Those pesky publication deadlines: Phil Steele and Paul Oliver

I got my copy of Phil Steele’s 2007 College Football Preview yesterday. 328 pages of eye strain. (It looks like they’ve cut back significantly on the cheesy bikini-clad babes gambling ads, though.)

I’ll have lots of observations to make about what he’s written, but let me start with the obvious one about Georgia. Yes, he’s picked Georgia to win the SEC East in ’07, but his picks are based on Oliver being in the starting 11 on defense – and he thinks very highly of PO, as well as the Georgia secondary with PO in it. So temper the enthusiasm.

One thing that Steele does that impresses me, though, is to recognize that Bryan Evans is an up-and-comer at cornerback: Steele lists him as fourth team SEC.