to grow. TV contracts are also becoming bigger, which will continue to expand the viewing audience while more and more upsets seem to occur each season. The NFL draft also brings to light the quality of players that come from the FCS. It is time the Nation realizes that many of these quality FCS programs can compete day in and day out with many FBS conferences.

As you probably know I spend 7 days a week and 365 days a year working on nothing but football. It has made my FBS Magazine the “Most Accurate Preseason Magazine The Last 13 Years” and that same type of hard work and dedication goes into this FCS Preview as well as my NFL Magazine.

This year I am also pleased to have The Sports Network provide a special featured section with FCS articles and information. We just sent the final pages off to press and today we will begin our FCS Top 40 Countdown giving you a sneak peak of what the magazine pages look like and remember those pages will only be available to download for 24 hours!

If you’re an FCS fan I can promise you there is no other preview like it on the market today with 240 pages dedicated to the FCS! You can order it through our offices by calling us at 1-866-918-7711 or by going to PhilSteele.com and it is just $8.95 (S&H not included). You will become an instant expert on EVERY FCS team and remember every year there are more and more matchups between FCS and FBS schools. So get a leg up on one of your favorite team’s possible FCS opponent this year by purchasing the Phil Steele 2011 FCS Preview today!

Below is an example of what one of our pages look like.

Download Bethune-Cookman’s Page.PDF

2011 FCS Only Preview 240 Pages!!!
$8.95
Call 1-866-918-7711

Only 46 Days Until the First College Football Game!!

OPERATION: PHIL STEELE PASS IT ON

Today I am proud to introduce a new promotion “OPERATION: PHIL STEELE PASS IT ON” for our brave men and women currently serving in the military. Any military personnel who purchases my 2011 College Football Preview Magazine will receive a second copy for one of your comrades absolutely FREE! This is my way of saying thank you for your service to this country.

You can purchase the 2011 College Football Preview for just $13.70 (includes Priority Mail shipping) by calling our office at 1-866-918-7711 and mention “OPERATION: PHIL STEELE PASS IT ON” to get that extra copy for FREE!

This offer is valid only to those with an AE, AP or active military address and you can choose between any of the 11 different covers including our very special Armed Forces Cover (featured below).

Regional, NFL and FCS Preview Information

Due to rising costs of shipping and the limited demand over the past few years we will not be producing the Regional Magazines this year. I will still be producing an NFL Preview and not only is it the most accurate NFL magazine, but it also has more information per NFL team (6 pages) than the two full pages I put on the FBS teams in my College Football Preview! This year we are expanding the Fantasy portion of the magazine and are bringing in a Fantasy football writer from a popular Emmy-Award winning web based show to author that section!

I am also publishing an FCS ONLY magazine, which I believe is the only magazine of its kind on the market today! Last year we expanded our FCS or IAA information to a full page on each of those teams (over 150 pages). This year our new FCS Preview will have closer to 200 pages devoted solely to the FCS! Keep in mind UTSA and Texas St are joining the WAC and UMass is joining the MAC next season. You can get complete coverage on those three teams this year in my FCS Preview.

As of right now I am looking at on sale date on August 9th for both of these publications (orders should ship on or before that date). The cost of the NFL Magazine is $12.70, which includes Priority Mail shipping while the FCS Magazine will cost $13.70 (also includes Priority Mail shipping). While the NFL Preview’s circulation grows every year, the FCS Preview will be at a limited number of newsstands. However, you can order both of these publications at the PhilSteele.com store or through our office (1-866-918-7711) right NOW!

Only 71 DAYS LEFT UNTIL THE FIRST COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME!!!