College Football Athlon preseason Mag

[Gordio]

Just got my College football Athlon Magazine in the mail this weekend. They have some of the usual subjects in the top 10. They got Alabama at #1, followed by Oklahoma/Oregon/Florida St & then Boise St to round out the top 5. Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, LSU, Ohio St & Nebraska finish off the top 10. Pretty interesting. I can not see Ohio St being in the top 10 this year but this Magazine was published before Tressel & Pryor left so I am sure they would of been ranked outside the top 10 taken that into consideration. They are talking about Florida St returning to national prominence & even state if they could by Oklahoma(3rd week of the season) which is played in Doak they have a chance to run the table. Looks like it could be a long year for Buffalo. They have them ranked 115(out of 120 D1A teams) & project them to only win 2 games.

 

Not sure how many people get the Athlon, but speaking as a gambler, I love it because they rank every Division 1A team from top to bottom. Especially in the early season when the lines are a bit off, you really get a feel for who the real bad teams are & I like to play against them at least for the first weeks of the season until the lines get adjusted. There are some great early matchups also. Starts righ off the bat opening weekend with Boise ST/Georgia in Atlanta & Oregon/LSU in the jerry Dome. As mentioned earlier, FSU plays Oklahoma, Alabama goes up to Happy Valley to play Penn ST, Miami plays Ohio ST & Boise plays TCU at the end of the season. Really looking forward to a great college football year.

Edited June 20, 2011 by Gordio

[Spun]

The Buckeyes are a tough call. Beyond the recently departed Pryor and the tattoo club, the Buckeyes usually have talent. They typically recruit well. Miami is unknown but the Big Ten / Eleven/ Twelve always is competitive once the Midwestern air turns chilly and wet. I wouldn't bet on any OSU games. The NCAA hearing will dictate a lot for the next few years in Columbus. College football always yields some surprises as underclassmen rise from the shadows. UB was a gimmee a few years ago when they were always losing. Sometimes the best teams to bet for (or against)are the lesser known teams. It may be the only football we get this year. And that would suit me just fine if the alternative is no NFL training camp to speak of and a reduced season that starts in October. Us fans will carry on!

[Ramius]

While FSU has been collecting an impressive collection of talent (Jimbo is building and running us like an SEC team, no moer small and fast that was the Bobby/Mickey trademark), i still think we're a year away. I fully expect us to be in the ACC championship game and think a BCS bowl is a reasonable expectation, but a national title? Probably not yet. EJ Manuel needs to step up (he's looked good in stretches when he's played, but now the show is his), and the defense still neesd to improve.

 

Most of all, its the schedule that will stop us this year. We've got Oklahoma and Florida OOC, we go to clemson right after the OU game, then have to travel to BC on a thursday night right after playing NC State, and we finish up with Miami and UF as 2 of the final 3 games. I hate the ACC schedule makers. They did us no favors, and insist on send us away on thursday nights.

[Gordio]

While FSU has been collecting an impressive collection of talent (Jimbo is building and running us like an SEC team, no moer small and fast that was the Bobby/Mickey trademark), i still think we're a year away. I fully expect us to be in the ACC championship game and think a BCS bowl is a reasonable expectation, but a national title? Probably not yet. EJ Manuel needs to step up (he's looked good in stretches when he's played, but now the show is his), and the defense still neesd to improve.

 

Most of all, its the schedule that will stop us this year. We've got Oklahoma and Florida OOC, we go to clemson right after the OU game, then have to travel to BC on a thursday night right after playing NC State, and we finish up with Miami and UF as 2 of the final 3 games. I hate the ACC schedule makers. They did us no favors, and insist on send us away on thursday nights.

 

Athlon is pretty high on FSU. They got them projected going 12-1 with the only loss to Oklahoma. OU is loaded on offense. It is a tough schedule & they seem to always get burned on that Thursday night road game but to be honest with you the only game they should not be favored in is the Oklahoma game. I think Florida is going to struggle this year & you get Miami at home so that should help. Alot depends on Manual & how that defense comes together. I will be very surprised if they do not make a the ACC championship.

[Gordio]

The Buckeyes are a tough call. Beyond the recently departed Pryor and the tattoo club, the Buckeyes usually have talent. They typically recruit well. Miami is unknown but the Big Ten / Eleven/ Twelve always is competitive once the Midwestern air turns chilly and wet. I wouldn't bet on any OSU games. The NCAA hearing will dictate a lot for the next few years in Columbus. College football always yields some surprises as underclassmen rise from the shadows. UB was a gimmee a few years ago when they were always losing. Sometimes the best teams to bet for (or against)are the lesser known teams. It may be the only football we get this year. And that would suit me just fine if the alternative is no NFL training camp to speak of and a reduced season that starts in October. Us fans will carry on!

 

I love betting on the lesser known teams. It seems you could always find a value line in those lesser played games. I ran a system last year for the bowls & it went I believe 24-7-1. I am kind of eager to try it out this year during the regular season but I will need probably like 5-6 weeks of data before I could implement it.