Lindy's shows FAU some love
By Marcus Nelson
You know it's getting close to football season when the football pre-season magazines start showing up on the shelves.
Many of the magazines don't devote much space (or effort into research) on teams in the Sun Belt.
The reason, of course, is simple economics. Most of the magazines (and this is often the same for recruiting services) are geared to the big schools because they have the biggest fan bases.
The most notable exception is Phil Steele's excellent preview. Of course Steele doesn't follow the same business model as most of the other magazines. He provides gambling information and it isn't swayed by the size of a team's fan base.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the space in this year's Lindy's Southeastern preview, written by Monte Hale, who does an excellent job covering the Sun Belt for the Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Daily News Journal
Here are some of the highlights:
FAU is picked third in the the SBC behind Troy and Arkansas State
WR Cortez Gent, TE Jason Harmon, OL David Matlock are on the pre-season All-Sun Belt team
Rusty Smith is honored as "Strongest arm" and "Coolest in the clutch"
Harmon has "Best Hands"
Gent is "Most Dangerous Deep Threat"
Matlock is "Best Pass Blocker"
All in all, it's a pretty solid preview and paints a pretty rosy picture of the 2009 season for the Owls. It's well worth the $6.99 cover price so pick it up at Publix. It's the one with Tim Tebow on the cover - isn't it great when a player at a schoool who doesn't get much media attention is finally recognized?