Preseason Media Predictions Don't Mean Much

[kevin]

I remember being excited before 1978 that Sporting News had Bengals winning the AFC Central and going to the Super Bowl. They didn't have Steelers doing much. ....Then Bengals had a lousy season and Steelers won Super the next 2 years, 4 Super Bowls wins in the 1970's.....The media didn't have Bengals doing anything going into 1981 or 1988, our 2 trips to the Super Bowl. .....So my point is the preseason media hype is hype and hype only. It' doesn't mean much. Coach Paul Brown said it best when asked in preseason about where the media has them picked to finish. He said, " all these magazines and things come out around this time of year saying who will finish where. It makes you wonder why we even play the season. I've noticed they get it pretty wrong every year, so let's just go ahead and play the season. "

So, anybody picking Bengals to lose, that don't mean anything, nor does anybody picking Bengals to win. It doesn't mean jack. I shake my head at how college goes so much on preseason polls. They would be better off just picking back up where teams finished last year after all the bowl games and championship games ( Ohio State, Oregon, Alabama, ect..), instead of having an AP Preseason Poll and a UPI Preseason Poll. Don't let the media take the teams that won and move them down in the polls before the new season starts, make teams win and earn their way up the rankings, or lose their way down. The good thing about the NFL is that the polls don't mean a thing, only what happens on the field.

[*Nately120*]

Oh yea? Well pre-season predictions that pre-season predictions won't mean anything doesn't mean much to me either! So there!

[EatonFan]

I think players can use either scenario as a motivator, but that's about it. If you're ranked #3 in the nation in college, the players have to "live up" to that ranking and some use it to practice harder. While if you get "dissed" and are ranked way lower than many expected the players use that as a "we'll show you".

As a long time football fan, you know very well that most games come down to a handful of plays. If those plays are not made, you lose. Most games have about 80 plays. About 4 of them are critical to the outcome.

[grampahol]

I predict super bowl winners by going eeny meany miney mo, catch a tiger by the toe.. Amazingly it's uncanny. I still remember how to say it.