I'm Even More Pumped After This...

[irishfan]

Phil Steele, author of Phil Steele's College Preview, has Notre Dame ranked at #19 for this year. Steele's magazine is my personal favorite and is recognized by many as the best. Just saw on the website where he posted some of his Top 25 and was pumped to see ND on there. This guy is amazing at making picks, and this makes me so much more confident in the Irish this upcoming season.

http://www.philsteele.com/

 

[SoCalDomer]

i hear ya, but i think this guy is a little nuts if he ranks ND anything after last year. what changed between the end of last year and the start of this year?

also, the starting ranking means nothing if they play the way they did last year.

 

[IrishRamMan10]

good to see but he also has SC at 18 and Georgia at 9. jsut saying... im PUMPED for the season tho

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

I think our schedule gives us more of a chance to have a very good year. Last year was brutal. I do think our team will be much, much better this year too. Go Irish!

 

[irishmarine]

i think we will be much bwetter this year as well but i dont think we can start off in the top 25. not after last year. we are going to have to earn it against michigan. if we start off two and 0 then we will be in the top 25

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

i think we will be much bwetter this year as well but i dont think we can start off in the top 25. not after last year. we are going to have to earn it against michigan. if we start off two and 0 then we will be in the top 25

I agree with you. Good points. Go Irish![/I]

 

[irishfan]

good to see but he also has SC at 18 and Georgia at 9. jsut saying... im PUMPED for the season tho

Yes, but South Carolina returns 17 starters and even beat Georgia last year. They were 6-1 before collapsing at the end of the season. I feel as if Georgia is a good team, but very over-hyped after beating Hawaii easily last year, and Georgia's schedule (at South Carolina, at Arizona State, vs. Alabama, vs. Tennessee, at LSU, a neutral game against Florida, and at Auburn) makes it nearly impossible for them to not lose at least 2 games in my opinion. Phil Steele rates Georgia's schedule as the 3rd toughest in the country, and South Carolina as the 26th. Moreover, if the schedule strength was ranked by opponents winning percentage in 2007, Georgia would by far have the toughest, and played 10 teams with winning records. Just looking at the schedules, I would predict that Georgia will go 10-2 and South Carolina will go 8-4. Another interesting note is that he ranks Notre Dame's schedule as 67th hardest and USC as the only team ranked ahead of ND. Good to see that at least one expert expects good things from ND this year.

 

[irishmarine]

georgia had a hell of a team last year. thier schedule was rough. and i think they are bringing back most of thier starters. i can see them in the top3 to start. maybe even number one. they should have played in a better bowl against a better team.

 

[ACamp1900]

I'm with irishfan here... USUALLY what Steele says goes, (Of course no one is perfect but he is damn close) the guy is amazing...

also, a TON has changed from last year, the schedule is lighter and hte players who led this team last year (Freshman and Sophmores then) are now Juniors and Sophmores, that'll make a big difference believe me... add one more steller Frosh class and ND should not resemble the Irish of last year in many regards... Not sure we are finishing top 15 but we are in a bowl (hopefully a winnable one) this year I have no doubt

 

[IrishRamMan10]

my bad i guess i i stopped reading at at south.. i thought he had southern Cal at 18...

 

[SoCalDomer]

I'm with irishfan here... USUALLY what Steele says goes, (Of course no one is perfect but he is damn close) the guy is amazing...

also, a TON has changed from last year, the schedule is lighter and hte players who led this team last year (Freshman and Sophmores then) are now Juniors and Sophmores, that'll make a big difference believe me... add one more steller Frosh class and ND should not resemble the Irish of last year in many regards... Not sure we are finishing top 15 but we are in a bowl (hopefully a winnable one) this year I have no doubt

I don't disagree with what you guys have said, but i don't like pre-season rankings in general. Rankings that put the Irish too high have historically been bad, at least as far as my tired mind can remember.

IMO, rankings should be ignored until week 5 or 6 of the season. JMO

 

[irishfan]

I don't disagree with what you guys have said, but i don't like pre-season rankings in general. Rankings that put the Irish too high have historically been bad, at least as far as my tired mind can remember.

IMO, rankings should be ignored until week 5 or 6 of the season. JMO

Agree completely, although the preseason ranking are fun, there should not be any rankings until October. West Virginia came into the season ranked in the Top 10 by everyone, and really had an extremely easy schedule. Going into their last game against Pitt, they were ranked #2 and in the driver's seat to make it into the Championship. Their best win all year was against an overrated Louisville team. They had a pretty easy schedule besides that, and their best wins were over Rutgers, Maryland, Cincinnati, and Connecticut. Even with a record of 10-1, there is no way that they should have been ranked #2, even with the crazy season last year. I don't think we have to worry about ND being ranked too high, but it would be nice to see them at around 30-40 to start the year off instead of in the 50-60 area. I feel as if Phil Steele ranking ND at 19 is good as some of the preseason voters for the AP and Coaches Poll may see this.

 

[OCIrish]

georgia had a hell of a team last year. thier schedule was rough. and i think they are bringing back most of thier starters. i can see them in the top3 to start. maybe even number one. they should have played in a better bowl against a better team.

Yeah, I can't see how Georgia wouldn't be in the top 3 with all they are bringing back. I think they return 4, maybe all 5 starters from their O-line, QB, at least one very good RB,(Knowshown Moreno), and from what I can remember, most of their D. They may have a brutal schedule, but they've got a ton of talent down in Athens.

 

[KAPLAN]

Phil Steele knows his stuff. Last year he had us lower than anyone else, and we all know how that ended. His book has more info than any other 2 combined. He has us ranked there b/c we can easily win 9 games and with a bowl win will finish around 19.

 

[irishmarine]

i can see us finishing top 25 but not starting there. we have way to much to prove to everyone. let the world doubt us. we will show them the errors on the field. this year is a building last year was a learning and next year is a winning season

 

[ACamp1900]

Phil Steele knows his stuff. Last year he had us lower than anyone else, and we all know how that ended. His book has more info than any other 2 combined. He has us ranked there b/c we can easily win 9 games and with a bowl win will finish around 19.

He also had us very high in CW's first year... and nailed KU last yeaar and many others throughout the years... he's unreal the only preview I bother buying anymore

I'm totally for no ranking UNTIL the first month is in the books... BUT Steele is just a preview mag. not any official ranking... I'm more than cool with it... the AP and coaches should hold in fairness and that is my ONE beef with CFB's current system, but that'll never happen, a ton of money is made on those preseason polls in mag and paper sales... that's the botttom line there as far as the NCAA and sponsers are concerned

 

[notredomer23]

this guy...State Penn at number 10?

 

[coachjohnson]

I'm glad to see that someone sees the Irish making drastic improvements. A top 25 season is not going to surprise me, but I don't think they should even rank the teams until at least week two or three. But if they didn't what would we talk about.

 

[no.1IrishFan]

I agree irishmarine,theres no doubt that we could end the season at 19 or maybe even higher but I dont think we should start there.Besides it always looks better if your unranked and come up than if your ranked to high and fall.

 

[GoldenDomer21]

I definately say we end this year ranked top 20. If thinkgs pan out and ND turns the 180 that experts are predicting, an eight to possibly 11 win season is possible.

 

[irishmarine]

all those wins would be great i just really want to win a bowl game.

 

[coachjohnson]

It's been a while since we won a bowl, but we really don't have to win alot of games to improve from last year. I think we'll shock the world this year.

 

[BDIrish4ever]

I'm with you coach, I feel something magical starting at ND!

 

[coachjohnson]

It seems to be all falling into place don't it BDIrish?