Northcoast Sports, Phil Steele's Preseason Football Publication

 

We have no compunction whatsoever giving attaboys to our competitors and have done so in previous articles many times over. Another example is Phil Steele of Northcoast Sports. Their preseason publication is part of our research and a major reason why GodsTips enters the football season as the most prepared sports service in the world.

They correctly state that a favorite source of ours, Stassen.com declared Phil Steele to have the most accurate publication in comparing preseason predictions to the end-of-season polls.

What is falsely presumed is that the other periodicals draw no distinction between "preseason polls" and "postseason predictions".

This season is a perfect illustration. Though we rate, not rank teams, our preseason ratings agree with the USA Today preseason poll that has Georgia No. 1. Does this mean as per Stassen's criterion, we are projecting that they will be No. 1 at the end of the season? Absolutely not. Just wait a Dawg gone minute.

In the dog eat Dawg world of the SEC, the Bulldogs schedule includes back-to-back games against two other serious BCS Championship contenders, Florida and LSU. The game against the Tigers is in Baton Rouge and of course against the revenge-seeking Gators, it's in the so-called "neutral" state of Florida.

They also travel cross country for a brutal non-conference test at No. 16 Arizona State, play at dangerous South Carolina (27^th ranked based on "others receiving votes") and at cross-divisional Auburn. Even if by some miracle they go undefeated in SEC play, their reward would be giving rival Georgia Tech a golden opportunity to play BCS spoiler, then a trip to the SEC Championship game, which would likely be a rematch to the Tigers of LSU or Auburn.

For 2008, if GodsTips converted our ratings to rankings, we would have Georgia our preseason No. 1.  In looking at the Dawgs schedule however, Steele's prediction that they will finish 9^th is more likely.

Putting side by side one magazine's preseason Top 25 to another publication's projected post-bowl Top 25 is comparing apples to oranges. Or perhaps more accurately, it's comparing Sugar, Rose, and Fiesta to Oranges.

GodsTips is smart enough to acknowledge the difference, just one of the many reasons why we are the football betting specialists and the anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com