Sports Illustrated College Football Preview

My favorite issue of the year arrived yesterday in the mail; Sports Illustrated's college football preview issue (I know, it should be the swimsuit issue right?). I always love when this issue comes as I read through the entire top 25 to see where Penn State and their opponents are ranked, and then scan the 1-119 rankings to see where Temple falls (114).

Now the madness begins...

Good news is Penn State is ranked #14. That is respectable. But aside from that I find many gaffes all over the place on behalf of the SI writers and editors.

Ohio State ranked ahead of the Nittany Lions? I don't see it happening this year, especially after PSU will beat Ohio State, as will Michigan and Wisconsin. And while we are on the topic of the Buckeyes, is there enough pub for their linebacker, James Laurinaitis? Yes, the junior linebacker is good, but is he that much better than Penn State's own Dan Connor? Up until the SI preview every publication I have checked has picked Connor to be a top candidate for the Butkus award for the nation's top linebacker. SI doesn't have him in their top three. Something is wrong there. But the real kicker was when I received another college football preview today, from The Sporting News (yes I subscribe to two sport magazines; I got great subscription deals so calm down). Laurinaitis is the cover athlete, looking as smug as any OSU linebbackers would be expected to appear. What's worse is Ohio State is not even in the top ten list they print right next to him. At least they have the common sense to rank OSU two spots behind the Nittany Lions.

Both publications predict the Nittany Lions will be squaring off with Georgia on New Year's day. Sporting News says Capital One Bowl while SI says Outback Bowl.

Sports Illustrated has another consistency issue to deal with as well.

Rutgers is a feel good story from last year and deservedly so. SI picks them to finish third in the Big East this year (behind West Virginia and Louisville) with a record of 10-2 overall and 5-2 in conference. WVU will finish 6-1 in conference and have the tie breaker over Louisville who will also finish 6-1. So according to SI:

1. West Virginia 6-1 in conference
2. Louisville 6-1
3. Rutgers 5-2

But when you get to their bowl predictions you might scratch your head. West Virginia in the Orange Bowl? No problem there. Rutgers in the Rose Bowl? Louisville in the Sun Bowl? How can a third place team in the Big East go to a BCS bowl when the second place team is going to the Sun Bowl?

The Rose Bowl would NEVER take Rutgers over Louisville, would they? If SI's predictions do come true, which we know they won't, Rutgers might not even be BCS eligible! Nevermind the fact they have WVU ranked #4 and Louisville at #5, and Rutgers at #12. I'm all for Rutgers having a Big East championship season, but let's not carried away with the enthusiasm for the Scarlet Knights. Afterall, they still only play Big East competition.

I also found a punctuation error on one of the first pages. Are there editors at this magazine? I'm thinking about canceling my subscription.

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Eagles 2007 Pre Draft Season Predictions

I figured it will probably be interesting to see how much my predictions change as we get closer to the start of a new NFL season. So here is the pre-draft predictions. Then I'll put together a new set in the middle of the summer, then come out with my final edition the week before the NFL season kicks off. Right now, my mind is set on a trip to Arizona for the Super Bowl. High hopes? Or just pure insanity?

Week 1 @ Packers - easy win because the Pack have no running game and Brett Favre doesn't know when to hang it up. Eagles' Westbrook steals the show in McNabb's first game back.

Week 2 vs. Redskins (Monday Night) - no way the Eagles lose to a Redskins team who will yet again fail to live up to higher than they should be expectations. I bet Joe Gibbs is contemplating retiring for good.

Week 3 vs Lions - It's only April and the Lions have already been eliminated from playoff contention.

Week 4 @ Giants (Sunday Night) - Eli MAnning may have a good start, but he is still a long way form being older brother Peyton. Going into this game we will be hearing about how much Eli has matured and is making the next step. After this game we will all remember that the best quarterback in the NFC East wears green as the Eagles show that Tiki Barber has not been replaced effectively. 4-0 going into October.

Week 6 @ Jets - The Jets may be better this year and I'm going to go on a limb to say that the Jets pull one off on the Eagles in their second straight trip to the Meadowlands (after a bye week).


Week 7 vs. Bears - Sure Da Bears have a defense, but they have no quarterback unless they make a change by this point in the season. But the Eagles lost to the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS last week so there is no way they'll roll over against the Bears in the Linc. McNabb runs for a TD en route to a key NFC victory.

Week 8 @ Vikings - The Vikings are young and their head coach knows the Eagles naturally.
But the Eagles are playing well and establishing themselves as the top team in the NFC. 6-1.

Week 9 vs. Cowboys (Sunday Night) - The Cowboys' coach is Wade Phillips and they're playing in Philly, and the love affair with Tony Romo is dead. 7-1.

Week 10 @ Redskins - Joe Gibbs hasn't retired yet, but the Redskins have only won three games so far. And after this game they still only have three wins. 8-1.

Week 11 vs. Dolphins - The Eagles traditionally have trouble with AFC opponents, but I think they pull one out against a pesky Dolphins team in November. 9-1, but now it gets tough.

Week 12 @ Patriots (Sunday Night) - 9-2.

Week 13 vs Seahawks - The Eagles don't lose consecutive games. Rebound form a beating against the Patriots, 10-2.

Week 14 vs. Giants - Giants' wild card hopes take a huge hit in Philly as Eagles get some momentum going for homefield advantage. 11-2.

Week 15 @ Cowboys - The Cowboys' coach is Wade Phillips. 12-2.

Week 16@ Saints - The Saints are playing well and take one from the Eagles in a close game. Reid goes for it on 4th down coming down the stretch, but they miss and he says "Told you so" to Eagles critics.

Week 17 vs. Bills - The Bills will be out of it and the Eagles will wrap up at least a first round bye before the game even starts thanks to what happens elsewhere in the NFC. I'll put this one in as a loss right now just because I think the key players for the Eagles will be out of the game for a majority of the game, if not the entire game.

Final count? A 12-4 season for the Eagles.

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