More magazine stuff

Well, I did it. I bought The Sporting News College Football Preview. Last week, I said I wasn’t going to buy it but found myself skimming it at Borders. A day later I broke down and said “what the hell?” Now after the inevitable letdown, I have sworn that I am done and will not buy Lindy’s or any other preseason publication. There is nothing BC-related left to learn. In order to save you a few bucks, here is what the different publications are saying about the Eagles.

Phil Steele’s College Preview Magazine
Overview: the best of the bunch, but I am not as enamored as some bloggers. He has the best stats and makes the most claims, but as Ian said, Steele spends way too much time hyping his past predictions in his goofy hieroglyphics.

What did he say about BC? He ranked BC 41 nationally and 3rd in the Atlantic.

Steele is very high on Marten and Cherilus. Both were listed ast 3rd team All American. Toal made the 3rd team too. He has Beekman is in Top 10 Guards. He thinks less of Matt Ryan (25th) and Whitworth (45th) relative to their peers. Dunbar, Raji and Tribble also made his national position rankings at 30, 51 and 16.

What didn’t make sense to me was how he could have so many of our Lineman ranked high nationally but only place the unit as 14th overall. Is he really expecting that much of a drop off from the new starters?

When he ranks ACC players, BC guys place pretty well. All the previously mentioned guys received some sort of honor in addition to Silva and Ramella making 4th team ACC.

As hollow as some of Steele’s formulas are, I do give him credit for his Special Teams ranking. And he is the first guy I’ve read in print to take TOB to task for our special teams. According to Steele, TOB coached teams have never ranked higher than 57th in his formula and reached a low point in 2003, when we were one of the worst in the country -- 114th.

Steele has us as a Bowl team.

The Sporting News Preseason Magazine
Overview: They are lite on stats and big on storylines. Not much unique BC content. I bought it more for the other teams. I love the anonymous quotes from coaches, but this year they weren’t as venomous.

What did they say about BC? They are more enthused about our prospects nationally than Steele. TSN ranked BC 29th nationally. Like Steele they see us as the third best team in our division.

They are very high on my 2005 MVP Josh Beekman. He made first team preseason All American. However, not one BC unit cracked their national unit rankings.

Marten and Toal made 2nd team All ACC.

The Sporting News also ranked the ACC recruiting classes. BC finished 7th; Farrell was their source so bias must be noted.

They are down on our Wide Receivers and Defensive Ends. I am unsure about the Ends, but I think people will be very surprised by the production of our WRs. Gonzo is very good. Challenger will be as productive as Lester and I think Robinson could have a breakout season.

TSN also called our staff “underrated” and said BC will be a Bowl team.

Athlon Atlantic Coast Preview
Overview: Glossy and pretty empty. I bought it because it was the first one to hit the stands. Like TSN, it is big on storylines.

What did they say about BC? They ranked us 36 nationally and 3rd in the Atlantic.

Athlon’s claim that TOB is underrated has been well documented.

They ranked our recruiting class as 9th overall in the ACC.

Most of the guys previously mentioned made some sort of ACC team. They were very high on transfer Jon Loyte. They also mention the importance of Jake Geiser.

While I give credit to The Sporting News for their blind quotes, Athlon quoted one opposing coach saying that TOB stuck with Porter too long.

Finally, they are the only magazine that thinks our Bowl streak is at risk. That is one thing I am not worried about. Our schedule is designed for us to go bowling.