Maybe it's a log scale.
Chewbacca Defense....
Life's a bitch, ain't it? | MySpace Video
Florida Wolverines have dreadlocks...
You mean
"Undefeathed". Respect Mr. Holth.
I can think of a bigger
I can think of a bigger fail...
He could be right?
He could be right?
he could be right
chances are he won't be.
Why do you say that? They
Why do you say that? They have talent, a good coach, and an easy schedule to get to nine wins. Phil said on his facebook page that these rankings aren't how strong the teams are, but their predicted finish in the polls. He has another set of power rankings which I'd assume has Notre Dame much lower.
Last year, Steele had ND as
Last year, Steele had ND as the preseason #7 team.
He knows who will be buying his magazine, and doesn't want to be ostracized by delusional ND fans for leaving their team out of his rankings.
As for last year,
they lost a ton of close games (all by a TD or less), and he obviously underestimated the power of Charlie Weis to make his team suck.
well
they weren't a particularly good defensive team last year and they lose all contributors save manti te'o. they had a really good offense last season but they lose 3 starter from the OL, jummy clausen, and golden tate. dayne crist was a pretty highly rated QB coming into ND but he's still going into his first year as the starter. they have a new coach with a new offense. i don't think ND is as good as you're making them out to be and i also don't think brian kelly is enough of a miracle worker to win 9 games. that defense won't be able to hold up against UM, MSU, USC, and pitt. i also suspect they'll have some trouble against utah as well.
Notre Dame returns nine
Notre Dame returns nine defensive starters this year, including Te'o. That defense may not hold up against the teams you've mentioned, but if they even split those games they'll end up in the top twenty.
if the defense
doesn't hold up against the 4 teams i named, how do you expect them to split those games? are we to assume that their offense is going to score 40 a game those games? they didn't outscore michigan last year and that was with a senior laden OL, a 3 year starter at QB and an NFL receiver. while they return several weapons (rudolph, floyd) they don't have an OL or a proven QB. on top of that they're learning a new offense. they could end up being in the top 20, i just doubt it
Sports Illustrated picked
Sports Illustrated picked Oregon State as its #1 preseason team a while back, and they ended up with a losing record. I'd say that is a bigger gaffe than ND being #16.
June 8?
Dude, I have the latest and greatest in my grubby little hands right now.
Picked it up at the local Barnes and Noble after my workout this afternoon.
I'd bet you can find copies at any B/N near you
BOOM OFF SEASON OVER'ED!!!!!
Help My Friend Allison Fight ALS
MSU/IU at the JCB
I too love the preview mags,
I too love the preview mags, and Phil Steele is doubtlessly the best. Hopefully I can head over to B/N soon and get one! BOOM, ACTUALLY GOOD ANALYSIS'D
Yeah, I was going by the date listed
on his website, but when I double checked the date I just noticed that it has the addendum, "...may be available sooner at your local retailer."
I'm going to go check to see if it's available right now. Thanks for the heads up!
We ARE Michigan....COME GET SOME!!!
Going to a Barnes and Noble
Going to a Barnes and Noble will also save you from running into http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/
Pro-tip: never go to Wal-Mart for any reason.
Ann Arbor: now the permanent home of the Little Brown Jug
67-22-3 all-time
Even as a predictor of final
Even as a predictor of final finish, #16 for ND is stupid. It's going to take them a year or two to fix the disaster known as their defense and they lost three O linemen, Golden Tate, and their QB on offense.
Michigan was one of Steele's MITs in 2009
MIT = Most Improved Teams
I consider this to be true to a point.
But 3-9 to 5-7 is not the "Most Improved" Steele probably had in mind.
You can't touch his detailed analysis, but the guy's prognostication are definitely fallible.
As for Notre Dame analysis, he's stressing their RB situation (excellent), OL (talented, but inexperienced, receiver situation (very good) and defense (DL and LB good, secondary will suck). Steele then rattles on about Kelly's magical powers with 3rd, 4th and 5th string caliber quarterbacks and football special teams, which I agree with 100%.
I don't agree with 16th in the land, but in time Kelly will have ND turned around. He's a very good football coach.
Are you kidding?
That's insane. I generally like Phil Steele, but the fact that he points to those factors as reasons that ND will be good is even more baffling. That was basically UM in 2008 and he still called for UM to struggle. Athlon had us going 8-2 with 2 toss-ups that year. Just. Wow.
And you want to know the worst part? I have this incredibly uncomfortable feeling that ND might not be a complete failure next year because that's the way of the universe to embarrass us again and again and again. Think about it: ND in the same exact situation as UM in 2008 but has a better record, and everyone is hailing Brian Kelly as a better coach than Rich Rodriguez. Ironically, in the future that I foresee (before the machines take over), this happens even though we beat ND this year.
Ann Arbor is a classy broad.
"Get off my plane!" - Ricky Stanzi, Air Force One 2
For comparison purposes, the
For comparison purposes, the #16 team in the final NCAA rankings this year was Wisconsin. I kind of doubt ND is going to finish 10-3 with a major bowl win.
I cannot speak to ND's offensive power, but a bunch of returning starters from one of the worst defenses in recent ND history does not instill great confidence in me. And while having good WRs certainly helps a young QB, still expect to see quite a few airballs and grounders while Crist is getting his feet under him behind a decent ND line. I don't necessarily expect ND to go 3-9 like they did under Weiss, but #16 isn't going to happen either.
No Spoiler Alert
I dont want to spoil to much of whats in the magazine, but this statement about Michigan got me just a little aroused:
"........3 of my 9 sets of power ratings actually call for them to go 6-2 in the Big 10 play."
please let this happen. is that too much to ask?
Help My Friend Allison Fight ALS
MSU/IU at the JCB
if that does happen
we're going 10-2 and quite possibly to the rose bowl. i actually think we're a LB and a safetly away from doing that, we'll see what g-rob can do this season.
How is Kelly any different
How is Kelly any different than RR? Yeah, he will have a better team, but they won't be #16. He isn't in the Big East anymore either. Their Oline could easily be bad, and they won't be able to stop the pass. I don't see them being any better than Michigan.
They could lose to Purdue in Week 1, could lose to us in week 2, probably will lose at MSU in week 3, probably will lose to Stanford in Week 4, could lose to Pitt in week 6, could lose at Navy in week 8, and will lose at USC the last week of the year. They'll win the other 5, but those are 7 games they could, and in some of them will, lose. IME, they won't be better than 8-4.
Knowing the media
Knowing the media an 8-4 ND would be ranked 16th in the polls.
It's like the media still
It's like the media still resides in 1988...
I'm going to treat you all the same. Like dogs. - Bo
Don't dismiss BC and Utah
ND has a terrible record recently against the Other Major Catholic College (Boston College) and the game is in Chestnut Hill (ND only plays 3 true road games next year...that must be nice).
Utah is still one of the best non-BCS teams around and will give ND all they can handle in South Bend.
My way-too-early prediction for ND in 2010:
Definite wins: Purdue, Army, Tulsa, WMU
Toss-ups: UM, Stanford, Pitt, Utah, Navy
Likely losses: @BC, @MSU, @USC
I think they will lose 2 or 3 of the "toss-ups" and finish 7-5 or 6-6. Kelly is a good coah, not a miracle worker. ND will be good again very soon under Kelly, possibly as soon as 2011, but 2010 will be a mediocre year under the Dome.
We ARE Michigan....COME GET SOME!!!
I think that Purdue is a
I think that Purdue is a tossup for ND. First game of the year in the new system could be really ugly. IMHO all of the tossups you listed lean at least slightly to the opponent. I'm not high on Michigan at all this year, but I like the Wolverines in that game.
This pick is a joke
ND will probably finish within a game or 2 of where they were last season. Did Brian Kelly send him some Kool-Aid?
I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?
Someone get Phil Steele away
Someone get Phil Steele away from the mushroom tea--before he rips his friend's heart out.
No QB
No offensive line
Defense sucks
Tough Schedule
Notre Dame Could be a 3-9 or 4-8 team next season. (I think they'll be around 6 or 7 wins, but they play a lot of teams that are better than them)
This is not a top 25 team.
http://twitter.com/#!/JHScramble
so...
... a terrible defense plus an unproven offense equals 16th? if we go by that scale shouldn't the spartans be in the top 10?
Phil Steele's college
Phil Steele's college football preview magazine is out now at Kroger. Just picked it up.
EDIT- Never go to Wal-mart.... for anything.... ever.
I'm going to treat you all the same. Like dogs. - Bo
Not at my local Kroger.
I went to Wal-Mart and Kroger last night. Neither store had his mag available.
It's kind of strange, too, as Phil Steele is in Cleveland and I live in central Ohio. You would think we would get the early distribution as we are only about 2 hours away.
We ARE Michigan....COME GET SOME!!!
Guys, ND has plenty of talent
Guys, ND has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball and a (supposedly) very good coach. This isn't out of the range of possibilities and I'll give Steele the benefit of the doubt.
Of all the teams on the schedule ND is one I'm not comfortable penciling in a win against. They underacheived by about 4 games last year. They beat MSU and Purdue... we didn't. Not going to use last year as a predictor.
guys, you have obviously
guys, you have obviously forgotten that Kelly is rearranging the art and that players cannot wear hats! PLAYERS CANNOT WEAR HATS!!!!11!1!
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=...
this is the painting
so much jealousy in this
so much jealousy in this thread, highly entertaining lol
Current Smug rating: "lethal"
Jealous?
I'd rather be an underdog than have a high-profile writer give me an undeserved blow J just to sell things.
No excuses. Play like a champion.
I'd say probably a bit more
I'd say probably a bit more ignorance than jealousy. That's not not a slight, just a fact when you're dealing with fans of another team (i.e. ones that don't know ND's roster all that well). I mean, I just read things like "they lose all defensive contributors except Te'o" and "no offensive line!"
The question marks for me are just basic things like a new QB and the offense learning a new system (which some have mentioned). I actually have more faith in the defense this year than the offense (at least initially).
Anyway, there are definitely reasons why ND could be a pretty mediocre team again this year. But I don't think it's "insane" to think they'll finish in the top 25. Since there will very good talent on the field, I guess the thought is that Kelly will not turn out to be very good. I guess you guys can hope for that!
Real Men of Genuis!
Don't get me wrong
I respect ND, and I root for them when they're not playing UM. I am in no way jealous of the fact that Phil thinks ND will be better this year. When we thump you in your own house and Denard runs and throws all over your D, the writers will come crawling back. They have been burned by predicting RR will do well 2 years in a row now, and nobody wants to make it a third time. The thing is, we finally have a speedy QB to run the read option, and it's going to be big-time yardage for the UM offense.
The jealousy you percieve is just UM fans calling it like it is. ND will not be a good team this year, simply because of QB experience and a whole new system/terminology on both sides of the ball. I agree that Floyd & Rudolph are excellent players, but not enough to override the rest of the team's weaknesses.
Maybe it's a log scale.