Tag: Athlon

Where LSU ranks in Phil Steele’s preseason preview

Phil Steele joined the club by ranking LSU as a preseason top 10 team.

It’s season preview time, and there’s a lot more optimism surrounding the LSU football program than there was this time last year.

The Tigers were expected to have a rebuilding year in 2022 in the first season under coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag], but they overachieved by winning 10 games and the SEC West. Now, LSU has real conference title and College Football Playoff hype entering the 2023 season.

Most sites have this team ranked in the preseason top 10, and Athlon’s Phil Steele was no different in his preseason magazine. He ranked the Tigers No. 9 overall, behind only Georgia (No. 1) and Alabama (No. 4) in the SEC.

LSU will have to prove itself early in the year as it opens against Florida State in a rematch of last year’s season opener in Orlando. Steele has the Seminoles one spot above the Tigers at No. 8 in his rankings.

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Athlon’s Phil Steele says LSU is a ‘legitimate national title contender’ in 2023

Many expect LSU to take another leap after overachieving in Brian Kelly’s first season.

The Tigers exceeded all expectations in Brian Kelly’s first season at the helm, winning 10 games while winning the SEC West.

Now, those expectations are set to rise quite a bit in 2023 as LSU returns one of the most talented rosters in college football. Some see this team as a College Football Playoff contender, and maybe even a team that could capture a national title.

You can include Athlon’s Phil Steele, who had high praise for the Tigers in his annual season preview magazine, among that group. Steele was impressed with how quickly Kelly managed to reverse the misfortunes from the prior two campaigns, and he called this team a “legitimate national title contender” in 2023.

“LSU trailed Auburn by 17 and Mississippi State by 13 but won each,” Steele said, per On3. “They lost to Tennessee by 27. LSU trailed Ole Miss by 17, beat Bama in OT and got past Arkansas by 3 (Hogs QB out). Showing their tight rope act they were -5 YPG in SEC play but got to the SEC title game and blew out Purdue 63-7 in the bowl for a 10-4 year and were No. 16.

“This year, they are preseason top 10 and do have better talent and are in Kelly’s second year. They do rate a -3.0 in my Stock Market Indicator and were two plays away from being 7-5 last year but are more experienced, grew as the season went on and the defending SEC West champs are a legitimate National Title contender in Kelly’s second year.”

Achieving that potential will be easier said than done as LSU has a difficult schedule that features a non-conference matchup against a likely top-10 team in Florida State to open the season as well as a road game against Alabama.

Still, as Steele rights, this should be a more talented team in Year 2. The Tigers played with fire quite a bit last season and ultimately overachieved, but now they’ll have to meet expectations that have skyrocketed very quickly.

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Athlon predicts SEC West standings for 2023 season

Will LSU repeat as SEC West champions in 2023?

As the calendar prepares to turn to July, the start of fall camp is right around the corner.

Though there’s always the chance for some changes between now and kickoff on the first weekend of September, rosters are mostly finalized, and we have a pretty good idea of what teams will look like.

With that in mind, Athlon made its order-of-finish predictions for both the SEC East and West in the final season of the division format. Though LSU is the defending West champion, Athlon isn’t buying into the hype.

Alabama is predicted to win the West with a 12-1 record and a loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship. Athlon has LSU finishing 10-2 (6-2 SEC) and in second place in the division.

The Tigers return a lot of talent and are widely viewed as a potential College Football Playoff dark horse. But it’s clear coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] still has some doubters as he looks to take a Year 2 leap.

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Georgia has league-high 15 players selected to Athlon’s All-SEC preseason teams

15 Georgia players on Athlon’s All-SEC teams

On Monday, Athlon Sports released its 2023 SEC All-Conference teams.

Georgia, the two-time defending national champions, placed a league-high 15 players on the teams. Georgia had five players make the first team, eight to the second team, two on the third team and none featured on the fourth team.

Alabama had the second-most selections with 12. LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Missouri each had double-digit selections as well.

See below for which Georgia players made the cut:

First team offense:

  • TE Brock Bowers
  • C Sedrick Van Pran

First team defense:

  • DL Mykell Williams
  • LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson
  • S Malaki Starks

Second team offense:

  • WR Ladd McConkey
  • WR Dominic Lovett
  • OL Xavier Truss
  • OL Tate Ratledge

Second team defense:

  • DL Nazir Stackhouse
  • LB Smael Mondon
  • CB Kamari Lassiter
  • S Javon Bullard

Third team offense:

  • RB Kendall Milton
  • OL Amarius Mims, Georgia

Athlon Sports names 5 Michigan State football players to preseason all-conference team

Check out which five Spartans are being predicted by Athlon Sports to go all-conference:

Michigan State is looking to bounce back from a pitiful 5-7 campaign a year ago that saw the Spartans finish with a 3-6 record in Big Ten play. There is hope going into the 2023 campaign, as the Spartans bring back a host of talent that has experience winning at this level.

Athlon Sports has come out with their predictions for the 2023 Big Ten season, releasing their all-conference team.

Check out which five Spartans made the cut, and are being predicted by Athlon to go all-conference:

Athlon’s preseason All-American teams include five Georgia football players

Five Georgia players made Athlon Sports’ preseason All-American teams.

Five Georgia Bulldogs were recently included on Athlon Sports’ preseason All-American teams.

The three Bulldogs who earned first-team honors should not be difficult to guess — tight end Brock Bowers, cornerback Kelee Ringo and defensive tackle Jalen Carter.

Outside linebacker Nolan Smith earned second team honors. Safety Chris Smith made the fourth team.

Both Carter and Ringo are expected to be early picks in next year’s NFL draft and will be the leaders on Georgia’s 2022 defense along with outside linebacker Nolan Smith and safety Chris Smith.

Ringo, a redshirt sophomore and former five-star recruit out of Scottsdale, Arizona, recorded 34 tackles, two interceptions and a touchdown that will go down as maybe the greatest play in the history of Georgia football.

Pro Football Focus recently listed its top ten defensive tackle prospects for the 2023 NFL draft, with Carter checking in at No. 1. A junior out of Apopka, Florida, Carter is coming off a season in which he recorded 37 tackles, 8.5 for a loss and three sacks.

Bowers will only be a sophomore next season but was surely America’s top tight end in 2021.

He was easily Georgia’s biggest offensive weapon last season and reeled in 56 catches for 882 yards, 13 receiving touchdowns and 1 rushing touchdown en route to being named a member of the Associated Press and Coaches’ All-SEC First Team. His 13 receiving touchdowns are a single season record at UGA. He was also named the SEC Freshman of the Year.

Nolan Smith and Christopher Smith both opted to return to Georgia for their senior seasons and boost their draft stock.

Both played a huge role on Georgia’s 2021 defense and will look to do so again in 2022.

Nolan Smith recorded 53 total tackles, 8 for a loss, 4.5 sacks, 1 interception and 3 forced fumbles last season and will be one of the league’s best pass rushers this fall.

Christopher Smith started the season with a pick-six against Clemson in a 10-3 victory and closed it with a nice showing against Alabama in the national title game.

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Our leading CFB preview publications (print and digital) and where they rank Georgia

Here’s a look at the leading college football preview publications — three of which still print magazines and two that have switched to digital.

The top College Football Preview magazines are filled with loads of team and conference information and expert analysis. Each publication, whether it now be print or digital, provides details that help fuel the spirited debate among college fans. Georgia, the defending national champions, are listed in the top 5 in every poll, with Alabama picked at No. 1 in almost every publications this offseason.

As we enter the lazy, dog days of summer, our attention turns to college football’s fourth season…….preseason, where every team is a potential conference champion and the hopes run high among every college fan.

We’re really down to just three remaining magazines: Phil Steele, Lindy’s and Athlon. Both ESPN and Sporting News have since moved to digital previews only, however, in the spirit of nostalgia we included their previews.

As a bonus, at the end of the season, we will review the preseason predictions and rate each of the magazines. So pick up your favorite publication and satisfy your inner David Pollack.

13 Georgia players make Athlon Sports’ 2022 All-SEC football teams

Georgia has the second most players in the SEC on these teams.

Athlon Sports released its 2022 All-SEC football teams recently and Georgia posted 13 players across the first, second, third and fourth team.

Georgia had the second most players on the list, while Alabama led the way with 18. Texas A&M had 12 and Tennessee had 10.

Here’s a look at every Georgia player on the teams:

Athlon Sports reveals preseason college football rankings; where’s Georgia?

Athlon Sports’ preseason CFB rankings are out. See where Georgia ranks here…

We are less than 100 days until the return of college football, which really means one thing….preseason rankings.

Athlon Sports, one of my favorite college football publications and most accurate preseason predictor, released its preseason top 25 for the college football season, with Georgia coming in near the top.

The SEC has three teams ranked inside Athlon’s top-10 (Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama). Tennessee (18), Kentucky (21) and Arkansas (22) are also included in the top-25.

If these rankings are accurate, Georgia vs. Oregon in Week 1 would be a top-ten battle.

Here’s a look at Athlon’s top-ten for the 2022 season:

Opposing Coaches Anonymously Critique Notre Dame

As part of Athlon’s 2020 college football preview issue, Notre Dame was analyzed by some anonymous opposing coaches.

As part of Athlon’s 2020 college football preview issue, Notre Dame was analyzed by some anonymous opposing coaches. For those not interested in buying the issue, 247Sports did the work for you. However, once you see what these coaches had to say, you might change your mind.

The first quote had to do with the Irish’s coach:

“The last two seasons have been an impressive resurgence for Brian Kelly. It seemed like everything was going to fall apart and that job was going to eat him up, and he re-emerged by doing the hard things. They blew up the staff, and from what we hear, he’s been willing to change a lot, too.”

Another had to do with the schedule the Irish will tackle to try and make the playoff:

“If their standard is playoff or nothing, it could be hard with the schedule. When we prep for these guys, you have to look at their entire schedule. Are they playing to stay healthy? Are they in a lighter stretch? It’s different than a [Power Five]. They’re going to face more athleticism late in the year with the ACC teams. That could help them get further along on offense.”

Do you agree with either of these assessments? These are from folks who have made football their lives, so their opinions carry some weight. Even if you don’t care with the chosen words, you have to respect what was said here.