Nice to see USF on the cover of Phil Steele's college football mag

[Mama_Bull]

no Miami on the cover, and everybody go vote for USF in the poll

The poll is on Phil Steele's site --and Utah is winning right now.

No wonder.  ;D

http://www.blocku.com/2008/5/19/520865/utah-a-top-25-team-in-2008

[Mama_Bull]

He has started releasing his top 25.

http://www.philsteele.com/

According to Brett, Steele will have USF in his top 20:

Phil Steele’s Top 25 also will include three Big East teams: the rankings for West Virginia and USF have not been announced, but they’ll both be in the top 20, while Pitt was No. 25.

http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/sports/comments/mens-hoops-earns-no-71-ranking/

[Jihme]

gotta love selvie being all over the place!

[smazza]

hope usf is in hunt this year for big east title in december

[feardabull]

Georgia has dethroned the mighty Utes

[Bull Martin]

Georgia has dethroned the mighty Utes

You mean people are starting to vote more truthfully.  Fan polls are garbage...

[Jake_Ryan]

It will be interesting to see where Phil Steele ranks the Bulls.  He is one of the most knowledgeable analysts out there.

[Mama_Bull]

It will be interesting to see where Phil Steele ranks the Bulls.  He is one of the most knowledgeable analysts out there.

He's already up to #19 on his site.

Maybe this image will update as he goes along.

[Mama_Bull]

I was looking at his 2008 toughest schedule list and he ranks USF #60 SOS. So, our schedule is considered  much easier than last year:

Here are the 10 teams with easier schedules that should have better success in 2008 and the number in the parenthesis is the difference (easier) from last yr’s schedule:

Then I noticed this little blurb:

Here are this year’s teams in which one or more sets of my Power Ratings forecast a perfect season as a possibility. This year the teams are Florida, Ohio State, USC, Oklahoma, Georgia, Missouri, West Virginia, USF, Clemson, Utah, BYU, Virginia Tech, Tulsa and Ball St. Keep in mind that good health, a positive turnover ratio and a little luck are needed to go unbeaten. I hope your favorite team has a favorable schedule.

http://www.philsteele.com/FBS%20Info/toughestschedule.html

[Mama_Bull]

Well, I've been doing some searching to see if anyone had the inside scoop on Phil Steele's top 10 for this year and USF is supposedly ranked #8 by him. 

It should pop up on newsstands shortly, but a sneaky peeky inside this year’s mag in no particular order:

1. Nothing’s changed. Yay. Same infinitesimally small 6 point type. Same arcane system of acronyms. (Hey, there’s a glossary. Nut up, lazy readerperson.) Same eight sets of power rankings determining his conference picks. Same=good in this case, of course, since this now constitutes the highlight of our offseason and is also responsible for the serotonin bump we’ve been surfing like the Poraroca for the past day or so.

2. Number one? Oh, Christ: Florida. The 2008 preseason top ten, according to Phil, follow:

10. Penn State.

9. Georgia

8. USF

7. Missouri

6. West Virginia

5. Clemson

4. USC

3. Oklahoma

2. Ohio State

1. Florida

Phil’s counting on the “and now, a miracle happens†argument with the talented but scorchy young defensive backfield shaping up for the Gators. Being skeptics, we don’t wager on the sun rising, and anyone picking our team to finish first therefore gives us methy shakes. He bids large on Oklahoma, too, probably the more sensible pick in the Big 12 given the sudden evaporation of defense in conference, the Sooner’s mammoth offensive line, their solid array of offensive talent, and everyone else going gonzo by leaning on other wise merely good Texas Tech for their Big 12 pick.

Seeing Georgia that low–do not grok, not at all. We would point out, though, that Phil sees them to be a likely national title contender. USF seems a bit high, too, especially with their offensive line struggles and over-reliance on Matt Grothe. Any inclusion of Clemson in the top ten willingly omits their astonishing consistency over the past decade in losing at least two games they should walk away with each year.

3. Notre Dame, up. Ditto for North Carolina, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Miami, Mississippi, Maryland, and Arizona, of all schools.

That’s all we’ll divulge, though if we were to actually convey one percent of the information in the guide we’d overload our server. Buy here or on newsstands next week, or in a bookstore if your town doesn’t have bold little scamps in half-pants and suspenders hawking newspapers and Life magazine on every corner. It’s JAMPACKED WITH INFORMATION, and even in all caps this is an understatement. Own it. Know it. Meld your flesh with it and become one with it.

http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2008/05/29/merry-steeletide/