collegefootballtopten.com

Continued from Part Two

I didn’t mean for this to be in three parts, but the information just kept filling up space.  Therefore, I kept breaking it up.  I certainly could have been even more specific than I was with many of the details.  My goal was to provide overviews and some comparisons.  Many of you have probably already purchased and digested your favorite magazine, so much of this is not news to you. 

In summary, there are some interesting characteristics about each preseason magazine.  For instance, there is the total number of pages.  Phil Steele has 328 pages.  That is 80 pages more than its closes competitor which is Lindy’s at 248 pages.  Athlon has a total of 200 pages while Sporting News has a total of 208 pages.  Phil Steele only considers the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.  However, Sporting News covers football in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Divisions II and III, NAIA, Junior Colleges and some high schools.  Lindy’s also picks up coverage of the FCS, Division II and Division III.  Like Phil Steele, Athlon just sticks with the Bowl Subdivision.

If you are interested in numbers and stats on each and every team, Phil Steele is your magazine.  It kind of has a reputation of being a “betters” magazine, but it is really stocked with a lot of good information, especially about teams that you probably don’t know much about (see Idaho).  If you want a general overview of all the divisions, all the way down to the JUCO’s, then Sporting News is the magazine you should probably buy.  Lindy’s is also pretty good for a general overview, except they don’t cover the lower divisions.  Lindy’s really ranks the units and positions.  Athlon, while it does a nice job of general coverage, may provide you with the most entertaining read.  Athlon has a pretty nice section on recruiting, a “Sideline Spirit” segment with some really pretty cheerleaders, their Pick’Em challenge with Trace Adkins and a major emphasis on its Fantasy Football for the fall.  Much of Athlon’s magazine is designed to drive you to their website for continued coverage throughout the football season.  The “Sideline Spirit”, the Pick’Em and the Fanatasy Football features are regulars on their website.  One final thing, Athlon seems to be interested in helping you if you have a gambling problem.

I hope you are able to learn more about your favorite team for the coming fall season.

Continued from Part One

To do further comparison, I decided to take two football teams, in this case Florida and Idaho, and see how each magazine does its analysis.  Why Florida and Idaho?  Florida is ranked as preseason number one by two of the magazines (Phil Steele and Athlon) and in the top ten by the others.  Florida returns Heisman Trophy winning QB Tim Tebow and WR Percy Harvin which will garner a lot of preseason press.  Florida represents the BCS teams.  Idaho, represents the non BCS teams.  There is not much hype surrounding Idaho which is not expected to be very competitive.

Florida

Phil Steele has two pages for Florida.  His features include Quarterbacks, Running Backs, Receivers, Offensive Line, Defensive Line, Linebackers, Defensive Backs, Special Teams and Coaches.  Phil has his forecast for the Gators as well as his projected starting lineups.  He includes a Top Newcomers box at the bottom of the fist page.  His schedule box is pretty comprehensive including stats against each opponent as well as the type of turf, a place to write in the Line, the Final Score and whether it was a won or a loss.  Of course the box includes a phone number for the weather in Gainesville, FL.  The second page is lined with a series of stats, many of which go back 5 to 6 years including results from their games dating back t o 2003.  He also includes the last five bowl games.

Sporting News also has two pages.  The core is a narration based analysis of Florida which includes highlights of top players on the Florida team such as LB Brandon Spikes, RB Kestahn Moore, and Defensive Linemen Torrey Davis and Carlos Dunlap.  On the first page is a small box which includes the 2008 schedule along with results against that team from 2007.  There is a Power Ratings box and a Bowl Projection, a Next Big Thing.  SN also offers a Recruiting Report box.  The final page includes a Depth Chart along with a Returning Stat Leaders and 2007 Team Stats.  Finally, SN has a nice looking little graphic which covers Florida’s 5 Year Wins Trend.

Athlon and Lindy’s must have been edited by the same guy.  The format seems almost identical.  Each magazine gives Florida one page.  There are three small boxes on the bottom page which covers the 2008 Schedule, 2007 Results, and 2007 National Rankings.  The side box to the right is the depth chart with “returning starters in bold.”  Each magazine does an analysis with sections including Offense, Defense, Special Teams/Specialists, Final Analysis/Overview.

Idaho

Phil Steele repeats the exact same format for Idaho that it does for Florida (see above).  There are two pages, loads of stats, features, etc.  I find it interesting that Phil Steele gives the Vandals the same treatment that he does Florida, with a phone number for the weather in Moscow, Idaho and everything.  On the other heand, Sporting News does no such favor.  By the time one arrives to Idaho’s spot, he sees a half a page.  There is not Depth Chart, no Recruiting Report, no Team Stats or Stat Leaders, and no graphic with the 5 Year Wins Trend.  This lack of coverage does not seem to be the same with all of the non BCS teams in SN.  Teams which are projected to finish at the top of the conference get more coverage.  Life is tough win your program struggles to win games and is projected to finish low.

Lindy’s and Athlon uses the same format with Idaho that they do with Florida.  The Vandals get the same one page format with the analysis, the Depth Chart, the schedule and results.  At least Lindy’s and Athlon treat the two programs the same.  Of course, Florida gets more press in other areas like preseason awards and honors.

Continue to Part Three

Most people have the college football magazine that they love.  This can be seen in some of the results of my favorite college football magazine poll.  Some are die hard Phil Steele fans.  Others, it seems, are more of a Street and Smith fan (which is now, of course, just Sporting News).  Regardless, I set out to waste as much time as possible to flip through the four big college football magazines and jot down a few notes so that you would be well informed about stuff in which you probably already knew.

I decided to note the features present, and I have chosen four which are present in all four magazines, to some extent or another.  All have some kind of Heisman preview, or at least they all refer to it.  Athlon, it seems, wants you to go to its website to check out their Heisman preview.  The only place that I saw Heisman mentioned was on page 9, which is essentially a big advertisement for Athlon’s website.  On that page, it explains that you can keep up with the “Heisman Hopefuls” throughout the season at AthlonSports.com.  A quick check, however, shows that the “Heisman Hopefuls” section isn’t ready yet.  Oh well, we can always click on HeismanPundit.com.

The next feature is coaching changes.  Well, at least all four have something to say about it.  The Sporting News and Lindy’s does a coaching changes/coach hot seat kind of thing.  Phil Steele seems to delve into the philosophy and all of the scenarios involving coaching changes including, you guessed it, numbers.  Athlon also has a section which it calls “Coaching Carousels.”  Of course, there are other places you can learn about coaching carousels or hot seats.

The third feature is All American Teams.  All four have one.  And, drum roll please, Tim Tebow is Preseason First Team All American QB by all four magazines!  Popular choice for Second Team seems to be Pat White and Chase Daniel.  Chris Wells and Knowshon Moreno is choice by all four as First Team All American at running back.  It is also important to note that Lindy’s, Athlon and Phil Steele rank either positions or units or both.  This is really interesting and an opportunity for bragging rights.

Finally, there is recruiting.

Sporting News reviews recruiting for many of the schools.  Sporting News also lists:

• Top JUCO’s (those moving on and the Super Sophomores)
• Top 50 High School Seniors
• Other Seniors to Watch
• Top 50 Juniors to Watch

Lindy’s lists include:

• Top 25 Recruiting Classes
• Top 100 Incoming Freshmen
• Top 100 for High School Seniors

Athlon also has a fairly comprehensive Recruiting preview.

• Rank each team by conference with the top 20 incoming freshmen in each conference.
• list a Top 50 Recruiting Classes
• list an “Athlon Consensus 100,” which is basically a top 100 incoming freshmen.
• list their “Top Rising High School Seniors”

Phil Steele:

• Top Frosh where lists the top 525 freshmen
• lists a Top 25 Recruiting Classes for the last 5 years
• Top 75 2008 “Frosh Recruiting Ratings,” which also includes JUCO’s
• “Conference By Conference 2008 Recruiting Ratings”

Continue to Part Two

Here it is. The top 4 magazines’ preseason top ten. You can buy each magazine at your local Borders.

Sporting News has its magazine out now, and in case you haven’t heard, Street & Smith’s has partnered with them.  So, Street & Smith’s annual magazine has been merged into Sporting News’ and the magazine is issued with the Sporting News name.  You can pick one up at your local Borders.  Now for the top ten.

1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. USC
4. Oklahoma
5. LSU
6. Missouri
7. Clemson
8. West Virginia
9. Florida
10. Illinois