For those of you who look forward to this as much as I do, it hit the shelves Friday. Along with Athlon, Sporting News, and Lindy's.
Phil Steele
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What!? I thought it was sometime in June! I've wasted a whole weekend's worth of bathroom trips reading The Atlantic!
I thought/think he has Notre Dame at #7....if so he lost his street cred for this year.
here it is
40- Arizona
39- Tennessee
38- Wisconsin
37- West Virginia
36- Oregon St.
35- Nevada
34- Florida St.
33- Arkansas
32- NC State
31- Troy
30- N Carolina
29- Michigan St.
28- Georgia Tech
27- Southern Miss
26- USF
25- Clemson
24- UCLA
23- Pitt
22- Nebraska
21- Miami
20- Iowa
19- Illinois
18- TCU
17- LSU
16- Rutgers
15- BYU
14- Oklahoma St.
13- Georgia
12- Boise St.
11- Virginia Tech
10- Ohio St
9- Cal
8- Alabama
7- Notre Dame
6- Ole Miss
5- Penn St.
4- Oklahoma
3- USC
2- Texas
1- Florida
I've always thought they came out in June every year as well. I'm wondering how he has Illinois ranked at all after they went 5-7. Notre Dame might actually have a good squad this year, as much as I hate to say it.
maybe but the Irish have done nothing to deserve that spot w/o earning it...we'll see I guess
The Irish don't have to "do" anything to deserve a high ranking, they just have to be average. They actually have a shot to beat USC this year.
Notre Dame plays a very weak schedule this year, and 8 of their games are at home. Even if they are not very good they have a great chance to win 10 games, which will undoubtedly keep them in the Top 10 (justified, or not).
Did you actually see Steele's magazine in stores? It says on his website that it hits the shelves June 9th...I'd be surprised if it were already out (and would go out and pick up a copy too).
Phil Steele
I always thought Steele's top 40 are how he views that team's chance to end the season in the top 40, not necessarily who he believes are the top 40 teams going in.
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The numbers on the right are the final AP rankings from last year. For most teams, Phil predicts little or no change. This must be a coincidence because I think Phil does a lot of objective numbers crunching to get his rankings.
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There is a lot to his list that I can't quite buy. I don't think Ole Miss is going to be the 2nd place team in the SEC at all. Hard to see them not having at least 3-4 losses. Notre Dame is not the 7th best team in the country either. I know they play a cake schedule, but they'll get creamed in their bowl game. I also think Ohio State is going to prevail in the Big 10. Doesn't Penn State lose quite a few guys?
Steele doesn't rank teams on how good he thinks they are, he does it on projected finishes. As has been brought up, ND's schedule this year set up very nicely for them to put together a nice season. I think a lot of people are putting a lot of stock into their Hawaii Bowl performance. It's the classic carry over scenario. They do have a ton of returning lettermen & starters though, so experience shouldn't be an issue. It wouldn't surprise me if they beat USC either. Talent wise, they're not a top 10 team, but they'll probably be in the BCS.
I wouldn't call any of them "brutal", just not optimistic. We really didn't do anything last year that would cause them to be to high on us. Steele thinks we will be better than 2-10 but most likely below .500.
