[Harry N. Lloyd]

Seriously, he sucks at college football. To listen to him you'd think he was the foremost expert in the country.......At what? Telling us what a guy was ranked by Blue Ribbon at his position coming out of high school? I paid attention to what he said all year and he was flat out terrible. And stubborn! He refused to believe that the Texas D was mediocre, or Florida State wasn't dominant, or Florida was not a national champ contender. Ironically, Steele was pretty good in the pros (see his NYPost picks). I am sick of him and I'm sick of Northcoast. Yeah, I followed their advice and took the High School caliber K State team tonight. They suck!!

[suicidekings]

His magazine is a great pre-season resource for handicappers looking for stats, and in identifying teams that have value coming into the season. Not so much his opinions, but the material he provides.

But, he's not a sports bettor. and doesn't really distinguish between a team being strong to win a game vs cover a spread.

[Harry N. Lloyd]

If he's not a bettor, why is he giving out advice on picks through ESPN Insider, the NYPost, and probably others??

[suicidekings]

If he's not a bettor, why is he giving out advice on picks through ESPN Insider, the NYPost, and probably others??

To sell magazines and build his brand. He's just making his money.

He's making predictions for 124 FBS teams, 122 FCS teams, and 32 NFL teams over the course of the season. Even at his best, he's going to be wrong about a lot of things.

[JMUplayer]

a lot of things change during the year with injuries..... QB play

[BigDofBA]

He picked OU and FSU in the title game. LMAO. I mean really?

[BiffTFinancial]

so at 8:30 you thought highly enough of Steele/Northcoast to play K State on their word, and at 11 pm they're all fools?

i'm not here to shill for anyone who sells picks (Northcoast), but as SK correctly pointed out, Steele is neither a capper nor a tout. he provides a fuckload of info in his magazines and i like hearing out his thought process even though i often disagree with pieces of analysis and certainly conclusions. i also love goofing on certain aspects of his mags (mainly how long he continues to remind about certain correct predictions; yeah, Phil, i remember, you were higher than anyone on the Buckeyes in the 2002 preseason) as he can be a little goofy at times, but all things considered, i consider him an asset. i carry his mag in my work bag all autumn like the big fkn dork that i am, tons of info always at the fingertips and very organized.

like any asset, Steele is best when used properly. don't tail his picks, if for no other reason than that he pays zero attention to the market and line moves and doesn't include in his analysis other factors that i think most cappers consider to be important. but let's not act is he knows nothing about college football (particularly based upon one game that began with an 8-0 lead thanks to the opening kickoff return). he knows more about college football than everyone in this thread, probably combined, and that's not intended to put anyone down.

[Harry N. Lloyd]

Not looking to get into a shouting match but how can one say he is neither a capper or tout? He caps picks for ESPN and the NYPost and his name is very closely linked to Northcoast Sports, perhaps the biggest tout service in the country. In the Post this season, Steele went 12-18 on his college picks. To me, that is very disappointing. (Admittedly he did better in the Pro picks) And yes, at gametime last night I thought "this guy's gotta know something about two such high-profile teams". He didn't. Kansas State was outmatched and would lose to Oregon 9 times outta 10 by double digits. And it serves as a reminder that nobody knows anything (except the books). Steele does nothing else with his life but study college football, yet cannot give any valuable insight into making bets. That's why I say he sucks! As for his magazine, I buy it too. I like his pre-season rankings. His team analysis is unreadable, however. I have officially put PS alongside the likes of Lou Holtz. Football guys, yes. People I care to listen to, no.

[BiffTFinancial]

two things:
1. every chucklehead moron has weekly picks. Mike Greenberg, most ESPN talking heads, entire CBS CFB staff, entire collegefootballnews staff. it's the norm these days, and something relatively new for Phil, frankly. if he's a capper/tout, you're setting a pretty low threshold.
2. if he was 12-17 on his picks before K State (and now 12-18) and you tailed him and you're pissed you lost, i'm not sure what to say. i tail no one, fade no one, but if i were going to do something with a 12-17 CFB capper, it wouldn't be tail...