One thing's for sure: the guy's knowledge of the teams is sick, almost Stump the Schwab-like in detail. I mean, a guy can call and say, "Hey, Phil, what's your feel on the North Texas-South Florida game?" and Phil rattles off player names and stats the same as if he were asked about Tx-OU or something.
Is there a link to where you found Steel saying this about LSU for this year? What magazine is this from?
Steele had the SEC West as LSU, Bama, and AU last season. I like Phil Steele's publications for informational purposes - he's the best when it comes to that, especially individual player evaluations. But he's a relatively poor prognosticator IMO.
I don't think that was a bad prognostication. The year before, you had all the same talent & weren't able to perform. Nobody saw AU comming last year because everyone assumed that if you couldn't do it the year before, you wouldn't do it now. If Tubby had performed as he had in the past I think we very well could have seen LSU then Bama then AU last year. Tubberville came through for himself & the team and lead to a great season - we'll see if it was a one time thing.
Steele's magazine came out this week. So has The Sporting News. Street and Smith, Athlon and few others have been a while. I gave Steele creedance when he picked Ohio State in 2002 to win it all. LSU's home schedule is a plus with Steele. The Sporting News down plays the value of Tiger Stadium to the point of expecting Arizona State to out physical the Tigers and Tennessee to ram it down the field on the good guys! And, of course, TSN is convinced Florida and St. Urban will be just wonderful.
I think it's great to have the mindset that you are flying under the radar, and take an underdog approach to every game, but Auburn proved last year that staying under the radar doesn't buy you a chance to play for the national championship. Even more than staying under the radar, I would like seeing a team that meets or exceeds very high expectations. It's hard to do in any sport at any level, but it happens, and would be great to see at LSU.
Well, guess I was a little late on this. I just picked up my copy of Phil Steele's preview (IMO, by far the best preview mag and my "go to" each year). I posted a thread two summers ago about Phil's pegging us as his #2 "darkhorse," noting among other things that we were 8-5 the year prior, the same record as OSU the year prior to their MNC and OU the year prior to their's. Now Phil has us in the same #2 darkhorse spot, but he actually predicts us playing for the national championship this year. Of course, everyone makes predictions this time of year, and Phil's call is like most others. But, as noted above, he has a very good track record. Regardless, his mag has the most info of any preview mag out there.
Is there an article along with why he believes LSU will play for the national championship? What are some highlights?
Basically, our schedule indicates an undefeated season. He has us as the most talented team in the SEC (his #3 set of RBs, #6 OL, #9 DL and #1 secondary), so he has us with an edge in every home game. And we play no away games against teams with winning records last year. The reason he puts us #2 in his Surprise Team rankings behind Purdue is that we'll likely be just out of the top 10 in both polls to start the season, whereas Purdue will likely be out of the top 20. He has Purdue as the #1 Surprise Team and #3 overall.
How can LSU be a surprise team... you're loaded... actually, all you can do with your talent is underachieve... sad to say, in a way, but true. As for Purdue, their entire defense is back and Tiller can always put up points. They don't face either Michigan or Ohio State and they get Iowa at home. They are a true dark horse. They can go very far by upsetting Iowa at home.... winning the conference and not even being the best team.... which is also sad to say.
