A tiny annual treat of covering college football is picking up one’s copy of Phil Steele’s annual preview magazine. In addition to being fun to peruse, for sportswriters it’s an essential tool, really 119 team media guides plus much more, an exhaustive effort that annually blows away its competition by prediction accuracy or any other measure.
The tiny type and esoteric abbreviations (FHG= final home game, PBU= passes broken up, etc) can be annoyances, but Steele uses them so he can cram ever more info into the thing. It costs nine bucks, but if you’re into this sport that’s a bargain.
Anyway, I got my copy the other day. Some interesting notes: Steele has Penn State ranked 10th in the country, in marked contrast to the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll, which has the Lions 22nd.
Steele has Florida No. 1 thanks largely to its schedule, about as manageable as an SEC slate can be, with most of the toughies at home. The rest of the top 10: Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC, Clemson, West Virginia, Missouri, South Florida, Georgia, Penn State.
Georgia is No. 1 according to the coaches, but Steele disagrees because of its schedule, which includes Florida, LSU, Auburn and South Carolina (one of Steele’s most improved), all on the road.
In Steele’s position-group rankings, Penn State’s defensive line comes in second in the country and first in the Big Ten, but that was of course before Baker and Taylor got kicked off the team.
Steele’s most improved team in the country: Notre Dame.
