Shocking News: Previews Will Hate WSU

Happy Friday Cougs!  Here’s hoping you are a set for a long, fun, relaxing Memorial Day weekend.  And with that, as we say goodbye to May and turn our attention to June, it’s officially the start of PREVIEW SEASON!  That’s right, the NCAA/Pac-10 preview mags start hitting the stands next month, definitely the best way to get your college football GEEK on.  Sure, maybe your girlfriend/wife/life partner might be neck deep in the Twilight book series this summer as you hit the beach or the lake or whatever, but the college football nerd in me?  It’s all about Phil ‘EFFING’ Steele, Athlon’s, and Lindy’s! And that’s OK. 

That is, it’s OK if you like bad news and your beloved Cougs.  In a complete non-stunner, if the early indicators are correct, the preview mags aren’t going to be in love with the crimson-n-gray for 2010.  Well, OK, as of today we don’t totally know for sure that they are all hating on Pullman.  They actually haven’t released the full previews yet, at least not for free online, so there is some speculation happening on our part.  So far, Lindy’s has leaked their Pac-10 picks, and yes, WSU is dead last.  From the article:

We went with USC as the preseason favorite in the Pac-10. I like Oregon’s starting lineup better, top to bottom, but the suspension of quarterback Jeremiah Masoli looms as a huge deal. And the Ducks have to play in Los Angeles this season.

Oregon State is third, followed by Washington, Stanford, Arizona, Cal, UCLA, Arizona State and Washington State.

Surprise, surprise. 

Meanwhile, the Sporting News has dropped their Top 100 for ’10.  And there are nine Pac-10 teams in the top 100.  I think you can probably guess which Pac-10 team didn’t crack the ratings?

The Pac-10 breaks down like this:

Oregon (11),
Oregon State (15),
USC (16),
Washington (25),
Arizona (35),
UCLA (46),
Stanford (51),
California (62),
Arizona State (97),
Washington State (not in top 100).

D’oh.

And in another idea of what may be coming, Phil Steele has already released his All-Pac-10 teams, and the news isn’t wonderful for our Cougs: 

Offense:
Micah Hannam 4th team offensive tackle. 

Defense is a little better?
Travis Long is 3rd team defensive end, and Alex Hoffman-Ellis is a 3rd team linebacker.
Newcomer Brandon Rankin is a 4th team defensive tackle, which is cool. 

But that’s it. If you haven’t checked it by now, as it’s kind of old news as we sit here today, you can check out the full teams here. 

The bad news is that Phil Steele generally gets it right.  At least he’s better than the rest.  Yeah, he pats himself on the back quite a bit, but Steele is the King GEEK of the football geeks.  For example, did you know he writes all 120 division 1-A previews himself??  All the other mags will contract the conferences out to local writers, such as Bob Condotta doing some Pac-10 work for Lindy’s.  Can you imagine having to write 120 previews as detailed as Steele’s?  Personally I can barely get through the spring fish wraps, and those aren’t even close to a full-blown preview for the upcoming WSU opponents!  And that Steele has like 16 TV’s in one room in his home, and has every game on TV turned on from sun-up to sundown every Saturday?  The guy watches and reads everything.  He’s pretty damn dialed-in.  And the work and energy he puts in ultimately pays off in his line of work.  Don’t believe me?  Check out a recent blog post from Phil, where he is once again ranked the most accruate preseason mag, and has been #1 the last 12 years: