Daily Blog - Tuesday June 9th

Today is the official on sale date for my 2009 College Football Magazine!!! If you do not already have a copy, head out to the bookstores and newsstands today. The magazine is available nationwide at Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, WaldenBooks, Borders, Hastings, Media Play, Target, Books-A-Million, Kmart and Circle K. There are other locations where we shipped to, so check the magazine section at stores near you.

A few months ago I gave you all of the toughest schedules using the NCAA method of determining toughest schedules which is last year’s record. This method has some major flaws which I have pointed out in my Toughest Schedule article on pages 317 and 318 of the magazine over the past few years. I was very proud to be the first to determine those percentages as we put it up two days after the last schedule was finalized.

Today I give you the actual toughest schedules for each of this year’s teams. A couple of quick examples is that in my toughest schedule ranking LSU, which was 8-5 last year and is a Top 10 team, is graded by their 2009 power rating and not last year’s 8-5 record. Using the NCAA method a team like Utah that was 13-0 last year but has just 12 returning starters is graded as a much tougher opponent due to last year’s record. Also a IAA (or FCS) team with a winning record from last year is graded to be a much tougher opponent than a team such as Illinois which was 5-7 last year, but is a team I think will be in a Jan bowl. Also Michigan is a legitimate bowl squad this year but you only get credit for playing a weak 3-9 team using last year’s record.I go much more in depth in this year’s magazine article but here is the PHIL STEELE’S 2009 TOUGHEST SCHEDULE:

86 Days until the start of football!