Best College Football Magazine

[Stephen]

Was hoping to get suggestions on the best college football preview magazine to buy. I bought Phil Steele's annual and was very disappointed.

The type is very small, hard to read. There is way too much useless information that clutters up the pages, such as talking about how a team did in 2002 (like that matters now).

Certainly there's some good information. But I find you have to read through so much needless stuff to find a nugget. Plus there's no pointspread angles or info.

 

[blackbox]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Street and Smith-or call the Gamblers book club in Vegas for a good magazine--they are good people.

 

[Reload]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

It's hard to find a better one than Phil "Steal"'s. The one Jim Feist use to put out was OK but I haven't seen many print media activity from his crew in the last few years outside of the sports schedules.

 

[gravy]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Check out Blue Ribbon College Football

 

[blackbox]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

If you are interested in the college game only-try to get a hold of The Blue Ribbion College Football magazine.I do purchase their college basketball magazine.

 

[THE SHRINK]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Have you ever checked out CollegeFootballNews?

 

[pvcpipe]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Have you ever checked out CollegeFootballNews?

Great site. Must have bookmark for any serious cfb fan.

 

[Stephen]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Thank you for the suggestions.

Yes I have seen collegefootballnews. Excellent web site. However, I also like to have at least one magazine to use as a reference point for my handicapping since there are times when I'm not on the computer.

The people at Gamblers Book Club are very good. Owner Howard Schwartz is top-notch. I'm going to go there Saturday and get their advice.

 

[WildBill]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Howard will tell you Phil Steele's is the best value by far. Blue Ribbon is good too, but frankly I don't think its any better than Steele's analysis. In hoops each players' abilities and skill level are important to analyze, but its worthless to speculate on how good team units will perform together if they have to infuse a lot of new talent. For that reason Steele's analysis probably is about as good as you can find.

 

[BETenomics]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

phil steeles is the best

 

[FrankieGotti]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

I think your nuts about phil steele not being the best.....he puts sooo much work into his. I can see your angle about having some useless information in it, but you have to understand the scope of which he covers in that magazine is so large that sometimes he goes a little overboard.

You may like Lindy's

 

[VegasRandy]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

You have to know how to use Steele?s book.

Here?s some of the key info that I use:

Returning Starters- There is the standard 6 Off and 8 Def., but if you looking at the projected starters you get a good breakdown of returning starters by position. The position breakdown is important when setting up your spreadsheets. If team A) has one returning starter in the secondary and is playing a pass heavy offense then you need to know this.

Schedule- Input the schedule in your spreadsheet then go thru each team looking for potential let down spots. Ex. Illinois played back to back home games vs. Penn St and Wisconsin. The next week they had a road game vs. Iowa. Classic let down spot and Illinois losses by four as 3.5 rd. far.
I also look for teams playing three consecutive road games. The travel and adjusted practice schedule can have a negative effect in the 3<SUP>rd</SUP> game. If the 3<SUP>rd</SUP> game is also a let down a spot could have a strong play.

Coaches- How many years at the school? The Offensive Coordinator? The Defensive Coordinator? First year? New systems and loyalty to new recruits could have a major impact. These teams could proved a great opportunity later in the year as the players progress thru the learning curve. Teams with new coach staffs tend to play hard thru out the year which is a key component in motivation.

I think he?s guilty of information overload but if you know what your looking for it?s a great source.

 

[TomBrady#1]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Stephen


I am in the minority but do not like Steele for several reasons. He is not a great capper and that has been proven over a 5 year time frame so why trust his publications??? Also he gives a million predictions on who will have a big year on his lists and then sets himself up for his own pat on the back the following year. Well, when you pick 800 predictions a few will come in. There are many more reasons but everyone has their own opinion. Try Sporting News or Athlons. I like em both this year and a more "reader friendly" for sure. They will give you what you need, I think. Good luck.

 

[WildBill]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Stephen


I am in the minority but do not like Steele for several reasons. He is not a great capper and that has been proven over a 5 year time frame so why trust his publications??? Also he gives a million predictions on who will have a big year on his lists and then sets himself up for his own pat on the back the following year. Well, when you pick 800 predictions a few will come in. There are many more reasons but everyone has their own opinion. Try Sporting News or Athlons. I like em both this year and a more "reader friendly" for sure. They will give you what you need, I think. Good luck.

Now this is fucking hilarious! If SN or Athlons tried to be handicappers they would be lucky to hit 50%. Either you buy Steele's because it has the most info or you just pass and rely on what you find on the internet. The others are so fluffy its hilarious. Maybe if you need to get hyped up about the season you enjoy them, but if you want info you can use in wagering the others are about 200 miles behind.

 

[TomBrady#1]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Now this is fucking hilarious! If SN or Athlons tried to be handicappers they would be lucky to hit 50%. Either you buy Steele's because it has the most info or you just pass and rely on what you find on the internet. The others are so fluffy its hilarious. Maybe if you need to get hyped up about the season you enjoy them, but if you want info you can use in wagering the others are about 200 miles behind.

I disagree. For what I need the others suffice. Steele is terrible. I do not need all that info also. Funny thing is when I talked with Alan boston he said the same thing. You do not need all that info. If anyone does not agree and wants/needs that info then that is understandable and makes sense. I don't. I make my own presidictions, just give me the tools to make them. Keep all the other info. Bill, I watched Steele selections EVERY WEEK for YEARS...he is not that good at all and I think his mags are full of it. True there is a lot of info though and to each his own. Good luck and enoying hearing your opinion a lot. Ok, off to the ocean!

EDIT: Also Sporting news and others do NOT profess to be cappers. Just a magazine. Steele tries to be a capper is is not good. There is a difference.

 

[Road Dawg]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Phil Steele's.

 

[TomBrady#1]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

I disagree. For what I need the others suffice. Steele is terrible. I do not need all that info also. Funny thing is when I talked with Alan boston he said the same thing. You do not need all that info. If anyone does not agree and wants/needs that info then that is understandable and makes sense. I don't. I make my own presidictions, just give me the tools to make them. Keep all the other info. Bill, I watched Steele selections EVERY WEEK for YEARS...he is not that good at all and I think his mags are full of it. True there is a lot of info though and to each his own. Good luck and enoying hearing your opinion a lot. Ok, off to the ocean!

EDIT: Also Sporting news and others do NOT profess to be cappers. Just a magazine. Steele tries to be a capper is is not good. There is a difference.

Wild Bill, also what do you think of Steele's Power Sweep? Longest writeups in the industry. Also 100% useless meaningless trends and stuff that are garbage AT BESt.

 

[WildBill]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Power Sweep is ok for what it is, a quick analysis with very little time to research. It mostly is about Steele's feelings on what situations will work out best. It certainly isn't an ideal way for anyone to handicap.

What I don't get is why you think its better to get a magazine with less information. Do you need it all? No. Does it hurt to have it all in one place? Absolutely not. Pick and choose what you need and ignore the rest, but all the other magazines are worth less period. Besides there is little doubt in my mind Steele's predictions are more accurate than the others. Does that make you a big winner? Of course not, but it still makes it better info than the hype jobs the others are selling.

Those other guys are opinionated at all, they just hype up every team and give them a rosy picture. They know if the put down any team or team's star players the guy who happens to be a fan of those teams won't buy the magazine. Now Steele as well plays into this a little bit, but he makes it very clear when he thinks certain teams or players aren't as good as the hype. That alone has to be worth something to you.

 

[TomBrady#1]

Re: Best College Football Magazine

Power Sweep is ok for what it is, a quick analysis with very little time to research. It mostly is about Steele's feelings on what situations will work out best. It certainly isn't an ideal way for anyone to handicap.

What I don't get is why you think its better to get a magazine with less information. Do you need it all? No. Does it hurt to have it all in one place? Absolutely not. Pick and choose what you need and ignore the rest, but all the other magazines are worth less period. Besides there is little doubt in my mind Steele's predictions are more accurate than the others. Does that make you a big winner? Of course not, but it still makes it better info than the hype jobs the others are selling.

Those other guys are opinionated at all, they just hype up every team and give them a rosy picture. They know if the put down any team or team's star players the guy who happens to be a fan of those teams won't buy the magazine. Now Steele as well plays into this a little bit, but he makes it very clear when he thinks certain teams or players aren't as good as the hype. That alone has to be worth something to you.

Fair enough. For me Steele has too many predictions and I do not want it to swing my view. I will make my own calls and his aren't good enough to read like a Bible. There certainly is a lot of info and I understand it being very useful for many cappers. I realize that. Good luck.

BTW: I think that Power Sweep is a good example of what Steele is all about. Too much meaningless info..not easy to read...and the predictions are not that good. Just like his mag. Just my opinion. peace.