What does Phil Steele’s college football preview and TCU’s Jerry Hughes have in common?  Aside from the fact that they are both passionate about college football, Steele has put Hughes on the cover of his Texas addition.  I picked up my copy on Friday at Borders Books, and have began the annual pilgrimage through the pages of Steele’s masterpiece preview.

Last year I reviewed four of the college football previews, but this year, I am just buying Steele.  Phil Steele’s magazine is full of numbers.  There is a misunderstanding that Steele’s magazine is a better’s magazine, but it really is not.  He uses a complicated system of numbers to create power rankings in several different areas which means when the season is through, you will see he is pretty accurate.

True, the sports betters use his magazine, but that is because he is so accurate.  If you want to pour through numbers and facts, Phil Steele’s magazine is for you.  Just a word of warning.  When he has a “read here first” to understand what he is doing, you need to follow instructions.  Without the preface readings, you might be lost.

On the Texas cover with Hughes is Texas Longhorns QB Colt McCoy and Baylor QB Robert Griffin.

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

According to the Preseason Magazines

Notes: Street & Smith’s is not out yet. The difference between Phil Steele’s preseason poll and his power poll is that the power poll is who he thinks is best the first week of the season based on what each team has returning plus their incoming freshmen class. His preseaon poll is basically a prediction of how he thinks teams will finish with schedules being included in the mix.

If you want to see the entire polls, you might want to pick up a copy of each magazine. You can generally find them wherever magazines are sold, but I know that your local Borders should have a copy of every magazine including any regional editions such as the ones put out by Athlon. Also, I am interested in which states have good magazines. For example, Texas has Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, and Arkansas has Hooten’s. What does your state have?

Let’s see if I can put everything together based on what I have learned.

Lindy’s Magazine is already out. (May 27)

Phil Steele is due out June 10.  Thanks to Adam at In the Bleachers for keeping us updated.

Athlon’s pre-season magazine will be on newsstands June 6.

Street & Smith’s will be out on June 24.

For all you Texas fans, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football will be on the shelf June 16.

I have received info regarding the release of a couple of other pre-season magazines. Athlon Sports will release their football annuals on June 6th. You can buy their magazines at your local bookstores or from their website. For those of you in Texas, the ultimate guide to Texas football is Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. I just received word that it will be out the week of June 16th. Texas Football will be available at your local bookstores.

Here is my question for everyone. In Texas we have Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine, in Arkansas there is Hooten’s, what magazine is the ultimate source for football in your state?

Thanks to the reminder of Adam at Inthebleachers.net, it is time to draw attention to pre-season college football magazines. Phil Steele’s will come out in June. What about the rest? I am still trying to find info.

I do know that Lindy’s puts out its National magazine on May 27, 2008. Street & Smith’s will be out on June 24, 2008. According to preseason.stassen.com, Phil Steele’s magazine is the best one in the previous year. What is your favorite college football pre-season review magazine?