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