"Expert" Phil Steele's NCAA Football Preview book

[YoeyCC]

Known as the most accurate college football preview book on the shelves has picked BGSU as the #65th team in the nation. What a ****** moron! He also has Miami (OH) beating us out for the East title and Toledo winning it all from the west. Plus we are not included in any bowl games in his predictions. Just wanted to tell everyone to include Phil Steele on there dumbass of the year award list.

[BGGrad01]

Known as the most accurate college football preview book on the shelves has picked BGSU as the #65th team in the nation. What a ***** moron! He also has Miami (OH) beating us out for the East title and Toledo winning it all from the west. Plus we are not included in any bowl games in his predictions. Just wanted to tell everyone to include Phil Steele on there dumbass of the year award list.

I also bought this magazine and again can't believe how much information he jams into it. I was disappointed in BG's national ranking and that Sharon/Sanders were listed as 3rd team all-MAC receivers, but I don't think he's a "f*ing moron" for picking Miami to beat us. As has been discussed on 4,854 threads, we haven't won a big MAC road game in many, many years and we play at Miami this year. Miami has good talent on both sides of the ball and Ryne Robinson can take a punt to the house in a heartbeat. The only thing I question is the experience of their coach. I think we're going to breakthrough this year and win the MAC, but I would not at all be surprised if we lost at Miami and we're sitting at home watching bowl games this year.

[BGGrad01]

Known as the most accurate college football preview book on the shelves has picked BGSU as the #65th team in the nation. What a ****** moron!

He ranks us at #44 by the way. Still low in my book, but not ridiculous.

[NY-BG-FAN]

The problem is, as good as we are if lose to Miami and/or Toledo which is entirely possible we might not get a bowl, it's a reality. We didn't do anything to earn the GMAC bid last year, other teams gave us help b/c a shortage of teams qualified for spots. You can't bank on that happening every year, even as they add more and more bowls.

[BGSU-Ph.D.]

The problem is, as good as we are if lose to Miami and/or Toledo which is entirely possible we might not get a bowl, it's a reality. We didn't do anything to earn the GMAC bid last year, other teams gave us help b/c a shortage of teams qualified for spots. You can't bank on that happening every year, even as they add more and more bowls.

I don't think that we are going to lose to either of them. But, for the sake of argument, I think there is a good chance we could lose one of them and still go to a bowl. Here my thinking:

Lose to Toledo, beat Miami, win the East, play in the MAC championship, go to a bowl game regardless of whether or not we win the MAC championship.

Lose to Miami, beat Toledo, probably wouldn't go to the MAC championship (Miami would), probably would go to a bowl if Miami beats Toledo in the MAC title game.

Lose to Miami, beat Toledo, but NIU goes to the MAC championship. If NIU wins, we're out. If NIU loses, we're in.

All of this is based on the assumptions that (1) Omar and the offense lives up to the hype and (2) We, at worst, get a split with Boise St. and
Wisconsin.

I just noticed that I used "we." I usually don't.

[BGFalcons232]

we probably won't get a bowl this year if we're not in the MAC championship game. it's never happened that the loser of the conference championship game has not gone to one of the two MAC bowl games. also, last year was a fluke when so many MAC teams got bowls. that won't happen again. there will more than likely be enough eligible teams to keep the 3, 4, 5 MAC teams out.

all it comes down to is that we need to reverse our recent history and beat a tough team on the road for once (miami). if we win the east, we're in the MAC championship and either a GMAC or motor city bowl...

and the only other semi-realistic scenario is if we open the season ranked in the top 25 (which i doubt as we're not even defending conference champs), beat both wisky and boise and only lose to a RANKED miami. that is the only scenario i can see in which we don't go to the MAC championship and still make a bowl. however, as i said, it is likely we will be just out of the top 25 (26-30 range) and will face an uphill battle for an at-large.

[BGSU-Ph.D.]

we probably won't get a bowl this year if we're not in the MAC championship game. it's never happened that the loser of the conference championship game has not gone to one of the two MAC bowl games. also, last year was a fluke when so many MAC teams got bowls. that won't happen again. there will more than likely be enough eligible teams to keep the 3, 4, 5 MAC teams out.

all it comes down to is that we need to reverse our recent history and beat a tough team on the road for once (miami). if we win the east, we're in the MAC championship and either a GMAC or motor city bowl...

and the only other semi-realistic scenario is if we open the season ranked in the top 25 (which i doubt as we're not even defending conference champs), beat both wisky and boise and only lose to a RANKED miami. that is the only scenario i can see in which we don't go to the MAC championship and still make a bowl. however, as i said, it is likely we will be just out of the top 25 (26-30 range) and will face an uphill battle for an at-large.

I'll stand by my previous post. I'm not too concerned about the past, since we've never had a player receive as much preseason hype as Omar or a team receive as much preseason attention as this year's squad. The move back to the East also changes things. I can't see us not grabbing that second MAC bowl if we beat Toledo head-to-head, we have similar records, and Toledo loses in the MAC championship.

[Rightupinthere]

His ranking does seem rather low, but I don't pay much attention to any pre-season rankings.
As to the MAC predictions: I would like to remind everyone that BG plays AT MiAudi. I would also like to remind everyone that it IS MiAudi and they have a way of beating BG. I see BG beating Toiletto, however, that game really doesn't mean d!<k in the grand scheme of things.

BG has serious question marks around defense. The only solution to the defense so far is for the offense to pick up the slack. That didn't work against NIU (another away game).

Yes, that was last year, but history has a way of repeating itself - especially when it comes to Miami.

I don't see much wrong with Steele's MAC predictions. [/i]

[Falconfreak90]

Personally, I think Steele's is probably the best out there. I have my copy 2 feet away on my desk.

I thought BG was rated a bit low but he makes some valid points on why he sees BG finishing 2nd in the East. I think we will win the East.

He is far from a "#*&$^! Moron".

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

I agree with Falcon Freak, Steele's mag is a great source of info.

I don't always like what I read in there, for example, he has Ohio State predicted to finnish 9th (it's the list on P. 27) behind Purdue (3) and Louisville (4) whcih I completely disagree with, but we all have our opinions, even Steele.

He also has FSU's LB's rated higher than OSU's, whcih I think is not correct, but still, where your team or unit ranks has little relevence to anything.

I'd take it with a grain of salt if Steele rates BGSU lower than you think they should be. Personally, I like BGSU and/or Miami to to win the MAC, and I'm pretty confident that unless BGSU falls apart they get a bowl bid. But, hey, I'm no Phil Steele,

[JoeFalcon]

The biggest mistake was ranking Domenik Hixon of Akron and Scott Mayle of Ohio ahead of both Chuck and Steve Sanders on his All-MAC lists.

It's ridiculous when you compare the statistics:

Sharon (BG) 66 catches, 1007 yards, 15 TD's
Sanders (BG) 55 catches, 984 yards, 8 TD's
Hixon (Akron) 66 catches, 882 yards, 6 TD's
Mayle (Ohio) 33 catches, 583 yards, 4 TD's

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

The biggest mistake was ranking Domenik Hixon of Akron and Scott Mayle of Ohio ahead of both Chuck and Steve Sanders on his All-MAC lists.

It's ridiculous when you compare the statistics:

Sharon (BG) 66 catches, 1007 yards, 15 TD's
Sanders (BG) 55 catches, 984 yards, 8 TD's
Hixon (Akron) 66 catches, 882 yards, 6 TD's
Mayle (Ohio) 33 catches, 583 yards, 4 TD's

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see Mayle's numbers getting any better with Solich running the show down there.

I also think he dropped the ball with WVU, saying Jason Gwaltney will get the ball over Jason Colson at RB. Colson was, in my mind, better than KayJay Harris (last year's starter for all but games he was injured) and Rich Rodriguez has even said Colson was close to starting over Harris straight up.

[1987alum]

This from my post in another thread ...

Our last four years have been very successful, but each of those seasons have been tempered by a big MAC road loss.

To wit,
2004 - Road losses to NIU & UT
2003 - Road loss to Miami
2002 - Road losses to NIU & UT
2001 - Road loss at Marshall

During that four-year stretch, we've won plenty of games vs. BCS conference opponents - beating Purdue, Northwestern (twice), Missouri (twice), Temple (twice) and Kansas. But we have exactly zero MAC titles.

And let me jump in on the bowl discussion. If we don't play in the MACC game, we don't go to a bowl. I'l bet a shiny nickel on that.

Combine our recent history with big MAC roadies with Miami's dominance over us for a decade and it's easy to see why anyone outside of the BGosphere doesn't see us winning the East, let alone the MAC.

Even those of us who bleed orange and brown know that our defense has twice as many questions as solid answers and that it is the key to our success. Someone posted in another thread that Miami is a shadow of its former self. That's hackneyed nonsense. The Redskins (please, no PC RedHawks) will have a great team this year.

Do I think we'll win the East? Yes I do. But you can't discount a non-partisan opinion on the subject just because it doesn't jibe with yours. It's simply not an open-and-shut case.

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

87 - hardly my place, but that was well said indeed.

[Bleeding Orange]

Rather than start a new post, I thought I would dig this one out of the cupboard to keep the AZZ comandants happy.

Frustrated that no one in Tucson has the new ESPN magazine, I saw the last copy of Steele's at the local Fry's (same company as Kroger) and thought I'd pick it up wanting something football related to read.

I am shocked at how askew this preview is from EVERYTHING else I've read. Not so much his analysis of BG, although I thought he ranked us really, really low as many others did. But Purdon't at #3? Really? My 'Cats are gonna smoke them this year. They ain't goin' anywhere.

There are a LOT of inconsistencies in this magazine - many more than I would expect from "The most accurate preaseason magazine the last 6 years!" For example, how is Miami supposed to win the MAC yet Toledo is the only MAC team listed in the 2005 bowl projections. And why is the GMAC bowl not included in the bowl list?

Also, how in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks are Reggie McNeal and Chris Leak rated AHEAD of Omar in Top 62 Quarterbacks? I can understand Young being rated ahead of him because he is a very good quarterback, but these two guys? Chris Leak hasn't done crap to prove anything to anyone. Is Urban supposed to stick his hand up Leak's a$$ and turn him into a Heisman contender this year just because he did it with ONE guy at Utah in TWO YEARS? I just don't get that at all. And while we're on player rankings, how the heck is Martin Nance the #1 reciever in the country? He is good - very good - no doubt, but #1? No.

And Florida at #11? Urban is good, but he ain't that good. This is the first time I've ever read Steele's preview, but I'm guessing that he was never a big Zook fan...

I realize I am a month or two late in getting ahold of this, so you'll have to forgive my delayed reaction. And please don't get me wrong, there is a TON of info in here that will give me hours of reading pleasure, but on first glance, I'm not too impressed so far.

Oh, and for those you who were hesitatant to label Steele a "f$%*ing moron," I will leave this post with one piece of advice for Phil:

The "C" in MAC means CONFERENCE! Moron.