Sporting News has picked us

[PonySnob]

as the number 7 team in the WAC and has us ranked #100 in the country. At least we are ahead of Rice, Tulsa and UTEP in our conference.
Keylon Kinkaid gets props as the "most overrated player" in the conference as they state that given that he had 327 carries last year, it was one of the ugliest 1300 yard seasons ever. We did have the #1 recruiting class in our conference.
Their bottom line for the year;
"Thanks to the best recruiting class in ages, there is a buzz surrounding the program. Unfortunately for SMU, the impact won't be instantaneous. In the meantime, the Mustangs will go only as far as Bartel and Kinkaid can carry them. If healthy, running back ShanDerrick Charles adds big play ability."
As for our schedule, it is #6 in our conference and the 98th toughest in the country.

[Stallion]

I think Phil Steele has us 8th. I haven't seen one yet which has us ranked better than 100th out of 117 teams.

[PonyFan]

Hey Stallion, what do you think of Phil Steele's mag? I read it over the weekend, and he's another who seems to write months-old information. (I realize he can't cover every school in person, but a quick call/e-mail to the athletic department would let him know when players leave, etc.) I mean, it's understandable that he has Daniel Francis penciled in as a starting WR -- I gather he left the team rather recently. But he had Darrin Johnson listed at OT, and he's been lining up at DT since the beginning of spring ball in March.

Maybe it's his page design -- something makes PS's mag hard to read. Lot of information, though.

Just curious about your impressions.

[Stallion]

most all of these magazines are written from the exact same Sports Information Department prospectuses put out by the schools. These days I really just read the predictions and selected stories at the newstands. Texas Football is the only one I think that is worth the money.

[Pony Up]

The Dave Campbell rag? It's good for updates on HS players and little else.




[This message has been edited by Pony Up (edited 06-15-2003).]

[Stallion]

well they have accurately predicted SMU at the bottom of the barrell for about 15 years in both the standings and the recruiting rankings.

[FloridaMustang]

Agreed... how can all of you expect us to be ranked any higher when we don't yet deserve to be?

[crazy horse]

Hey I'm a big fan of Steele and have been for several years. You have to understand lead times in putting together 2-page profiles of 117 teams plus analysis and predictions. There is probably 3-6 months work put into that one magazine. The fact that a player leaves the team in May certainly will not get mentioned in any preseason publication. At the end of the magazine he does cover spring game happenings and last minute changes, but not every school and not in as much depth as I would like. I expect some things to miss because of deadlines.

I don't buy it for the predictions. I read it for the data and analysis on our opponents. He does a good job of breaking down the teams in ways that none of the other rags do. I also like the fact that for the most part, he is objective. That's a far cry from Sporting News, Lindys and Athlons. If you've read the SMU media info - why bother reading Athlons, Lindy's etc -- They copy it almost word for word.