With the start of college football season just a little over two months away, fans are chomping at the bit with anticipation. That's where college football preview magazines come into play.

If you want to get a fix for college football this time of year, and you want it in print, your only choice is one of several preview publications. Two of the more popular are Athlon and Lindy's. If you are a Seminole fan, both provide "ACC Editions" which give more specific details on FSU and the rest of the conference. So between the two, which one is best? Here's the answer:

Athlon

What Athlon does well is market itself and is always first publication to hit the bookshelves. The problem is that in its rush to hit the newsstands, the writers and editors neglected to come up with interesting content. The national portion of the magazine has stories on several up and coming quarterbacks, a look back at the top 50 recruits from 2001 and a write-up on Notre Dame skipper Charlie Weis. None of them really knock your socks off.

* On Athlon's Heisman Watch List, Lorenzo Booker is mentioned as "others to watch".

* There is no mention of Myron Rolle as one of the "Five Freshman to Watch".

* On the All-American team linebacker Buster Davis is on the third team.

Of all the preseason publications, sports websites and newspapers that have taken a crack at preseason rankings, Athlon thinks the least of Florida State. The 'Noles check in at No. 17, which is a far cry from where they ranked FSU last year (No. 5). Perhaps the Athlon writers got a lot of flack for overrating the 'Noles last year and are going to other extreme in 2006.

Oklahoma is also a bit of a stretch at No. 1. Yes, the Sooners finished the season on a high note but were 8-4 last year and there are still major questions surrounding quarterback Rhett Bomar, who had a less than stellar season in 2005. Athlon is also on the Urban Meyer bandwagon ranking the Gators at no. 5, which also appears to be a bit of a stretch considering their difficult schedule.

In case you are wondering, according to preseason.stassen.com, Athlon has consistently been the least accurate of the major publications in predicting the final college football polls.

1. Oklahoma

2. Notre Dame

3. USC

4. Ohio State

5. Florida

6. West Virginia

7. Texas

8. California

9. Auburn

10. Louisville

12. Clemson

14. Miami

17. FSU

21. Va Tech

Athlon's lack of respect for FSU continues in the ACC section with Clemson being picked to win the Atlantic Division and play Miami for the ACC Championship. In the position rankings, the Seminole running backs and linebackers come in all the way down at No. 6. It's hard to accept that there are five better running back and linebacker units in the conference.

It's not all bad with FSU's quarterbacks coming in at No. 1 and the wide receivers being rated as the second best in the ACC. Also, safety Myron Rolle is named as the ACC's top newcomer.

On the all-ACC team, Drew Weatherford, Andre Fluellen, Buster Davis and Tony Carter are first team members. Lorenzo Booker, Mario Henderson and Greg Carr are named to the second team, and Chris Davis and Shannon Boatman make the third team.

Publications like Athlon, Lindy's and Sporting News have specific conference editions that include a detailed breakdown for each team in the conference. In Athlon, there is a three-page rundown of the 2006 Seminoles but there is no stories or features on the program. After starting out on a sour note saying "the Seminoles have the look of a team in rebuilding mode," the summary of the 2006 team isn't all that bad. The problem is that there isn't anything you can't read on-line and there are no stories or features accompanying the team breakdown.

What they got right is pointing out linebacker Lawrence Timmons as a "Rising Star".

Of interest on the projected depth chart is Kendrick Stewart named as the first team defensive tackle, Derek Nicholson as the starting middle linebacker (Buster Davis is the starter on the weak-side) and Myron Rolle as the starting rover.

A definite no buy. It's not just that Athlon has an unusually low opinion of the 2006 Seminoles, it's that it lacks interesting content. The article looking back at the 2001 signing class is somewhat interesting but that's about it for national features. As far as FSU and the ACC, there is a dearth of content that would be of interest to Seminole fans.

Lindy's

The second preseason publication to hit the shelves is usually Lindy's. The extra week or two delay in Lindy's hitting the marketplace makes a huge difference in this case. The Birmingham, Alabama based publication does a better job coming up with interesting content both on a national basis and on the conference and team level. Furthermore, Lindy's always a great job at giving the reader lot of interesting rankings to discuss and debate. You may not always agree, but it makes for a good read.

Like Athlon, Lindy's puts out conference specific editions including one centered on the ACC. The 2006 version not only has Drew Weatherford on the cover with Miami's Kyle Wright, but also has a shot of FSU's favorite Cowgirl, Jenn Sterger. Much to the delight of the male readers, she also appears with a full page photo in the magazine's Sideline section.

Unlike Athlon, there are two very good national stories of note. The first talks about the "spread offense" and does a nice job explaining its many variations and which teams are using it. The other talks about some of the more interesting personalities in the coaching ranks of college football.

On the downside, neither the FSU players nor the various units on the field are given much credit in the rankings. No Seminole player cracks the top ten for his position and the only ones mentioned are Drew Weatherford (#17 QB), Lorenzo Booker (#14), Greg Carr (#14 WR), Buster Davis (#15 ILB) and Tony Carter (#13 CB). For the unit rankings, FSU's wide receivers are the only ones mentioned and they are the 10th unit mentioned out of 10.

* No FSU players are found on either the first or second unit of Lindy's All-American team.

* Safety Myron Rolle is mentioned as one of the Fab Five Freshmen to watch.

* In the mock NFL draft for 2007, Booker is listed as the 50th overall selection.

Lindy's has done a pretty good job predicting the final rankings, which is no easy task. In fact, according to preseason.stassen.com, out of a dozen publications last year, Lindy's was the most accurate with their preseason top 25. However over the last few years, Phil Steele and The Sporting News have been more accurate. But all three have been consistently better than Athlon.

There aren't as many questionable picks as there are in Athlon but their selection of Notre Dame at No. 1 seems like a bandwagon pick rather than looking closely at the facts. Also, Florida is again at No. 5, which seems a bit too high. While Athlon has Oklahoma at No. 1, Lindy's puts them all the way down at No. 7. The Seminoles check in at No. 12 which seems about right.

1. Notre Dame

2. Ohio State

3. West Virginia

4. Texas

5. Florida

6. USC

7. Oklahoma

8. Auburn

9. California

10. LSU

12. FSU

16. Miami

18. Clemson

20. Va Tech

This is where Lindy's really shines. There is much more detail and analysis on the conference, the top players, the various team units and each team. There is also a very well-written piece on how expansion has made the ACC is a powerhouse football conference and how all the schools have reaped a financial windfall as a result.

But even more interesting is a four-page breakdown of the conference over the last 20 years. The feature includes an all-ACC team over the last 20 years (FSU has eight first team members), the best teams over the period ('99 FSU team is #1), the top coaches (Bobby Bowden #1), unforgettable players (Charlie Ward #1), top games ('95 FSU-UVA is #1) and the unforgettable moments (Warrick Dunn being stopped on the goal-line at UVA in '95). All in all, the piece shows how much FSU has dominated the ACC over the last two decades.

As far as the breakdown of this year's ACC goes, FSU is picked to win the Atlantic Division and win the title game. Lorenzo Booker is not only a first team preseason all-ACC selection, but is also picked as the league's MVP. Other first team selections include Drew Weatherford, Greg Carr and Tony Carter. Where Lindy's dropped the ball was not mentioning linebacker Buster Davis as a first or second team all-ACC member (Sporting News picked him as the No. 2 LB in the nation).

In the unit rankings, FSU is said to have the top quarterbacks, the No. 2 defensive line and defensive backs, the No. 3 running backs, the No. 4 linebackers and the No. 5 offensive line.

Lindy's does well with its analysis of the 2006 Seminoles. Unlike Athlon, which dedicated three pages to FSU's team breakdown, Lindy's gives five pages. That includes a one-page bit on Lorenzo Booker and whether he will be able to live up to the hype he had coming out of high school.

One thing that seems incorrect is a statement that talent and depth are issues at defensive end. There may not be a Kamerion Wimbley type player that jumps out on the roster, but there is ton of talent and the depth should go three deep this season. Also, 2006 signee Marcus Sims is listed as a linebacker instead of a running back.

Buy. If you are an FSU fan, or any fan of an ACC team for that matter, picking between Athlon and Lindy's is a no brainer. Lindy's has a good number of interesting features, tidbits, and rankings to keep the starved college football fanatic happy. The real strength of the publication is the ACC section that has an excellent story on expansion and an even better feature breaking down the ACC over the last 20 years.

For the hardcore college football fan, Phil Steele's annual publication is generally regarded as the best and most accurate. It has been rumored that Steele will be coming out with an ACC version this year but I have yet to see it. The Sporting News has also made big strides the past few years and they usually have a pretty good ACC section. However, at least according to their website, the only conference specific editions this year are for the Big 10 and SEC.

Gene Williams is the founder and administrator of Warchant.com and writes stories and features covering all of FSU's sports with an emphasis on football and football recruiting. During football season, he hosts a weekly sports radio show in Tallahassee on NewsRadio 1270 WFLA, and appears as a weekly guest on 1460 ESPN Radio in Jacksonville. Williams is also a former ACC correspondent for College Football News (weekly national newspaper), and contributes to The Osceola. Story about Gene Williams & Warchant.comClick Look for another publication review coming soon.Here to view this Link..

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