Phil Steele's Top 25

[clenz]

#25 Liberty
#24 Penn
#23 Colgate
#22 Jacksonville State
#21 SC State
#20 Montana St
#19 Eastern Illinois
#18 So Dakota St
#17 Richmond
#16 Weber State
#15 Delaware
#14 Cal Poly
#13 Illinois State
#12 Stephan F. Austin
#11 Wofford
#10 McNeese State
#9 Northern Arizona
#8 James Madison
#7 Southern Illinois
#6 Elon
#5 Northern Iowa
#4 Montana
#3 Released July 18
#2 Released July 19
#1 Released July 20

[clenz]

He seems pretty high on UNI for losing all 5 of our o-lineman (we pretty much always have a strong o-line though), and our QB, and 4 all MVFV defensive players

[Seahawks]

What happened to #4?

[clenz]

Fixed...in my editing after a crappy copy and paste, thanks to the set up on the site of the rankings, I must have deleted one too many teams

[Col Hogan]

Nova...Appy...and Bill & Mary...

What the order is?????

[Screamin_Eagle174]

I'd say App #3, W&M #2, Nova #1. Then again, he has NAU at #9 and EWU unranked at #27 so who knows.

[ODUalum11]

He already announced a while ago that he was going to have WM at his #1 spot.

http://www.tribeathletics.com/story.php/10440/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



at least according to the Tribe's website.

[Willie]

He already announced a while ago that he was going to have WM at his #1 spot.

http://www.tribeathletics.com/story.php/10440/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



at least according to the Tribe's website.

Yeah but we all know what happened when Elon jumped the gun a little.

[ODUalum11]

He already announced a while ago that he was going to have WM at his #1 spot.

http://www.tribeathletics.com/story.php/10440/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



at least according to the Tribe's website.

Yeah but we all know what happened when Elon jumped the gun a little.

actually I don't so if you want to go into detail please do.

[Ursus A. Horribilis]

Yeah but we all know what happened when Elon jumped the gun a little.

actually I don't so if you want to go into detail please do.

I think Willie misunderstood ya. You are correct that a few weeks ago he did announce that W&M was his #1 pick.

What Willie is referring to is that last yeear Elon put the "SoCon Champs" banner and congrats on their website before they played the final game with ASU which ASU won and therefore took the SoCon crown. Much to Elon's embarrassment .

[ladyflame]

and of course LU is under-ranked again. im not a fan of phil steele and his predictions they seem to be more than a little off.

[rueful]

and of course LU is under-ranked again. im not a fan of phil steele and his predictions they seem to be more than a little off.

I dont think its a horrible under-ranking though. I mean, having seeing Illinois State and Eastern Illinois play im sure LU would beat them any day of the week, and there are a few others ahead of us that we could beat, but ultimately at most we should be ranked no more than around #17 right now, and in the end its preseason, those are what we have for another 40 some odd days and then real ones.

[ladyflame]

id be very satisfied with 17 but barely making the top 25 just shows hes not exactly paying attention to everything thats going on with all the teams. basically the top 10 he actually ranked and "for the most part" 11-25 was like throwing darts at a dart board...thats my opinion anyways

[jcmanson]

We finished the season ranked 22nd or 23rd, and return most everyone. No way we should be ranked lower than 22 or 23. I think we'll start the year around 20, and reach the top 10 by the end of the year.

[ladyflame]

We finished the season ranked 22nd or 23rd, and return most everyone. No way we should be ranked lower than 22 or 23. I think we'll start the year around 20, and reach the top 10 by the end of the year.

+1

how far we get in the playoffs (knock on wood) should determine where we are in the top 10. cant wait!

[Col Hogan]

Pre-season poll masturbation is so entertaining...

[SmallCollegeFBFan]

His top 3 are 1. W&M 2. ASU 3. Nova

[Screamin_Eagle174]

His top 3 are 1. W&M 2. ASU 3. Nova

Hey SCFBF, would you feel comfortable posting your preseason top 25 if you have one or maybe doing one?

[Keenan]

Good for W&M if they are #1, however that is going to be nearly impossible to retain throughout the season in the CAA. All a #1 pre-season ranking does is give the fans something to gloat about and secondly, paint a huge target on the back of the W&M team. It certainly is going to be a great season ahead!

[Big McLargehuge]

Its nice to see NAU get some Top 10 recognition...I really think that team could rip things up this year.



As for the top 3...Appalachian State top 3? I'm certain they'll do extremely well this year as always but they don't particularly strike me as top 5 quality this year. I'd love to be proven wrong, but that seems awfully high a pre-season ranking in my eyes. W&M, if getting #1, will be an interesting pick...on paper its hard to argue against it though. Villanova, wherever they go, in my eyes deserves #1 considering the championship and the fact that [Polish word for rat] is returning.

[SmallCollegeFBFan]

His top 3 are 1. W&M 2. ASU 3. Nova

Hey SCFBF, would you feel comfortable posting your preseason top 25 if you have one or maybe doing one?

I will definitely do that. Let me wait until after Steele officially announces his final three and I will announce mine this week so you guys can pick it apart.

[SmallCollegeFBFan]

Its nice to see NAU get some Top 10 recognition...I really think that team could rip things up this year.



As for the top 3...Appalachian State top 3? I'm certain they'll do extremely well this year as always but they don't particularly strike me as top 5 quality this year. I'd love to be proven wrong, but that seems awfully high a pre-season ranking in my eyes. W&M, if getting #1, will be an interesting pick...on paper its hard to argue against it though. Villanova, wherever they go, in my eyes deserves #1 considering the championship and the fact that [Polish word for rat] is returning.

Don't let the loss of AE fool you. ASU was a national champion before AE and has plenty of talent back. Look at their offense. They only lose two players (AE and OT Mario Acitelli). They have 3 preseason All-SoCon OL, entire backfield back and healthy, and the top receiving unit in the SoCon. On defense they lost their DTs but have some young players with potential stepping in. THey return their All-SoCon DEs. At LB they must replace Jacque Roman but DJ Smith is a great one and the other LBs are suppose to be stars and no reason to believe they won't be with ASU's success at developing LBs. In the secondary they have a two-time All-American in LeGree with All-SoCon CB Ed Gainey and will have a healthy Dominique McDuffie. They only have to replace CB Gilbert and 3 other starters. With 7 back on defense and 9 on offense along with both the punter, kicker, LS, and return men they should be a top 3-4 team for sure. You could argue anywhere from #2 to #6 IMO.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Hey SCFBF, would you feel comfortable posting your preseason top 25 if you have one or maybe doing one?

I will definitely do that. Let me wait until after Steele officially announces his final three and I will announce mine this week so you guys can pick it apart.

Sounds good, I appreciate it. I'm sure it will make a lot more sense than Steele's.

[JConnolly]

actually I don't so if you want to go into detail please do.

I think Willie misunderstood ya. You are correct that a few weeks ago he did announce that W&M was his #1 pick.

What Willie is referring to is that last yeear Elon put the "SoCon Champs" banner and congrats on their website before they played the final game with ASU which ASU won and therefore took the SoCon crown. Much to Elon's embarrassment .

Please, for the love of God and everything holy, please do not bring this up. Its been a struggle to try and live this down for the past 8 months.

[AppStateAlumQC]

Its nice to see NAU get some Top 10 recognition...I really think that team could rip things up this year.



As for the top 3...Appalachian State top 3? I'm certain they'll do extremely well this year as always but they don't particularly strike me as top 5 quality this year. I'd love to be proven wrong, but that seems awfully high a pre-season ranking in my eyes. W&M, if getting #1, will be an interesting pick...on paper its hard to argue against it though. Villanova, wherever they go, in my eyes deserves #1 considering the championship and the fact that [Polish word for rat] is returning.

Don't let the loss of AE fool you. ASU was a national champion before AE and has plenty of talent back. Look at their offense. They only lose two players (AE and OT Mario Acitelli). They have 3 preseason All-SoCon OL, entire backfield back and healthy, and the top receiving unit in the SoCon. On defense they lost their DTs but have some young players with potential stepping in. THey return their All-SoCon DEs. At LB they must replace Jacque Roman but DJ Smith is a great one and the other LBs are suppose to be stars and no reason to believe they won't be with ASU's success at developing LBs. In the secondary they have a two-time All-American in LeGree with All-SoCon CB Ed Gainey and will have a healthy Dominique McDuffie. They only have to replace CB Gilbert and 3 other starters. With 7 back on defense and 9 on offense along with both the punter, kicker, LS, and return men they should be a top 3-4 team for sure. You could argue anywhere from #2 to #6 IMO.

Couldn't have said it better myself