ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s college football prediction season across the country, and Marshall is in the middle of it with the announcement of a pair of early All-Sun Belt Conference preseason teams and league ranking predictions.
The annual Phil Steele preseason team predicts four all-conference teams. Among them, the Thundering Herd was given six representatives.
Tight end Toby Payne, a native of Poca who has drawn national attention as a potential star at the position ahead of the season, was MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s lone first-team selection.
Jalen Slappy represented the Herd as an offensive lineman on the second team. Marvae Myers and Jamaal Whyce Jr. were third-team picks. KaTron Evans and Cam Smith were fourth-team selections.
SteeleÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s teams are pretty evenly distributed. The all-SBC first-team offense includes players from nine teams. James Madison, Georgia Southern and Texas State are the only teams with multiple representatives.
Braylon Braxton, MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s quarterback last year whoÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s now at Southern Miss, was projected as the first-team quarterback.
On defense, Marshall is without a representative on the first team. Louisiana, James Madison, Southern Miss and Old Dominion each have two representatives.
Georgia Southern leads the list in first-team selections with five, but itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s worth noting that two of them are at punter and long snapper. Appalachian State and Louisiana-Monroe are the two teams without a first-team selection.
Steele has the Warhawks at the bottom of the SBC West and Marshall at the bottom of the East. The list ranks the Herd as the lowest SBC team by unit rankings, projecting a first-to-worst.
Athlon Sports also released its four preseason all-conference teams. Marshall did not have a player chosen for the first team.
Braxton was again the first-team selection at quarterback. Texas State had the most selections on offense for Athlon at three. On defense, Old Dominion led the way with three picks.
The first Marshall selection comes on the second-team offense in the form of Slappy. Payne was chosen for the third team, and Jadarius Green-McKnight made the third team.
Athlon also projected Marshall to be the bottom-ranked team in the SBC East and ranked Marshall at No. 113 out of 136 FBS teams.
What to make of these picks
Marshall wasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t exactly criminally underrated in 2024, but it did outperform expectations.
The Herd was selected as the No. 3 team in the SBC in 2024 by Athlon. Marshall was picked No. 5 in the SBC preseason media poll. Phil Steele had Marshall second. Of course, the Herd went on to win the whole thing.
It goes without saying that any team can outperform or underperform relative to expectations.
The Arizona State Sun Devils were not picked in the preseason AP poll in 2024 and were chosen as the bottom team in the Big 12 in its media poll. They ended up winning the league title.
The Big 12 has now announced that it is killing its media poll. Some people think that itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s to build leverage for better TV deals by eliminating preseason narratives of bad teams.
From the Big 12ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s perspective, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a smart change. I think it is a good way to prevent unforced embarrassment.
Official preseason polls are how your conference gets blasted. It becomes the biggest media hit of the season ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” your conference was wrong about who is good.
Preseason polls also often use the safest bet in hopes of preserving credibility.
No one picked Arizona State to win in 2024 because it had a first-year quarterback, a second-year coach and three wins in the previous season. Putting the Sun Devils low was the safe pick.
The issue I have, though, is that playing it safe eliminates a space for greater coverage.
Arizona StateÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s entire preseason coverage likely ended at those thoughts ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” they are inexperienced and werenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t great last year, so letÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s move on.
Utah, picked as the preseason favorite, ended up being 5-7. You can find 45-minute-long videos in droves that previewed UtahÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s 2024 season.
I think thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s where Marshall comes in.
Essentially every preview I have seen goes like this: There are 60 new players, they have a new coach and itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s hard to expect them to repeat as champions.
I hope it doesnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t end at that.
I used to be a sports anchor in Bridgeport. Our meteorologist would get messages every night if the slightest thing was wrong with her forecast.
Being a meteorologist is tough.
If you say that there is a high chance of rain and it rains, you did well.
If itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s supposed to be nice out and it ends up raining, your aunt will bring up the time that it rained during the Fourth of July cookout for at least the next six years.
I like to think Marshall football has a chance to rain in the SBC, but if I knew the future, IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™d be a meteorologist in Vegas.
