Preseason college football magazines are hitting the newsstands, a rite of summer that used to provide fans with their first in-depth look at the coming season. The slick, splashy publications offer early rankings that readers can cheer, curse or simply ignore during a dry period when many die-hards are in need of a fix.
The magazines often provide hope even for the most downtrodden programs, which has made them a second cousin of sorts to NFL draft stories and college recruiting news. Football optimism is ripe for harvest in July. Hope sells.
These days, the magazines’ mission has been sabotaged by websites that produce college football stories every day of the year, even when some of the players haven’t been seen by a reporter in weeks, and by college football gurus who race to publish “way too early” ratings for the next season only minutes after the end of the national championship game.