Do Sports Magazines Know What They Are Talking About? | College Football Lives Here

I am that kinda guy who likes to buy Lindy's and SportingNews magazines for the preseason. They show their predictions on there and when I bought SportingNews I was disgusted. Let's compare SportingNews' predictions to what really happened.

SportingNews / Reality

Atlantic

Clemson / Boston College
Wake Forest / Florida State
Florida State / Maryland
NC State / Wake Forest
Boston College / Clemson
Maryland / NC State

Coastal

Virginia Tech / Virginia Tech
Miami / Georgia Tech
North Carolina / North Carolina
Georgia Tech / Miami
Virginia / Virginia
Duke / Duke

Dead on in the Coastal but WAYYY OFF IN THE ATLANTIC. They picked Clemson to be #1 and they finished #5, they picked Wake to be #2 and they finished #4, they picked FSU to be #3 and they were close, they picked NC State to be #4 and they finished #6 (last), they picked Boston College to be #5 and they finished #1, they picked Maryland to be #6 and they finished #3. WOW!!!

My Picks / Reality

Atlantic

Wake Forest / BC
Clemson / FSU
Maryland / Maryland
Florida State / Wake
Boston College / Clemson
NC State / NC State

Coastal

Virginia Tech / Virginia Tech
North Carolina / GT
Miami / UNC
Georgia Tech / Miami
Virginia / Virginia
Duke / Duke

Now, I might add an extra comment because I couldn't remember where I had UNC and Miami at the beginning of preseason. Anyway, I might have put UNC at #3 I don't remember. Anyway, SportingNews got 4/12 right and I got 5/12 right, maybe 6/12. How does a normal football fan do this? Whooo!!!!

Anyway my main point is this, some sport magazines are crap.

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December 14, 2008 11:39 AM ET

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They get a few picks wrong and they're crap? I don't know about the logic to all this but ok.

my time has come

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December 14, 2008 06:28 PM ET

Every June, I begin to annoying my local news stand about when the college previews will arrive. And the day they do, I am there with what ever it costs to buy at least three different ones. I guess do this because... 1. It's a reminder college football is coming; 2. It makes for good reading at the beach all summer.
But what has become an annual New Year's Day tradition is to take all those previews out and see what they got right and wrong.
I was always a huge fan of Street and Smiths which merged with Sporting News this year. We will begin to see even worse predictions from them in the future.
Anyway, good blog post. You're enticing me to pull out the mags now instead of Jan. 1.

EastCoastKeith

Total Comments (2161)

December 14, 2008 08:32 PM ET

I can cite a similar example. We had a side bet in a FN group for the B10. The SI "Staff' did no better than the average group participant.

I guesss if you don't follow the conferences closely, it is a nice look-see, bit I don't think they are any better than the average fan. I wholly believe there are a lot of people on FN alone who, if they spent 2 or 3 days per conference researching, could do as well if not better than the magazines - not a stellar endorsement.

Yet 1 more reason I put forth there is a good reason the call them "Sports Writers" and not "Sports Journalists" and would rather read the insights of a good blogger than a sports column.

Prove It

Frellin Cold In, AK

Total Comments (6502)

December 16, 2008 03:58 PM ET

Personally I go with Phil Steele. His job is to watch football all year round so he does and has incredible depth of analysis. He is honest about his predictions which are usually spot on. I definitely reccomend him if you get sick/tired/want something else if the regular sports magazines don't hack it for you.

conesy

Springfield , VA

Total Comments (206)

December 17, 2008 05:03 PM ET

I know what u mean. I always buy Phil Steele's, and most of his were off this year, but I buy them mainly to fill in the scores and make my own spreads