New! Season Preview Pod with Phil Steele

[gwhuskyfan]

Hi all,

Got some time with CFB guru Phil Steele to talk the upcoming season. Great insight into how he ranks the team, breaks down our schedule, and more.

 

[Nostical]

Great job Jared. Phil Steele’s ability to talk about and evaluate UConn players at the detail level (as he does with players at every other school) is extraordinary.

 

[businesslawyer]

I also think Steele is dead on that there are five games we are going to be favored to win (SHU, UMass, FIU, USF and Utah St) and five games we will definitely be underdogs in (Tenn, NC State, Duke, BC and JMU). Doesn't mean we won't be much better than he thinks again, and that we won't win some of those games, but it puts incredible pressure on the road games at Georgia State and Rice.

 

[Blades]

BTW, regarding Phil's shout out that his National CFB preview mag only being at Barnes and Noble this year (+1 other I forgot ). I was able to pick up a copy today at the B & N in Manchester -Buckland Mall. Had probably 10 or so copies left on a rack near the check out. $19.99

 

[Husky68]

Interesting comments on how he rates each position year to year. He basically looks at each position and says it is either going to improve or get worse. His scale is -5 on down side to + 5 on upside. This is not how good you are going to be at a position but how good are you going to be "vs. last year".
So at QB you are Clemson and replacing Trevor Lawrence with some 5 star freshman or sophomore and you might get a -2.
For UConn QB position he gave UConn a +5. He said any of the 3 would be a big upgrade over freshman ZT and whoever wins job has to beat out the other 2 who each have something going for them. Kind of how I see it also, makes for a chance to really shock the world.
Also UConn goes from one of the least experienced teams to one of the most and Phil always sees a performance bump for a team in the 2nd year of a new coach.
How about 8-0 going into Tennessee, see you there Holly Rowe.

 

[Jimdish255]

I also think Steele is dead on that there are five games we are going to be favored to win (SHU, UMass, FIU, USF and Utah St) and five games we will definitely be underdogs in (Tenn, NC State, Duke, BC and JMU). Doesn't mean we won't be much better than he thinks again, and that we won't win some of those games, but it puts incredible pressure on the road games at Georgia State and Rice.

I don't think we'll be going chalk vs the spread this year. Probably better against better teams if we stay healthy. But away games can be tricky against a motivated opponent. Really looking forward to Game 1 this year.

 

[jbdphi]

Fun interview to hear - thanks for doing and posting.