Phil Steele Preseason Top 25

Submitted by m83econ on

Per Pat forde's tweets:

Phil's Top 10: 1. Oklahoma; 2. Ohio State; 3. Alabama; 4. TCU; 5. Nebraska; 6. Boise State; 7. Florida; 8. USC; 9. Miami; 10. Oregon.  11. Texas 12. UNC 13. VT 14. Iowa 15. Aub16. ND 17. Ark 18. Penn St. 19. UGA 20. FSU 21. S. Car. 22. WVU 23. Wisc 24. Hou.  25. Arizona

Njia

May 27th, 2010 at 10:47 PM ^

Beyond that, c'mon. TCU has a new coach, and they're 4th? Florida a new QB with practically no playing time, and they're 7th? UNC at 12 and Arizona at 25 ... WTF?

Koyote

May 27th, 2010 at 11:27 PM ^

I was wondering that same thing.

I mean I don't doubt that they will have a solid team. But they have to replace a lot of proven talent

like

#1 overall draft pick Sam Bradford

#3 overall draft pick Gerald McCoy

#4 overall draft pick Trent Williams

and

#21 overall draft pick Jermaine Gresham

 

That just seems like a bit too much to replace to me to be #1 overall team this year.

MGoDC

May 28th, 2010 at 9:04 AM ^

Even if we dont factor in losing Bradford or Gresham, that means a 7-5 team is losing the #3 and #4 overall picks and somehow improving to 13-1 or better (assuming thats the record necessary for the #1 ranking)? I dont see it.

You have to remember that Oklahoma was considered unlucky last year but that was largely due to the losses of Bradford and Gresham. I dont see their luck turning around this year after they lose their two best healthy players from last year with no proven winners waiting in the wings (like a returning Sam Bradford).

PhillipFulmersPants

May 28th, 2010 at 10:11 AM ^

why I noted it seemed like a generous ranking.  I was just pointing out that those two players were replaced last year, not necessarily with equitable players. 

But I still think OU has the talent of a top 5 team. 9 starters back on D.  Top skill guys are back on Offense.  Most people are saying their OL is the big question mark, but Stoops is saying those guys got valuable playing time last year and looked good this spring. Who knows.

What surprises me about the #1 is not the talent on the roster so much but that OU's OOC is pretty stout:  Florida State, Air Force and Cinncinati and one cup cake.

snowcrash

May 28th, 2010 at 11:21 AM ^

"You have to remember that Oklahoma was considered unlucky last year but that was largely due to the losses of Bradford and Gresham."

Not true. Oklahoma rated as the unluckiest team in the country last year because most of their wins were blowouts (6 by 20+ and another by 12) and all but one of their losses were close games that could have easily gone the other way. They lost to BYU, Miami, and Texas by 5 points total. 

Marcus818

May 27th, 2010 at 10:57 PM ^

TCU doesn't have a new head coach and UNC probably has the the best defense in the country. Also, Steele's rankings are his post-season predictions, taking teams schedules into account. I have more of a problem with Nebraska at 5, with an average returning qb, at best.

jamiemac

May 27th, 2010 at 10:57 PM ^

There arent many other teams in the nation that have the combination of proven playmaking studs on D and new guru approved first or second year players to mesh in with them than the UNC Tar Heels. They will have one of the country's more dominant Ds. Again.

We'll see if they get steady enough offense. But, on paper they're every bit as good as this ranking.

Bigtime prove it game right off the bat vs LSU on the first Saturday night of the season. Should be starting moments after MIchigan puts the finishing touches on the Huskies

Njia

May 27th, 2010 at 11:02 PM ^

But when have the 'Heels done anything of note, really? Sure, they've been getting a bit better the last couple of years, but we're talking about the ACC. Not like the competition have been world-beaters.

jg2112

May 27th, 2010 at 11:16 PM ^

24 five star players on the roster. Monte Kiffin as the DC. Lane Kiffin corched Jonathan Crompton into the fifth round of the NFL Draft.

Have you seen Dillon Baxter?

Their non-conference schedule includes Virginia and Minnesota, and their tough conference games are in the Coliseum.

#9 might be too low.

Double Nickel BG

May 28th, 2010 at 2:49 AM ^

hate USC at all. Im just not the OMG USCZ HAZ SOOOOOOOOOOO MANY GOOD PLAYERS THEY CANT LOZE crowd. Going from Pete Carroll to Lane fucking Kiffin? Yea, your right, no drop off there.

Oregon St. returns17, yes 17 of their 22 starters from a team that came 1 game away from winning the Pac 10 last year. They return 2 of the best players in the conference if not the country in the Rodgers.

Arizona returns alot of key players on offense (8/11), return their QB, and 4/5 on the OL. This is a upperclassmen laden team, every projected starter on O is a Jr or SR. They are going to have to replace alot on D, but I still like their O. Just because Arizona isn't very good in football most years doesn't mean this isn't a good team.

I think the Pac 10 will be in limbo this year with USC transitioning and 1/2 of Oregons team deciding to get in trouble with the law this offseason.

 You can disagree with me, but to call the predictions foolish makes me wonder if the same can't be said about you.......

Feel free to put down what you think the Pac 10 will look like this year if you want to call people foolish.

Marcus818

May 28th, 2010 at 3:13 AM ^

I just think USC being in the 2nd tier of the Pac10 is a bit much. They finished with a better record than both Oregon St and Arizona last year. Matt Barkley was a true freshman, and I think the new coaching staff is gonna give this team the kick on the ass it badly needed. I think the players started believing all they had to do was just show up and the other team would roll over. I'm not saying they're gonna go undefeated, but I'd be surprised if they lost 4 games again.

Double Nickel BG

May 28th, 2010 at 3:54 AM ^

I think USC will be the most talented team, but they are losing alot of skill position players and I don't think the D will be as dominant as in the past. I also think going from one of the best coaches in Carroll to Kiffin is a major downgrade. Theres also that whole NCAA investigation that may effect the season.  My gut says Oregon St takes the Pac 10 and Arizona, UCLA, Stanford and USC duke it out for 2nd.

those.who.stay.

May 27th, 2010 at 10:59 PM ^

that Auburn is going to be really, really good this year. Cam Newton is a freak and the coach will be able to use him very effectively.

I guess if I have to pick a team to watch in the ESS EEE SEE(!) I'll pick them.

bluewillrise

May 27th, 2010 at 11:02 PM ^

Classic Phil Steele as he is horrible.  I might have missed something but last I checked TCU still has Gary Patterson as their coach (who is damn good too!).  Howeva, ND of course is overrated, as is USC, Penn St. (slightly), Auburn (really?), Oklahoma is not the best team.  UNC will be good their defense is REDICULOUS.  Wisconsin maybe a little underrated. 

But to me is ranking of Oregon 10th shows that hes is about is good a making a top 25 list as Drew Sharp is at writing a factual column (sorry all I got).  I mean seriously their entire football team has been suspended from the team at some point this season.  There defense was bad in the rose bowl and I dont think you can rank them in the top 10 without knowing anything about who is going to replace Massoli.  He was the heart of the team

CrankThatDonovan

May 27th, 2010 at 11:22 PM ^

I disagree with a lot of what you're saying.  While I certainly disagree with a few of these rankings (once again, Steele ranks Notre Dame way, way too high), there is not really a lot wrong with the USC ranking (they have a whole lot of talent, whether they lost 4 games last season or not), the Auburn ranking (as someone said, Cam Newton could be really, really good, and Gus Malzahn is one of the best offensive minds in the game), and the Oklahoma ranking (it's a bit of a leap, but they outscored their opponents by 31 points per game in regular season wins last year, and their losses could have gone either way.  Demarco Murray is hoping for a 1500 yard kind of season).

As far as Oregon goes, I think their history has proven that they can plug pretty much anyone into their offense and keep on chugging.  People thought they were doomed when LeGarrette Blount was suspended last season, but LaMichael James went out and ran like crazy.  They lack discipline, but they still win games.  And that defense was good enough to get them to the Rose Bowl last season.  With most of its best players returning, there's no reason to think that it can't do the same thing this year.

Fat Mike

May 27th, 2010 at 11:04 PM ^

Why does everyone have nebraska in the top 5? I don't know how much they bring back from the defense last year but they have no offense

blueheron

May 27th, 2010 at 11:19 PM ^

You could do worse, but this is the same guy who had Keith Nichol (and his 2 catches for 11 yards in '09) on his pre-season Big Ten 3rd team ahead of more deserving players (like, say, Roy Roundtree).

Flying Dutchman

May 27th, 2010 at 11:26 PM ^

What the hell is the deal with Notre Dame this year?   Can anybody name their projected starting QB?   Why do these idiot writers think they will succeed coming off a 6-6 year?  Maybe I just answered my own question.

I'm a WMU Broncos guy, and I can't wait to go into Notre Dame on 10/16.  I've been allowing myself to dream that we just might steal one there, somehow, and create the greatest win in WMU history.   Can't let these idiot fuckin' writers wreck the next 5 months of dreams....

Fat Mike

May 27th, 2010 at 11:42 PM ^

Well I thnk his reasoning is that everyone knows Brian kelly is a good coach who will utilize his talent a lot better than weis and let's face it, ND is loaded will blue chippers all across the board. Dayne cryst a five star, will most likely be the starting qb and he has several weapons to go to like Floyd and Randolph. Sheroid Evans is another highly recruited wr. They have a five star LB in Teo but they will be more like us in having the offense score a lot of points and the defense to get some
key stops instead of having to be dominant

MGoObes

May 28th, 2010 at 12:39 AM ^

for their offense, sort of. they still lose their OL and are playing in a new system with an inexperienced QB. who do they have on defense besides te'o? one LB does not even an average defense make. i dont think theyll be able to just outscore people this year and they most likely won't be able to stop people on defense either.

snowcrash

May 28th, 2010 at 11:46 AM ^

Steele ranking ND at 16 is very odd considering he puts a lot of weight on OL experience. They return just two linemen who have started as much as one game. Their line had a slow learning curve under Weis and I would be surprised if Kelly were able to turn that around in his first season.

The defense loses only the two safeties and should be improved, but it was awful last year. At best, it should be average. The running game did nothing special last year even with opponents selling out to stop the pass. The only way this is a top 25 team is if the passing game picks up where it left off, but how likely is that with (a) Crist having thrown just 20 passes last year and coming off a serious injury, (b) the lack of OL experience, (c) no Golden Tate, and (d) going from Weis' pro set to Kelly's spread?

Monocle Smile

May 28th, 2010 at 1:42 AM ^

is basically the same problem Michigan faced in 2008. New coach, but more importantly new scheme with players designed for the old scheme, regardless of star power. More importantly, they have a QB who has yet to see game time (correct me if I'm wrong) and coming off of an injury, and they lost their Biletnikoff Award winner receiver (not that Michael Floyd couldn't also win it this year or next). I don't see ND being dominant this year or even next.