Phil Steele Top 40
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1. USC
2. LSU
3. Purdue
4. Louisville
5. Texas
6. Miami
7. Michigan
8. Oklahoma
9. Ohio State
10. Georgia
11. Florida
12. Virginia Tech
13. Florida State
14. Iowa
15. Tennessee
16. NC State
17. Auburn
18. Texas A&M
19. Penn State
20. Cal
21. Texas Tech
22. Miami Oh
23. Fresno State
24. Alabama
25. Arizona State
26. Boise State
27. Pitt
28. Toledo
29. Utah
30. Colorado
31. Kansas State
32. UTEP
33. UAB
34. Virginia
35. UCLA
36. Houston
37. Michigan State
38. Nebraska
39. Arkansas
40. Oregon State

wat the hell is this guy on?
Purdue #3? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Purdue being number 3 is NOT that far fetched. They have a very easy schedule and they if I am not mistaken avoid Ohio State and Michigan this year.

Believe me w/o their offense they r nothin

Purdue will have a squad next year.

Past results are no guarantee of future results and all that... And I'm certainly not saying that you critics are wrong but Steele has been the most accurate of all the mags two of the past four years.

See <a href='http://preseason.stassen.com/' target='_blank'>http://preseason.stassen.com/</a> -- see Prediction Accuracy.

I see you have almost as many teams in the top 26 as the WAC has.

Yoda out...

Yoda Wrote:Past results are no guarantee of future results and all that... And I'm certainly not saying that you critics are wrong but Steele has been the most accurate of all the mags two of the past four years.

See <a href='http://preseason.stassen.com/' target='_blank'>http://preseason.stassen.com/</a> -- see Prediction Accuracy.

I see you have almost as many teams in the top 26 as the WAC has.

Yoda out...

Well if he is so accurate, then according to your argument about there being no team in the east that could help the BE, he has MiamiOH and Toledo highly ranked. Right above or near the highest ranked WAC teams. If his predictions hold true, which I very seriously doubt because there will be more BE teams in the top 40, the BE could take Miami Oh and Toledo to improve our standing. if need be.

Why stop at the top 26? Because that seems to help your argument? But the WAc doesnt have anyone in the top 5 or top 10 or top 20.

cuseroc Wrote:Well if he is so accurate, then according to your argument about there being no team in the east that could help the BE, he has MiamiOH and Toledo highly ranked. Right above or near the highest ranked WAC teams. If his predictions hold true, which I very seriously doubt because there will be more BE teams in the top 40, the BE could take Miami Oh and Toledo to improve our standing. if need be.

Why stop at the top 26? Because that seems to help your argument? But the WAc doesnt have anyone in the top 5 or top 10 or top 20.

First of all, lots of teams could help the Big East on a one year basis -- what I was talking about was helping the conference on a consistent basis. You can't do that unless you have the kind of infrastructure that it takes to sustain long-term success. Miami of Ohio has averaged 18,464 fans per game over the past four seasons. Nobody thinks that they can sustain their success over the long term with that kind of attendance level.

Why stop at the top 26? Because it helps my "argument"? Hardly. Clearly, stopping at the top 26 -- when Boise is 26 and Pitt is 27 -- wasn't an argument. It was a joke. Note, that emoticon -- the wink.

Yoda out...

Yoda Wrote:

cuseroc Wrote:Well if he is so accurate, then according to your argument about there being no team in the east that could help the BE,&nbsp; he has MiamiOH and Toledo highly ranked.&nbsp; Right above or&nbsp; near the highest ranked WAC teams.&nbsp; If his predictions hold true, which I very seriously doubt because there will be more BE teams in the top 40, the BE could take Miami Oh and Toledo to improve our standing. if need be.

Why stop at the top 26?&nbsp; Because that seems to help your argument?&nbsp; But the WAc doesnt&nbsp; have anyone in the top 5 or top 10 or top 20.

First of all, lots of teams could help the Big East on a one year basis -- what I was talking about was helping the conference on a consistent basis. You can't do that unless you have the kind of infrastructure that it takes to sustain long-term success. Miami of Ohio has averaged 18,464 fans per game over the past four seasons. Nobody thinks that they can sustain their success over the long term with that kind of attendance level.

Why stop at the top 26? Because it helps my "argument"? Hardly. Clearly, stopping at the top 26 -- when Boise is 26 and Pitt is 27 -- wasn't an argument. It was a joke. Note, that emoticon -- the wink.

Yoda out...

Yeah, I got your joke. Did you get mine about the wac has noone in the top 5 or top 10 or top 20? Acoording to Phil steele. I would hardly call Toledos success only going one year. But then again these are only predictions.

I'm with nortedameownsall on this one...no way Purdue finishes 3rd. I don't care if they miss Ohio St. and Michigan, they'll lose to Iowa, if not Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Penn State, and dare I say it, Norte Dame.

Yoda Wrote:Past results are no guarantee of future results and all that... And I'm certainly not saying that you critics are wrong but Steele has been the most accurate of all the mags two of the past four years.

See <a href='http://preseason.stassen.com/' target='_blank'>http://preseason.stassen.com/</a> -- see Prediction Accuracy.

I see you have almost as many teams in the top 26 as the WAC has.

Yoda out...

Yeah, the WAC having a team ranked #23 and #26 is comparable to the Big East having a team ranked #4 and #27. :rolleyes: So, using your fantastic logic, the WAC is nearly on par with the Pac-10 as well since the Pac-10 only has three teams in the Top 26.

Cat's_Claw Wrote:

Yoda Wrote:Past results are no guarantee of future results and all that...&nbsp; And I'm certainly not saying that you critics are wrong but Steele has been the most accurate of all the mags two of the past four years.

See <a href='http://preseason.stassen.com/' target='_blank'>http://preseason.stassen.com/</a> -- see Prediction Accuracy.

I see you have almost as many teams in the top 26 as the WAC has.&nbsp;

Yoda out...

Yeah, the WAC having a team ranked #23 and #26 is comparable to the Big East having a team ranked #4 and #27. :rolleyes: So, using your fantastic logic, the WAC is nearly on par with the Pac-10 as well since the Pac-10 only has three teams in the Top 26.

You must have been a special admit. I didn't say that it was comparable.

And in any event, I already explained that it was a joke.

Yoda out...

I definitely think Steele was looking at schedules when he cast Purdue in the 3 spot. Consequently, let's see how their schedule plays out.

First of all, Maize is right: OH ST AND MICH are not on their schedule. In the B10 that's as good as it gets.

2005 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE TENTATIVE AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE
9-10-05 AKRON
9-17-05 at Arizona
9-24-05 at Minnesota
10-1-05 NOTRE DAME
10-8-05 IOWA
10-15-05 NORTHWESTERN
10-22-05 at Wisconsin
10-29-05 at Penn State
11-5-05 MICHIGAN STATE
11-12-05 ILLINOIS
11-19-05 at Indiana

AKRON= a gimme 1-0
AZ= another W, 2-0
MN= W, 3-0
ND= Weiss may eventually turn this program around, but ND will not be a top 40 team this year. W, 4-0
IOWA= this is the game that will be most crucial to their NC hopes. IOWA will be a possible top 5 team at this point. PURDUE will be in the top 15, maybe higher. A tough game, but it is played at PURDUE.

If IOWA wins that Oct. 8 game, they have a chance to be in the NC game. However, IOWA plays both OHIO ST (earlier) and MICHIGAN (later). They will have a very hard time going undefeated.
If PURDUE wins that game, they might run the table going into the NC game with an undefeated season.

I think Steele was playing the odds and went with the gamble based upon schedule and the tough game being played at Purdue. It's a pretty good gamble.

I agree, that a better easy schedule.

9-10-05 AKRON
9-17-05 at Arizona
9-24-05 at Minnesota
10-1-05 NOTRE DAME
10-8-05 IOWA
10-15-05 NORTHWESTERN
10-22-05 at Wisconsin
10-29-05 at Penn State
11-5-05 MICHIGAN STATE
11-12-05 ILLINOIS
11-19-05 at Indiana


I just don't see Purdue going thru this without a loss or two. At Minnesota will be tough, and the road game at Arizona will not be a walk in the park either. Win back to back road games at Wisconsin and Penn State? PSU isn't the Beast fo the East of olden times, but that is still a tough place to play, and the are purported to be improved. And there are still tough home games against ND, Iowa and Michigan State. I can easily see Purdue losing 3 to 4 games.

Yoda Wrote:You must have been a special admit.  I didn't say that it was comparable. 

And in any event, I already explained that it was a joke.

Yoda out...

Yeah, whatever. :rolleyes: I apologize for not reading your 15 paragraphs explaining your "joke". I guess you have to be a "special admit" to read through the entire thing. But I guess it beats having you tell us that we should add West Coast teams to an East Coast conference. Now that truly is "special".

JIM15068 Wrote:I definitely think Steele was looking at schedules when he cast Purdue in the 3 spot. Consequently, let's see how their schedule plays out.

First of all, Maize is right: OH ST AND MICH are not on their schedule. In the B10 that's as good as it gets.

2005 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE TENTATIVE AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE
9-10-05 AKRON
9-17-05 at Arizona
9-24-05 at Minnesota
10-1-05 NOTRE DAME
10-8-05 IOWA
10-15-05 NORTHWESTERN
10-22-05 at Wisconsin
10-29-05 at Penn State
11-5-05 MICHIGAN STATE
11-12-05 ILLINOIS
11-19-05 at Indiana

AKRON= a gimme 1-0
AZ= another W, 2-0
MN= W, 3-0
ND= Weiss may eventually turn this program around, but ND will not be a top 40 team this year. W, 4-0
IOWA= this is the game that will be most crucial to their NC hopes. IOWA will be a possible top 5 team at this point. PURDUE will be in the top 15, maybe higher. A tough game, but it is played at PURDUE.

If IOWA wins that Oct. 8 game, they have a chance to be in the NC game. However, IOWA plays both OHIO ST (earlier) and MICHIGAN (later). They will have a very hard time going undefeated.
If PURDUE wins that game, they might run the table going into the NC game with an undefeated season.

I think Steele was playing the odds and went with the gamble based upon schedule and the tough game being played at Purdue. It's a pretty good gamble.

You're probably right, but I still don't buy it. Purdue isn't exactly and elite power and there are still some tough games on the schedule. @Wisconsin is going to be super tough as will Minnesota on the road. Arizona could also be a sleeper. Meanwhile, Iowa and Michigan State at home will be really tough games. And Notre Dame is a rivarly game. Purdue is going to have issues this year.

Cat's_Claw Wrote:I apologize for not reading your 15 paragraphs explaining your "joke". I guess you have to be a "special admit" to read through the entire thing.

Counting can be a challenge to you special admits. It was a two paragraph post.

Yoda out...